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| | Tuesday, December 14 Wagner is Player of the Decade for 1900-09 | |||||
Honus Wagner is remembered for much more that his expensive and rare tobacco baseball card. ESPN.com users voted the Pirates infielder as their first Player of the Decade.
The voting was conducted on ESPN.com in conjunction with the Players Choice Awards in Las Vegas on Nov. 5. ESPN.com users picked winners for the first nine decades of the century, and the players themselves will select the player of the '90s. The winner of that honor will be announced as part of the Players Choice Awards show, which will be televised on ESPN (8:30 p.m. ET).
Wee Willie KeelerA two-time batting champion who "hit 'em where they ain't," Keeler batted .424 for the Baltimore Orioles in 1897, and followed that up with a .385 mark in 1898. Only five-feet-four and 140 pounds, Keeler was a master place hitter and bunter, and he also ran like the wind. Keeler joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1899 and topped the National League with 240 hits in 1900. Later he moved across town, and spent most of the decade leading off for the American League's New York Highlanders. Nap Lajoie In 1901, his first season in the American League, graceful second baseman Nap Lajoie led the league in hits, doubles, home runs, runs scored and RBI. And with a .426 batting average, he set an AL record that still stands. Lajoie was transferred to Cleveland the next season, and he became the such a star that the club was for a time known as the "Naps" in his honor. Christy Mathewson Certainly the top pitcher of the decade, Christy Mathewson won 236 games and lost only 112 from 1900 through 1909, for an amazing .678 winning percentage. Master of the fadeaway pitch, "Matty" also showed great speed but was best known for his pitching smarts and his sense of fair play. Honus Wagner Arguably baseball's greatest shortstop ever, Honus Wagner had the highest batting average (.352), the most runs (1,014), the most RBI (956) and the most stolen bases (488) of any major leaguer in the decade. A brilliant athlete who could probably have made the Hall of Fame at any position, Wagner was still playing regularly in 1916, when he was 42 years old. Cy Young Right-hander Cy Young got his start in the major leagues in 1890, yet was still pitching well 20 years later, and from 1900 through 1909 he won more games (230) than anybody except Christy Mathewson. Young threw fastballs, curves and even a "tobacco" ball, and it's been said that in 22 years of pitching, he never suffered a sore arm. | ALSO SEE Baseball's Players Choice Awards Player of 1910-19: Ty Cobb Player of the '20s: Babe Ruth Player of the '30s: Jimmie Foxx Player of the '40s: Ted Williams Player of the '50s: Mickey Mantle Player of the '60s: Willie Mays Player of the '70s: Pete Rose Player of the '80s: Mike Schmidt  | |||||
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