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Honus Wagner Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:

Wagner with legendary manager John McGraw

Back row (left to right): Honus Wagner, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, and Walter Johnson. Front row (l to r): Eddie Collins, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, and Cy Young.

Wilbur Cooper teammate HOFer Honus Wagner

Letter President Eisenhower wrote to Honus Wanger on his 80th birthday

Joe Cronin, Honus Wagner, and Bill Terry

Honus Wagner early in his career with the Pirates

Honus Wagner at the time of the 1903 World Series

Deacon Phillippe later in life with teammate Honus Wagner and wife

Billy Herman during his days as Pirates manager with Hank Greenberg and Honus Wagner.

Bill Dickey, George Sisler, Frank “Home Run” Baker, Connie Mack, Lefty Grove, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson

Wagner toward the end of his life recovering from a hip aliment

Opening of the 1925 World Series. L-R: Honus Wagner, Bill McKechnie, John McGraw, Walter Johnson, Babe Ruth, Nick Altrock, Christy Walsh.

The 1909 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates

Cobb and Wagner, the two greatest stars of the Dead Ball Era

A young Honus Wagner on the Warren PA team, which also featured his older brother, Albert “Butts” Wagner.

Classic Honus Wagner portrait from the Charles Conlon Collection.

Baseball History Comes Alive! Celebrates Its Fourth Anniversary…Thank You!

This week marks the fourth anniversary of Baseball History Comes Alive! I’d like to thank all our loyal followers, especially those who have been with me from the beginning.

Since I self-built the site and launched it on January 20, 2016, BHCA! has enjoyed 368,580 hits and 321 subscribers as of today. There are over 1000 baseball history articles and essays, most accompanied by extensive photo galleries. All the articles are fully categorized for easy access. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say Baseball History Comes Alive! is the Internet’s “Number One site” for old-time baseball essays and photos!

I’d like to thank all who have contributed to the site, especially Bill Gutman, who has been a regular weekly contributor for over a year and a half. Also, thanks to Don Stokes, our “resident baseball artist,” as I call him, for allowing me to post his many beautiful colorizations. Bill and Don have added much to the quality of the site. And of course thanks to my Old-Time Baseball Photos Facebook partner, Ron Bolton, who has contributed many articles over the years.

Please keep in mind that I welcome guest posts. If you’d like to try your hand as a contributor, just let me know.

To celebrate the happy occasion, here’s a repost of my very first essay, posted on the Old-Time Baseball Photos web page on January 20, 2016, along with a nice photo gallery highlighting the life and career of the great “Flying Dutchman”:

Honus Wagner in the 1940s

“Bowlegged, barrel-chested, long-limbed… he was often likened to an octopus. When he fielded grounders, his huge hands also collected large scoops of infield dirt, which accompanied his throws to first like the tail of a comet.” –From the Honus Wagner biography on BaseballLibrary.com

Recognize the “Old-Timer” on the right? I’m sure you do…it’s none other than the great Honus Wagner in one of his many seasons as a Pirates’ coach. Not sure of the exact year, but it’s probably from about 1942-46. He’s giving batting tips to a couple of young Pirate “whippersnappers.” On the left is Jim Russell, who played for the Bucs from 1942-51; and on the right is Frank Colman, a Pirate from 1942-46.(Be sure to click on the photo for a much better look).

**The famous Honus Wagner baseball card.**

Here are a few words about the career of the great Honus Wagner:

“The Flying Dutchman” played 21 seasons in the major leagues (1897 to 1917). He started with Louisville (1897-1899) and then the rest of his career was with the Pirates (1900-1917). Wagner managed the Pirates in 1917 and then became a coach for 39 years. He was the hitting coach from 1933-1951. Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor (player-manager from 1934–1939), all future Hall of Famers, were some of the notable “pupils” of Wagner.

Over his Hall-of-Fame career, Wagner hit .329, with 3400 hits (7th all-time), 101 home runs, 1732 RBIs (21st all-time), 722 stolen bases (10th all-time), .391 on-base percentage, and .467 slugging average. He won eight batting titles (tied for the most in National League history with Tony Gwynn). He was a five-time National League RBI leader, a five-time stolen base leader, a six-time slugging leader, and was the star of four Pirates pennant-winning teams (1901, ’02, ’03, ’09) and the 1909 World Series champions.

Honus Wagner’s number 33 has been retired by the Pirates. He was selected to both the major league All-Century team and the All-Time team. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb and tied with Babe Ruth.

There has always been much debate as to who was the better player, Cobb or Wagner. Cobb is frequently cited as the greatest player of the Dead Ball Era, but many of their contemporaries regarded Wagner as the better all-around player, and many baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever. Cobb himself called Wagner “maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond.”

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Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

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