Sauntering on the streets at the crack of dawn, dinner pail in one hand, and a pick in the other. In the absence of shoes or stockings, a young boy of German descent, Johannes Peter “Honus” Wagner, heads to the coal mines for work. While other kids his age were off at school, Wagner, to help his family keep the wolf from the door, was compelled to discontinue his formal education at the age of 12, and operate alongside his father, Peter, a coal miner. While fast-tracking his way on the path to becoming a subterranean toiler, it has been said that the long, grueling hours took a serious toll on the boy. Yet, to play his part, Wagner stuck with it for quite some time.
As a kid growing up in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Johannes (John), like many boys during the late 1800s, fostered a liking to baseball. If there was ever a chance for the adolescent worker to ditch the quarry, so that he could go and watch the amateur ballplayers in the area compete on the back lots, he would take it. With a strong desire to scrap the pail for a bat, and labor on a ballfield, as opposed to a pit, Wagner, as a teenager, set his sights on becoming a ballplayer. His vision would begin to materialize at 16, when he was given his first opportunity to showcase his skills. How he received this chance to express his love for the game was through his older brother, Albert. At this point in time, Albert “Butts” Wagner, had developed himself into a decent athlete, and had shown enough prowess on the diamond for independent league teams to give him a look. One team in particular, a squad out of Dennison, OH, sent their manager, Jim Wright, over to Carnegie to sign Albert to a contract. However, Albert refused to accept the laid-out terms in the deal, and would only move forward with the offer if the team would also sign his little brother, John. According to a 1908 article published in The Morning Call, when Wright told Albert that they were interested in signing just him, and not his little brother, Albert stated, “I won’t go unless John goes along.” Baffled, but opting to persist onward, Wright posed the question, “Why, where did he play?” Since scouting potential talent, pre-1900s, is not what it is today, it’s possible that Wright and his team lacked the proper intel, so requesting for additional information regarding John’s background was of value. Maybe they’ve found a diamond in the mines?
“He never played anywhere,” Albert said back with honesty. “But he can play, and I know it. I believe he’ll be a star someday.”
Realizing that Albert wouldn’t budge on the offer, Wright, though most likely shocked by this proposition, continued to play along. “How much would he want?”
“Oh, money wouldn’t be any consideration,” he said. “If he gets his board out of it, he would be satisfied.”
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” said Wright, who was eager to wrap things up, even if it meant signing a kid who had no formal experience. “I’ll give your brother $5 a week and his board.”
Offer accepted. Just like that Wagner was out of the mines, and off to the ballfield. As history has proven, Wagner took this unorthodox chance, and made the most of it. Allied with his unconventional introduction to the game, Wagner excelled on the ballfield at an irregular rate. Deemed as the greatest shortstop in the game’s rich history by the bulk of baseball historians, Wagner played 21 years in the bigs, and finished with 3,420 hits. A complete ballplayer who could hit for average, and run with the best of them, Wagner had 11 seasons where he batted at least .300 with 30 doubles and 30 steals, which is more than any other ballplayer in league history. In fact, the only other ballplayer with more than five seasons miming those statistics was Ty Cobb, who strung together eight seasons with such numbers. His career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) mark of 120.3 while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates ranks him number one all-time in franchise history. Beyond WAR, Wagner sits atop the franchise’s record book in runs scored, triples, and times on base. Though he produced at the plate in a poetic-like manner, Wagner, in a series of articles that he published towards the back-end of his career, claimed that hitting was far from a métier. “I wouldn’t signify batting as an art,” Wagner said in one his 1916 pieces, titled, ‘Batting and Base-Running’. “It is merely a process and a job of keeping yourself within the process. It requires the eye, strength, nerve, and the temperamental force to combat with the ballplayer’s greatest dread – the slump.” In terms of his actual approach when looking for a pitch to clobber, Wagner noted, “I have always hit them the way they come and as they looked at me, and the proper thing, though batters differ, is to do the natural.” In deciphering this quote alone, it is safe to say that one of the ingredients to Wagner’s success revolved around his ability to flow with the opportunity as opposed to forcing his way towards what he aspires to get. A vital component for all to mix into their personal recipe for attainment.
