Honus Wagner: A Biography [Paperback]

Dennis Devaleria (Author), Jeanne Burke Devaleria (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The first decade of baseball in the 20th century witnessed the ascension of two stars who stood above the rest: Ty Cobb in the American League and Honus Wagner in the National. If Cobb was the game's tortured bully, Wagner was the anti-Cobb. He was kind and quiet, the most beloved figure in the game before Ruth, the local boy from the coalfields of western Pennsylvania who made good on the green fields of Pittsburgh's ballparks. Despite terribly bowed legs and freakishly large hands, he patrolled the shortstop slot with remarkable dexterity; he may not have been as acrobatic as Ozzie Smith, but no shortstop was steadier defensively. Offensively, he was a genius, winning eight batting crowns, four in a row between 1906 and 1909, and he remains, almost a century later, among the all-time top 10 in hits, doubles, triples, and stolen bases. Cobb, who rarely complimented anyone, considered Wagner "the greatest ballplayer that ever lived." Yet more than 40 years would pass after his death before any biographer seriously went to bat with his life.

In Honus Wagner, the DeValerias have produced a clean hit, maybe not a home run, but, befitting a star of the dead-ball era, a well-placed, well-struck double. As solid as Wagner himself--and at 5'11" and 200 pounds, he was solid--the "Flying Dutchman" emerges as a shy man who loved the game and loved to play it, and that's about the extent of it. He was a regular guy, no tormented Cobb, no educated Mathewson, no flamboyant Ruth. There are simply no strikes against him; he was unfussy, immensely likeable, anxious to please, tremendously supportive of his friends and teammates, and, while inordinately polite on the field, off of it he rarely pulled his punch lines. If anything haunted him, it was his poor performance against the Red Sox in the 1903 World Series, which he more than made up for against Cobb and the Tigers six years later. He may have led a simple life, but he wasn't exactly a simple man; his biographers treat him with the same respect he treated the game, and propel themselves with the same thoroughness, doggedness, and care that Wagner displayed on the field. --Jeff Silverman

From Publishers Weekly

Baseball's legendary "Flying Dutchman" was born in Pennsylvania in 1874, the son of immigrant German parents. He was signed to play in the minor leagues and made his National League debut with Louisville in 1897. When the team folded, he moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he would spend the rest of his career. A gifted athlete who could play any position, he finally settled in at shortstop, where he would go on to lead the league in batting eight times during the "deadball" era. The authors, members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), look at the highlights of Wagner's career: playing in the first World Series in 1903; going head-to-head with his rival Ty Cobb in the 1909 World Series; and becoming the second player in major-league history to collect 3000 hits. Having gone on to manage the Pirates and to become one of the original members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Wagner died in 1955. This workmanlike bio will appeal primarily to those interested in the early years of baseball. Photos not seen by PW. Foreign rights: Holt.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press (March 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822956659
• ISBN-13: 978-0822956655
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not enough about the man., June 12, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Honus Wagner: A Biography (Hardcover)

I eagerly awaited this book, as it was touted as THE definitive bio on arguably the greatest player in baseball history. Most of the book dealt merely with game summaries and rivalries. It wasn't until the last pages that I felt any real understanding on Wagner the man. It was a struggle to finish, and is a big disappointment

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Honus And The Pirates, December 2, 1998

By 

Grissum C. Smackerson (Toronto, Ontario CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honus Wagner: A Biography (Hardcover)

Well researched. Well written. It just lacked something resembling a solid base hit up the middle. I really enjoyed the history and background on the Pirates. At times I was not sure if the authors were writing a book about Tommy Leach, Fred Clarke, or Honus Wagner. Not until the end did you actually get an appreciation for Honus the man. At that, perhaps you understand why they stuck so closely to developing the story behind the Pirates rather than just Wagner. If that is all that is available about Honus, then the title of the book should have been, HONUS AND THE PIRATES. Good effort, but just another baseball history book with inconsistencies and missing information.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Flying Dutchman Grounded, February 22, 2002

By 

W. Wayne Marlow (Schofield Barracks, Hi United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honus Wagner: A Biography (Paperback)

If took almost 100 years for us to get Wagner biograhy. Unfortunately, we're still waiting for an effort worthy of the man universally considered the greatest shortstop ever.
The main problem with the book is that it gets too bogged down in detail. It goes through tedious information, like his getting three hits in an Iron & Oil League game.
Also, there's not enough about what kind of person Wagner was. Generalities are mentioned, but few specifics.
In defense of the authors, it would be tough to paint a portrait of a man when there is almost no one left who knew him pesonally. Then again, with such a handicap, they probably shouldn't have tried it in the first place.