Honus Wagner

Honus Wagner

Birthdate	2/24/1874
Death Date	12/6/1955
Debut Year	1897
Year of Induction	1936
Teams	Pirates
Positions	First Base, Right Field, Shortstop

Honus Wagner and Tony Gwynn share the NL record with 8 batting championships. Wagner also led the league in slugging percentage 6 times.

Honus Wagner thanks Ford Frick for his lifetime pass in 1935

Imagine having a lifetime pass to any game in the National League. That’s what NL President Ford Frick bestowed upon Honus Wagner 18 years after the Flying Dutchman retired. Overjoyed by the gesture Wagner, one of the first five Hall of Fame inductees, sent a handwritten thank-you letter to Fr

19th century star Bill Dahlen calls Honus Wager & Ty Cobb the greatest players ever

“Bad Bill” Dahlen played from 1891-1911 and retired as baseball’s all-time leader in games played. He also ranked in the top ten in most offensive categories. In the collection is this autograph of Dahlen, not only an exceedingly rare signature to attain but also one of

Lengthy 1908 Barney Dreyfuss handwritten with Wagner mention

All of Honus Wagner’s 21 years in the big leagues as a player were spent with owner Barney Dreyfuss‘ Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirates. In the collection is a letter handwritten by Dreyfuss who alludes to a feud with newspaper men before closing the letter with an assessment of

Lloyd Waner writes about Honus Wagner Dedication Day

Upon retirement as a player, Honus Wagner stayed with the Pittsburgh organization as a coach. Along the way he befriended and mentored many Pirate greats including future Hall of Fame outfielder Lloyd Waner. In this handwritten letter of March 3, 1958 Waner writes to the organizer Honus Wagner Dedi

Elbie Fletcher writes of Honus Wagner's, "tall stories"

After retiring as a player in 1917, Honus Wagner went through a series of jobs including coaching basketball and baseball at Carnegie Institute of Technology until the Great Depression wiped out his fortunes. Pirates ownership heard of Wagner’s financial hardships and offered him a job coachin

A Story about Honus Wagner

Lifetime passes were the brainchild of NL President Ford Frick; here’s a pictorial history

June 18th, 2016 Leave a comment

A newspaper man turned league publicist turned league president came up with a brilliant idea in 1934 — reward longtime National League players with a lifetime pass to all NL games. Senior Circuit owners approved Ford Frick’s proposal at the league meeting in December of ’34. A few months later, Frick sent out ornately decorated paper Lifetime Passes to the NL’s greatest players. He even sent one to Babe Ruth who appeared in all of 28 games for the Boston Braves in 1935. A 21-year veteran of the American League, the Babe was grateful if not surprised when he remarked, “At least the National League has a heart”. An image of the original paper pass presented to Hall of Fame outfielder Sliding Billy Hamilton can be seen below. A similar pass curiously issued to Stan Coveleski, a lifetime American Leaguer is also shown. Perhaps shamed by Ruth’s remarks, the American League joined forces in 1936 to issue a pass to all Major League contests. Players with twenty or more years of service received a solid gold pass. Seventeen men qualified for the true “golden ticket” — Ruth, Fred Clarke, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Bill Dahlen, Harry Davis, Red Faber, Walter Johnson, […]