By Den Ardinger 32° KCCH

“Honus” Wagner (1874-1955) was born Johannes Peter Wagner on February 24, 1874, in Chartiers Borough, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the town now called Carnegie. He was the son of Peter and Katheryn Wagner and one of nine children.  As a child, he was called Hans, but it changed over time to be Honus.

Honus dropped out of grade school at the age of 12 and began working in one of the many coal mines in the Pittsburgh area. It was while working in the mines that he developed a very strong muscular build.  During their off time, he and his brothers usually played baseball. His older brother “Butts Wagner” had a brief period of playing major league baseball also and is credited with getting Honus a try out with the Louisville Colonels who accepted him in the National League.  He was a powerful batter and could play any position including the outfield. In 1898 he won a distance throwing contest by throwing a baseball 403 feet.  In 1899, he was the first player to steal second, third and home in succession.  He played on the Colonels team for two years from 1897 to 1899.  When the team was cut from the major league roster, Honus was traded along with a few of the other top players to the Pittsburg Pirates (Pittsburgh was spelled without the “h” on the end from 1895 to 1911).  He played with the Pirates, also in the National League, for the rest of his playing career from 1900 to 1917.

It was around this time Honus became a Freemason.  In the Pittsburgh area, he was a member of Centennial Lodge No. 544 in Carnegie.

In 1916, he married Bessie Baine Smith and they had three daughters.

Almost from the beginning of his baseball career, Honus Wagner was considered “the best” at any position he played.  He led the league in batting for eight years between 1900 and 1911 and was also “the best” base runner. In 1900 he won his first batting championship with a .381 batting average.  He also led the league in doubles and triples.  For the next nine years his average did not go below .330. 

In 1901, at a time when men in the mines were being offered a dollar a day to work at hard labor, Honus was offered $20,000 to play with the Chicago White Sox.  He turned it down to stay with the Pirates at less pay.  He was well known and admired in his community and was frequently seen driving around town in his pink Cadillac convertible.  He was the first player to have a contract to produce a bat, the Louisville Slugger, with a player’s signature on it.

The first “World Series” was played in 1903 with the Pirates being in it.  Honus did not do well and only batted .222.  His reputation took a hit, but it was redeemed in the 1909 series when he batted .333 against Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers with Cobb only batting .231.

Age creeps up on all of us but in 1914, at the age of 40, Honus Wagner recorded his 3,000th hit being only the second player to ever do so.  In 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam home run by hitting a home run with a player on each of the three bases.  This was a record that stood for 70 years.  In 1916 he became the oldest player to hit an inside-the-park home run.

Honus retired as an active player in 1917 but went on to manage or coach the Pirates for decades.  He retired being the National League’s all-time hit leader with 3,430 hits.  His ratings have always had him ranked among the greatest players of the game.  By some he is considered second only behind Babe Ruth, but he is consistently rated in the top five “best players” to ever play the game.

Honus Wagner continued to live his life in Pittsburgh and died December 6, 1955.  He was 81.  He is buried in Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in Pleasant Hills not far from where he lived his entire life.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 1936, he came in second in the voting along with Babe Ruth.  Ty Cobb had the top rating.  When baseball became 100 years old in 1966, the vote came in naming him as the greatest shortstop to ever play the game.  In 2000, a postage stamp was minted of him in the “Legends of Baseball” series.  The Honus Wagner baseball card is one of the rarest collected with only 57 known to exist from the 1909 to 1911 T206 series.  In 2022, a private sale of this card sold for $7.25 million; the highest ever paid. 

At Pittsburgh’s home stadium, PNC Park, a life size statue of him swinging a bat, stands on a pedestal outside the entrance.  It was dedicated April 30, 1955, just before his death. When he died, the Pittsburgh Pirates permanently retired his number, 33.

Honus Wagner, more than a man, a Mason.