Despite putting up record-setting stats, it is reported that “The Flying Dutchman” focused very little on his outlandish output. In a 1911 piece written by Ralph S. Davis, the sports editor of The Pittsburgh Press from 1905 to 1930, the writer claims that Wagner, “never knows how many hits he has made, nor what percentage of runs he has scored.” Years later, when he was scripting the batch of articles referenced above, Wagner backed up this take, stating, “I have never kept a diary nor any of my playing records or statistics, but memory’s scrap book serves me well through the span of 25 years since my brother, Al, taught me the rudiments of the game of baseball.” Adding on to his offbeat correlation with the happenings inside the game, when conversing with others off the field, Wagner admitted that he preferred to not discuss his profession at all. When speaking on this very matter, Wagner, in one of his aforementioned pieces, dubbed ‘My Friends, The Fans’, referenced a time during the height of his playing career where he was stranded on a train with a bunch of railroaders. Being the national superstar that he was, all of the men stuck on the ride were quite familiar with Wagner and his exceptional play, yet they avoided chatting about the game with him, which Wagner appreciated. “They knew who I was, but never opened their mouths about baseball,” said Wagner. “It was fishing, hunting, railroading, every subject but baseball.” Near the end of the article, the iconic shortstop provided further detail that explained why he’d rather not chat about his profession, and everything that comes along with it. “My aversion to talking baseball with every hotel lobby dude I meet does not mean that I do not retain my love for the game,” he said. “I love the game so that nothing could ever have taken me away from it.” Though discreet, this tidbit about Wagner demonstrates his internal dominion over his craft, as it’s clear that he did not let them game rule his mind. In addition, his appreciation for baseball was so pure and authentic, that he wasn’t interested in allowing anything to harm his passion. An insight to consider when assessing your own inherent interests.
According to a physician in Pittsburgh who was familiar with the city’s star player, his free way of thinking carried over into how he conducted himself during his moments away from the ballfield. “Honus is the living ideal of the simple life,” said the physician in a 1912 newspaper essay published in The Anaconda Standard. “He clings to nature. He spends his fall and winter in the woods, and his spare time of the summer at the banks of a stream- fishing.” Later in the piece, the doctor went on to note, “I have known him personally for years and I know that his fondness for hunting and fishing and life in the open air has kept him from going in the discards as a really great player. I have tried to prescribe such living to certain of my patients, but it isn’t born in them. Honus roams the woods from pure desire. He doesn’t worry. He sleeps a lot and he eats what he pleases, and when he pleases.” For fuel, the standout shortstop prized ham and eggs. A relished combo that he was more than delighted to scarf down multiple times a day.
To gain more insight into his free-spirited ways, American journalist, Sophie Irene Loab, conducted an interview with Wanger in 1910 at his very modest home in Carnegie, as the standout shortstop didn’t believe in squandering his money on lavish possessions. During their discussion, Loeb asked the Pittsburgh great what he believes makes up an elite ballplayer, to which Wagner answered, “Not only brawn, but brain skill as well are the necessary attributes of a successful ballplayer. The secret of excelling on the field is to do just what the other man least expects you to do. When asked the type of role that ‘luck’ plays in his profession, Wagner said, “A man in the field MAKES his luck. Too many players trust to luck and get left. A player of worth looks on the bright side of a game every time no matter how much of a loser he is, if he ever hopes to be a winner.” By carrying on with this mindset, Loeb noted that, in battles where Wagner’s team falls short, the ballplayer, “takes defeat with grace and puts a game out of his mind after it is played.” At the end of the interview, Loeb summarized the engagement with Wagner in one, resounding sentence: “He is fundamentally human, and his whole attitude is ‘Live and let live.’”
While his humble roots appeared to play a meaningful role in his optimistic comportment, it seems as though the backbone to Wagner’s illustrious career was his decision to go with the flow. He did this by abiding by his mapped-out process, which, in turn, helped him avoid getting overly caught up in the results along the way. Success or failure, Wagner marched on regardless, and when he did stumble, his reliance on positive thinking picked him back up. It is safe to assume that his profound connection to nature aided in cultivating this free-flowing mindset. While there was no denying he loved the sport of baseball, as he dedicated much of his prime physical years to it, Wagner was not attached to his personal results, yet still managed to produce at a sky-scraping rate. This is a grand example of an ideal kinship between the perceiver, and their objectives. When evaluating his own words, and the statements made by those who were familiar with the man, it’s crystal clear that Wagner’s open-minded approach helped him maintain a level-head when faced with the trials and tribulations of life as a professional ballplayer, as it’s a vocation that has bred more experiences of failure, than success, in the lives of all who has ever stepped up to the plate.
He did not force his way onto the bases, rather, Wagner took what the pitcher gave him, and trusted that his work in the discipline would bring forth the desired results in a natural manner. In times where his team, or he, as an individual participator, came up short, the moment of disappointment would be perished in thought. Even when he excelled, which he did in the sport for countless years, Wagner was quick to proceed onwards, as he did little to no tracking of his own personal metrics. By doing so, whether deliberate or not, he became less caught up in outcomes, and more focused on sticking by his ground plan. This allowed him to advance with the purest intent. In a world where many successful beings gravitate towards the limelight the second they are given the chance, Wagner steered clear of the public eye, which further shows his genuine affinity towards the fundamentals of the universe.
This simplistic, free-flowing method shall be imitated by all those who aim to materialize favorable outcomes, on a consistent basis, over the course of their experience. To cling to this code, one must develop a clear understanding of what they are trying to accomplish. In Wagner’s case, this meant generating the right results on the diamond, both as an offensive, and defensive, player. Once the goal is identified, it is clear that faith in one’s ability to materialize the sought-after outcome should outweigh a compulsive focus on the potential result in the mind of the perceiver. In essence, developing a strong bond with the pursuit itself, is far more advantageous than consuming the mind with hypothetical results that could play out down the road. Wagner’s adoration for the game of baseball coerced him into appreciating each contest, which helped escort him away from an obsessive desire to create certain results.
When tailing your target(s), give thought to Wagner’s healthy linkage to baseball so that you can determine if you harness the power over your goals, or if your aims control how you think and feel. The greatest shortstop, by almost all statistical metrics, shunned his mind from analyzing his exceptional numbers, moved on from low moments at the drop of a hat, and banked on his love for the game and rehearsed habits as the driving forces that would impel him towards preeminence. By all accounts, he did little to no stewing over his results. Good, bad, or indifferent, his steady decision to remain optimistic proved to be invaluable.
No matter what one’s objectives are, exhausting time and energy in excessive rumination over the outcomes along the way is far less beneficial than sticking by the plan that, if honored with love and integrity, will get you in a position to succeed. Those who have brought forth notable results in this realm did so by mastering the ins and outs of each step, as opposed to thinking about, and talking about, the top of the ladder. In relation to your goals, live by a mode of operating that, when followed through with to perfection, generates the desired results in a natural manner. If, when following through with your drawn-out procedure, your outcomes are not up to the mark, your sole focus should be to make minor adjustments to the process, and carry on, as opposed to dwelling over a mishap, and losing focus on what will help you bring forth better occurrences.
When one of your prized visions pops in mind, make certain that it is sensed with affection. During your active hours, as you spend time inching closer to your desire(s), do so in a fluid manner. Akin to how a river flows thanks to the force of gravity, train your mind to glide with your goals by leaning on life’s basic principles. Coast with the wind, as opposed to fighting the breeze.
LIFE LESSON: Move free in thought by mirroring the flow of nature