Honus Wagner

I don't care how good he was. Why would you pay $3M for his baseball card?

Career stats:
.327/.391/.466/.857__1736 R__3415 H__640 2B__252 3B__101 HR__1732 RBI__722 SB__150 OPS+


Johannes Peter Wagner was born February 24, 1874 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his childhood, his mother called him "Hans", and that would later evolve into his more popular nickname "Honus". Even though he was the most famous of his brothers by the end, it was actually his brother Albert who got him his first tryout.

Wagner began his successful career as one of the greatest shortstops of all time with the Louisville Colonels (Louisville!), but after his second season, the league contracted and the Colonels were gone. The Colonels owner, however, bought half of the Pittsburgh Pirates and brought many of his players, including Honus, with him after the 1899 season.

Pittsburgh proved to be a beneficial place for Wagner. He won a batting title in his first season and won a World Series in 1909. That World Series almost did not happen, however. After the 1907 season, Wagner retired, but the owner offered $10,000 to Wagner. Wagner accepted and was the highest paid player for many seasons, and due to this, some wonder if his retirement was just a ploy for a raise (these were the days before a union). Wagner would later become the second player in history with 3,000 hits (Cap Anson being the first). Like other players of the time, he became the manager of his team, but after 5 games, he told the owner that the position wasn't right for him. After the 1917 season, Wagner retired.

One of the greatest shortstops and even players of baseball history, Wagner was an easy choice for the inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1936, and he tied Babe Ruth's 215 votes. Bill James rates him as the second greatest player of all-time behind Ruth, and he makes many people's all-time lists as the top shortstop.

The "Flying Dutchman" was known for his speed and defense. What he may be best known for now is his T206 baseball card. He, supposedly, didn't want his picture and image used as a baseball card in a cigarette box, and the American Tobacco Company had to stop making them, which in turn made the card extremely rare. In 2007, the card sold for $2.8M and became the most valuable card ever.