Best All-Time Shortstops Honus Wagner
"“I never have been sick. I don’t even know what it means to be sick. I hear other players say they have a cold. I just don’t know what it would feel like to have a cold—I never had one.”—Honus Wagner"
"“Things were changing fast by that time, women were beginning to come to the ballparks. We had to stop cussing.”—Honus Wagner"
Because he played so long ago and we only have old photos and stories about him, it feels like Honus Wagner was one of those early 19th century men who were tough as nails and strong as an ox. Fittingly, he was born in coal country in western Pennsylvania and had a large family with four brothers and four sisters.
His older brother Albert was considered the best ballplayer in the family, but it was Honus who became one of the five best players ever to play the game.
He didn’t have the build you’d expect from a shortstop. He was 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, with massive shoulders, muscular arms, and huge hands. He was often described as bow-legged.
I’ve read stories about ground balls hit to short, and Wagner would rush in, grab the ball along with sand and stones and fire it over to first. In one version of the story, which Honus used to tell fans when he was retired, he scooped up “grass, pebbles, and a rabbit that had run onto the field and heaved the whole mess to first, nailing the runner—by a hare.
He used a heavy bat that weighed over 40 ounces. The most popular size bat for current MLB players is 34 inches and 32 ounces. Last year, the 6-foot-7, 282 pound Aaron Judge used a 33-ounce bat.
Wagner sometimes gripped the bat with his hands separated, much like Ty Cobb. It worked, they each collected batting titles like some people collect postage stamps.
Wagner led the NL in batting average eight times, on-base percentage four times, and slugging percentage six times. He had four different seasons in which he led the league in all three, a rate-stat Triple Crown.
Despite his bowed legs, Wagner was not only quick with his footwork at shortstop but also fast on the basepaths. He stole 723 bases in his career, leading the league five times. He also led the league in doubles seven times and triples three times. There wasn’t any part of his game that wasn’t excellent.
According to Fangraphs WAR, two of the top three seasons ever by a shortstop belong to Honus Wagner. He was at his very best in 1908, when he hit .354/.415/.542 with 201 hits, 39 doubles, 19 triples, 10 home runs, 109 RBI, and 53 steals.
That was a season worth 11.8 WAR. Only four position players have had better seasons than Wagner’s 1908: Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Lou Gehrig and Rogers Hornsby.
Wagner retired after three years with Louisville and 18 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was one of the five inaugural inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, along with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. That was one of his proudest moments.
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In 1955, the Pirates unveiled a statue of Wagner outside Forbes Field. It was moved to Three Rivers Stadium when that park opened and now sits outside PNC Park, the team’s current home.
His number 33 was retired by the franchise in 1956. In 1999, he was named the number 13 player in baseball history and best all-time Shortstops ever by The Sporting News.