Honus Wagner Pittsburgh 9/23/09

Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (1874–1955), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," appears here in the Sporting News Supplement dated September 23, 1909 — a large-format premium issued at the height of the season that ended in his Pittsburgh Pirates' World Series win over the Detroit Tigers. Born February 24, 1874 in Chartiers, Pennsylvania, Wagner debuted with Louisville in 1897, moved with the franchise to Pittsburgh in 1900, and stayed at shortstop there through 1917. He won eight National League batting titles, led the league in stolen bases five times, and is generally rated alongside Ruth and Cobb at the top of the deadball pyramid. The Sporting News Supplements ran from 1909 through 1913 as oversized, single-sided portraits printed for newspaper distribution — valued today both for the imagery and for placing the subject in a verifiable contemporary context. Wagner is most famous in card circles for the T206 issue he reportedly forced American Tobacco to withdraw, but the supplements offer a less-rare and more attainable window into the same season. He died December 6, 1955 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania and is buried at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in Pleasant Hills. He was elected in the inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1936.