American Decades
"How to Play Shortstop"
Essay
By: John "Honus" Wagner
Date: 1949
Source: Wagner, Honus. "How to Play Shortstop." The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1976, 667–668. Condensed from Wagner, Honus. "How to Play Shortstop." The Sporting News, April 13, 1949.
About the Author: Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (1874–1955), known as the "Flying Dutchman" for his heritage and amazing speed, played most of his professional career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner was a versatile player who set numerous records in his long career. After retiring from baseball in 1917, Wagner came back to coach for the Pirates from 1933 to 1951. He was one of the original five Baseball Hall of Fame inductees in 1936.
Introduction
By 1900, professional baseball had existed for thirty-one years, but it was largely a game of bunting, base stealing, and well-placed hits,...
[The entire page is 1802 words long]
1900's Sports Primary Sources
- "Boston's Champion Team"
- Bill Reid's Diary
- "General Health of Girls in Relation to Athletics"
- "Inter-School Athletics"
- "Baseball Scores Over Crap Games"
- "Athletes Aroused Over Point Scoring"
- "Travers Defeats Travis in Fine Golf"
- "Dorando Defeats Hayes in Marathon"
- "Why Sir Thomas Lipton Has So Much Trouble Challenging for the Cup"
- "Walter Camp for More Open Football"
- Fundamentals of Basketball
- "How to Play Shortstop"
- The Tumult and the Shouting: My Life in Sport
- My Life in Baseball: The True Record
- Copyright Page
- Acknowledgments
