Unsurprisingly, the ATC asked for Wagner's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. In 1917, following another retirement, Wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. He still is regarded as the yardstick of excellence for shortstops. [12] In August 1899, he became the first player credited with stealing second base, third, and home in succession under the new rule differentiating between advanced bases and stolen bases. So outstanding were his abilities at the plate and in the field, primarily at short stop, that he was one of the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Here is all you want to know, and more! [41], A near mint-mint condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). It took all 7 games to decide the winner. He would steal 6 bases while Cobb only took 2. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Looked helpless as a robin. Tommy Morrison burst onto the professional boxing scene in 1988. [38][39] Wagner had been at the top of his game throughout the decade and was even considered the game's greatest player at the time. Honus Wagner Quotes. Please play responsibly. Ulysses S. Grant was President of the United States and the country was still trying to heal from the Civil War that had ended just 10 years prior. In 1908, Honus Wagner, one of the greatest players of all time, had one of his best years. Especially playing in his hometown, Wagner represented what his city was. After gaining prominence on the sandlots while earning his livelihood as a barber, Mr. Wagner broke into professional baseball in 1895 with the Steubenville (Ohio) club. I hear other players say they have a cold. LEOMINSTER DAILY ENTERPRISE, Massachusetts, December 6, 1955 This 12 page newspaper has a two column headline on page 6: "HONUS WAGNER, ALL-TIME GREAT SHORTSTOP, DIES AT 81 NEAR PITTSBURGH" Other news of the day including a report on the upcoming fight involving Sugar Ray Robinson late in his career. English Please try again later. The statue roughly faces the site of the Pirates' original home, Exposition Park, so in a sense, Wagner has come full circle. The team fell to seventh in 1914 as Wagner hit .252. But, as with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and a select few other outstanding performers, there has been almost perfect unanimity among the experts that Honus Wagner belonged among the immortals of the game. By his second season, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League although he came up short a percentage point from finishing the season at .300. Leaders of the machine-led Republican Party were touting Wagner for sheriff of Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh.