Honus Wagner's 'Honey' to offer rare memorabilia at auction
06/06/03

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

When Leslie Wagner Blair was a little girl, springtime meant lovely, fragrant pink and white peonies were in bloom in her grandparents' yard in Carnegie. Her grandmother, Bess, would pick them and put them in a silver chalice.
[caption id="attachment_454" align="alignright" width="230" caption="Leslie Wagner Blair of Carnegie, the granddaughter of Pirates Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, will keep some memorabilia for herself. (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette)"][/caption]

That was no ordinary flower vase. The 11-inch Tiffany sterling chalise, or loving cup, was presented by National League president Harry Pulliam in December 1907 to the man Wagner Blair knew as Buck, her grandfather. Everyone else knew him as Honus Wagner. It is engraved with the five NL batting titles Wagner had collected to that point. He would win three more.

The story goes that Wagner, a Pirates' legend and Hall of Fame shortstop, was in a contract dispute that off-season and was called to Pulliam's office in New York and placated with the loving cup.

It is part of a collection of Wagner memorabilia that Wagner Blair has decided to sell this summer in a catalog auction run by SportsCards Plus of Orange County, Calif.

Wagner Blair, who still lives in Carnegie and gives her age as plenty-nine, was an only child and has no heirs. She was close to her grandfather and is depicted as a girl at the base of his statue outside PNC Park.

She is moving soon, and no longer has the space to store all the memorabilia.

"I still have pink and white peonies in my yard, so if [the cup] doesn't sell, I'll just use it for peonies again," Wagner Blair said with a laugh.

That's highly unlikely. The loving cup is one of the centerpieces of the collection and could bring upward of $50,000. All told, the memorabilia could sell for about $250,000.

Another prized item is a framed patch with "PBC," for Pittsburg Baseball Club from the sleeve of the heavy wool uniform Wagner wore in 1909, the year the Pirates beat Detroit in the World Series in a matchup between Wagner and the Tigers' Ty Cobb, two charter members of the Hall of Fame.

Other prize items include a game-used ball from the 1909 World Series, Wagner's large floor safe, contracts, scrapbooks and lots of photos, some signed. Some photos show Wagner in baseball scenes, others are from his outings as an avid hunter. There are also mementos from baseball's 1969 centennial banquet when Wagner, "the Flying Dutchman," was named the game's greatest shortstop.

Some of the items will be combined into lots. There will be about 50 lots for sale.

The auction will cause a buzz in the collecting and baseball worlds, according to Dan Imler, auction director of SportsCards Plus.

"This is Hall-of-Fame-caliber material," he said. "This material will be bought by high-level collectors and museums. These pieces are so special and so unique."

The provenance of the items -- something "Antiques Roadshow" fans know about -- makes the collection all the more astounding.

"The more time that passes, the greater the likelihood that important items from the estates of great figures would have been absorbed into the market," Imler said. "It's very rare that a collection like this even exists, and this one is coming right from the family."

Items will include a letter of authenticity. Estimates and opening bids won't be set for two or three weeks. Bidding will begin in late July and close Aug. 14. The items can be previewed on the auctioneers' Internet site, www.sportscardsplus.com, beginning sometime next week.

Many of the items, which are being held by SportsCards Plus, will be on display July 24-27 at the National Sports Collection Convention in Atlantic City.

Catalogs and auction information are available by calling SportsCards Plus at 1-800-350-2273.
[caption id="attachment_455" align="alignleft" width="230" caption="One item not in the auction is this pendant that was given to Honus Wagner after the 1909 World Series and made into a pin. "][/caption]

Wagner Blair and SportsCards Plus were put in touch by CMG Worldwide, an Indianapolis company that protects the marketing and licensing rights of Wagner's name and likeness. CMG also represents the interests of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Mark Twain and Malcolm X, among others.

SportsCards Plus sold what Imler called the third-best example of Wagner's baseball card several years ago for $350,000 and has auctioned memorabilia pertaining to Wilt Chamberlain and Ernie Banks, among others.

The importance of Wagner's memorabilia can be gauged by the scramble for his rare baseball cards. The best-known example, card T206, was sold two years ago by Chicago collector Michael Gidwitz to an unnamed buyer for $1.2 million. There are no cards among the memorabilia being auctioned this summer.

"He's absolutely an elite figure, with Ruth and Cobb," Imler said of Wagner. "He's as important a baseball figure as there is."

Wagner Blair hopes some of the items she is selling are more affordable and will go to fans, perhaps Western Pennsylvanians, who appreciate her grandfather not only for his baseball legacy but also for his kindhearted ways and the prominence he brought the city.

"Here's Buck, who I've never heard a bad thing about," she said. "He put 'gentle' in the word, 'gentleman.' He was just a good, hometown person. The way the image of some sports people is today is sad, and here's a man who was down to earth.

"I'm the only one who can continue what he did, push for good sportsmanship and family ties and how important it is to do good for people."

Wagner Blair realizes that to many people, the items being auctioned are treasures and hold great historical meaning. She said her grandfather was not materialistic.

"They were beautiful and unique things," she said. "Maybe I don't have the awe of it because I grew up with them, but I just don't have room for everything.

"I think they should be out there. I hope whoever buys any of these items will enjoy them and be able to display them."

She is keeping a few things, including Wagner's 1909 World Series pin, which an aunt had turned into a ring years ago. There are also her priceless memories from her childhood and her close relationship with Wagner, who died Dec. 6, 1955, at his home on Beechwood Avenue in Carnegie.

"He died in our house," Wagner Blair said. "He was in and out of a coma. The only one he recognized was Honey, and that was me. I hold that in my heart."