| Baseball's legendary shortstop, Honus Wagner was one of the first five men elected to the Hall of Fame in its' inaugural year in 1936. In fact, he along with Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth were the first three position players to be immortalized into the Hall of Fame. The reason for Honus Wagner's long-standing record as baseball's best shortstop is a follows - No other shortstop has ever combined offensive and defensive excellence the way he did. John McGraw once said, "The only way to get a ball past Honus Wagner is to hit it 8 feet over his head."
From 1903 thru 1909, he led the National League in batting six times and finished second once. Wagner captured four slugging titles, led the league in on-base-percentage four times, RBIs twice, triples twice, doubles five times, stolen base three times and hits and runs scored once each. 'Total Baseball's' 'Player Rankings' ranks Honus Wagner first every year from 1903-1909. Wagner's decade of the 1900's ranks with the batting performance of Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby during the 1920's as the greatest offensive 10-year periods in Major League History. Honus Wagner career: .327 BA, 3415 hits, 651 doubles, 1736 Runs, 1732 RBIs and 722 stolen bases. Baseballhistorian.com All Rights Reserved Honus Wagner |
