“Old Bowlegs”

After Honus Wagner’s death in 1955, Chester L. Smith, sports editor for The Pittsburgh Press said:

“As long as there are two baseball fans left alive, Honus Wagner stories will be told and re-told, because Old Bowlegs was that kind of man.”

Honus Wagner

Smith proceeded to tell one which may or may not be apocryphal:

“And one day the Cubs were playing the Pirates and along about the seventh inning the Chicago starter got into trouble and first thing you knew the bases were filled with Bucs.”

Smith said Frank Chance brought in a rookie pitcher:

“Heinie Zimmerman, the Cubs third baseman stood close by the mound while the kid chucked a few into the catcher.  Standing near the plate, swinging a couple of bats and waiting to step in was a big, bowlegged, lantern-jawed individual.

“’Who’s the batter?’ The boy asked Zimmerman

“’Wagner,’ Zimmerman said glumly.

“’How do you pitch to him?’ was the next question.

“’Whatever you do,’ Heine said, ‘don’t pitch him tight.  Keep the ball outside.’

Heinie Zimmerman

“So, the preliminaries were over, and the new pitcher obeyed orders to the letter.  He threw Wagner an outside pitch which Honus promptly belted down the right field line for two bases, scoring all three runners.

“’I thought you said he couldn’t hit an outside pitch,’ the lad snapped at Zimmerman after the dust had settled.

“’I didn’t say he couldn’t hit it,’ Heine replied.  ‘All I said was don’t pitch him inside—I’ve got a wife and two kids at home.’”

Tags: Chester L. Smith, Chicago Cubs, Frank Chance, Heinie Zimmerman, Honus Wagner, Pittsburgh Pirates