Honus Wagner(1874-1955)
- Actor
American baseball player, born in Mansfield (now Carnegie),
Pennsylvania. His real name was John Peter Wagner. He played
semi-professional ball in Ohio and was given a contract (1896) by the
Paterson, New Jersey, club before entering (1897) major-league play
with the Louisville (Kentucky) club of the National League, Hans (a
nickname also much used) soon anchored himself at shortstop with the
Pirates. Wagner, called the Flying Dutchman by his fans, came to be
regarded as one of the outstanding players of baseball. He led the
National League in batting eight times (1900, 1903-4, 1906-9, 1911) had
a lifetime batting average of .329 (batting over .200 in 17 consecutive
years), made 3,430 base hits, scored close to 1,800 runs, and played in
2,785 games. Wagner, agile though massively built, excelled at
fielding; he also led the National League five times in stolen bases.
In 1917 he retired from baseball, but returned to the Pirates as coach
(1933-52). In 1936 he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of
Fame.