Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates T206 1909-1911 Reprint Baseball CardHonus Wagner began his career with the Louisville Colonels in 1897. Legend has it that he was discovered by Ed Barrow throwing rocks across a creek and Barrow sent him to play for the Paterson, New Jersey minor league team. He also played a short stint for the Steubenville, Ohio team before making it to Louisville. Honus was a solid hitter from the very beginning of his major league career, hitting .338 in 61 games in his rookie year. By his second season in the National League, Wagner was already one of the best hitters in the National League. After the 1899 season, the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams, and the Colonels were one of the teams eliminated. Many of the Colonels, including Wagner, were assigned to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Wagner played the next 18 seasons for his hometown team. In 1900, Honus Wagner won his first batting championship with a .381 mark and also led the league in doubles (45), triples (22), and slugging (.573), all of which were career highs. In the early stage of his career, Wagner played several different positions, just to keep his potent bat and speed in the lineup. It was in 1901 that Wagner finally got a chance at the shortstop position. His first day at the position, replacing incumbent Bones Ely, Wagner committed 3 errors in one inning. Wagner would eventually be hailed as the best-fielding shortstop of his day, and spent significant time in the outfield as well. He would eventually play every position except catcher, even making two appearances as a pitcher. He led the NL in batting average eight times (only Cobb and Tony Gwynn have led a league in batting that often), slugging percentage six times, on-base percentage four times, total bases six times, doubles seven times, triples three times, runs batted in five times and stolen bases five times, despite being bow-legged to the point where a contemporary sportswriter described his running as "resembling the gambols of a caracoling elephant." His career totals include a .327 lifetime batting average, 640 doubles, 722 stolen bases, and a career total of 3,415 hits, a major league record until it was surpassed by Cobb in the 1920s and a National League record until it was surpassed by Stan Musial in 1961. He was the second player (since MLB officially began in 1876) to reach 3000 hits, joining Cap Anson in the magic circle. His career home run total of 101 may seem minute to the modern fan, but one has to keep in mind that Wagner played his career in the pre-1920 "dead ball" era when home runs were considered a rarity. Honus Wagner has been considered one of the very best all-around players to ever play baseball since the day he retired in 1917. Famed "sabermatician" Bill James rates Honus Wagner as the second best player of all-time, right behind Babe Ruth. Statisticians John Thorn and Pete Palmer rate Wagner as ninth all-time in their "Total Player Ranking". Many of the greats who played or managed against Wagner have them on their All-Time teams as shortstop including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Walter Johnson.
 
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