It is being reported that another Honus Wagner baseball card was sold at auction for $1.2 million. Who was the player behind the rare 1909 card that fetched such a price?
Wagner had a 21 year Major League baseball career that started with three with the Louisville Colonels (1897 to 1899) and 18 with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1900 to 1917). Over his career he played short stop, second base, first base, outfield and even pitched in a couple games. For his career he hit .328/.391/.467 with 101 HR, 1733 RBI, 1739 R and 723 SB in 2794 games. He won nine National League battling titles. Wagner was on the Pirates 1909 World Series Championship team and hit .333/.467/.500 with 0 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R and 6 SB in 7 games against the Detroit Tigers. In 1936 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the first class that also included Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
It should also be noted that Wagner played before the live ball era that started in 1920. Before 1920 a baseball often continued to be used until it began to unravel so many of the balls were worn and dirty. Pitchers were also allowed to scuff and mess with the balls at will. Once the live ball era started the offensive stats began to rise in part because the balls were easier to see. New balls were used regularly and standards were set to discard them more frequently.
No comments:
Post a Comment