Wagner dropped out of school at age 12 to help his father and brothers in the coal mines. "Hans" was also an alternate nickname during his major league career. As a child, he was called Hans by his mother, which later evolved into Honus. Wagner was born to German immigrants Peter and Katheryn Wagner in the borough of Chartiers, in what is now Carnegie, Pennsylvania. Honus Wagner is also the featured player of one of the rarest and the most valuable baseball cards in existence. Ty Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond". Most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever and one of the greatest players ever. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb's 222 and tied with Babe Ruth at 215. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. This nickname was a nod to the popular folk-tale made into a famous opera by the German composer Richard Wagner. Wagner was nicknamed " the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage. He also led the league in slugging six times and stolen bases five times. Wagner won his eighth (and final) batting title in 1911, a National League record that remains unbroken to this day, and matched only once, in 1997, by Tony Gwynn. Johannes Peter " Honus" Wagner ( / ˈ h ɒ n ə s ˈ w æ ɡ n ər/ HON-əs WAG-nər Febru– Decem), sometimes referred to as Hans Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. September 17, 1917, for the Pittsburgh Pirates July 19, 1897, for the Louisville Colonels
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