This Week in Baseball History: 2/14

This week in baseball history saw the retirement of Honus Wagner, one of the greatest players of the dead-ball era.

January 16, 1952:

On this date in baseball history, legendary shortstop Honus Wagner announced his retirement after an astounding 39 years in Major League Baseball.

Wagner began his famed career in 1897 at the age of 23 with the now defunct, Louisville Colonels. Through his career, Wagner was a versatile player. Although shortstop was his primary position, it took some time before he could find his niche on the diamond.

In his early years, he played almost every position on the field except catcher. In his second year, his first full season, Wagner batted .299 with 105 RBI. In his third and final season with the Colonels, Wagner batted .341 with 45 doubles and 13 triples.

In the first season of the twentieth century, the Colonels were dropped from the NL. As a result, Wagner moved to Pittsburgh to play with the Pirates, along with the former owner of the Colonels, Barney Dreyfuss.

In his first season in the Steel City, Wagner claimed his first of eight batting titles with the Pirates. In that season, he batted .381 with 45 doubles and 22 triples. The next season, his batting average dropped off a bit to .353, but he more than made up for it by driving in 126 runs and stole a league leading 49 bases.

By the 1901 season, Honus Wagner settled into his steady role at shortstop for the Buccos and cemented his legacy as one of the best players of the dead-ball era.

From 1903 to 1911, Wagner would go on to win seven of nine batting titles. Along with his stellar feats at the plate, he was also feared on the base paths. In the 1907 and 1908 seasons, he stole 61 and 53 bases, respectively.

In 1903, Wagner and the Pirates made their way to the first ever championship series between the American and National league champions. This series would go on to be known as the World Series. In that best of nine series, Wagner batted a measly .222 with just three stolen bases and RBI.

Following the series, Wagner refused to accept his batting title for that season citing the fact that he did not live up to the award when it counted most – in the World Series.

The Pirates would lose the inaugural World Series to the Boston Americans. Wagner and his team would not taste the glory of a World Series appearance for another six years. In 1909, they again made a trip to the World Series and this time, their fortunes were better.

In the 1909 World Series, Wagner and the Pirates faced off against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers countered Wagner’s stellar bat with a stellar bat of their own in the form of young upstart, Ty Cobb. At the time of their face off, Cobb was still a fresh new face in the league at the age of 22, while Wagner was a grizzled veteran of 35 years.

This was the first time ever that the batting champions of each league would face off against each other. Such an event would not happen again until 1931. Wagner made up for his dismal performance from six years ago by batting .333 in the seven-game series with six RBI and six stolen bases.

On top of his own personal achievements, Wagner also bested Cobb. Cobb was only able to muster a .231 batting average in the series. The 1909 World Series would be the only time in his career that Honus Wagner would taste ultimate victory.

By the time he ended his playing days, Wagner had accumulated a lifetime batting average of .328 to go along with 723 stolen bases and 1,732 RBI. He held sole possession of the record for number of total batting titles in a career until Tony Gwynn claimed his eighth batting title in 1997.

Following the 1917 season in which his playing days ended, Wagner went on to remain with the Pirates as a hitting coach. As hitting coach for the Pirates, Wagner mentored future greats such as Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor and for a year, Hank Greenberg.

On top of being one of the best players of the dead-ball era, Honus Wagner was among the first five men elected into the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.