Last weekend was the opening day for baseball for my son in the Weirton Baseball Association at its fields on Kings Creek. I never played there as a kid but rather out at the Termite Fields in Paris, Pa. Still, it is great to go down to Kings Creek and catch up with folks you don’t see often, have a hot dog or some popcorn, and most importantly, watch a good game of baseball.

There are great games that are played here in our area, but if you want some professional action, one must go to Pittsburgh or Cleveland to see the major league players. But there was a time in our area’s history when you didn’t have to travel far to see a league game. Naturally, in our little communities, we didn’t have the means of supporting a major league club, but that didn’t stop us from producing some memorable minor league teams.

The game of baseball in our area goes back some distance into history. During the Civil War, baseball was introduced to soldiers who met with others from different parts of the country and although it wasn’t invented during the conflict, it certainly helped make the game popular.

Right after the war in Steubenville one of, if not the first, baseball clubs in the city was organized called the Mears Club. According to an article in the Daily Herald dated March 20, 1886, the club was organized in 1866 and played “numerous first-class ball organizations in that day.” The first game took place May 11, 1867, at 1:15 p.m. and lasted until 5:20 p.m. with the Mears taking on the Hygeia Club of Pittsburgh. The Mears were victorious with a score of 89-61. To me, that seems like a huge score for a baseball game, but, according to an article published in Smithsonian Magazine called “A Brief History of the Baseball,” the balls of that era were not uniform and were almost always handmade. The balls were made with one piece of leather and comprised of four lines of stitching, giving them the nickname of lemon peel. The balls were lighter, darker and softer than a baseball of today with a rubber core and, according to the article, could be hit farther and bounce higher, thus the reason for the high score. But that score was nothing compared to the August 1867 game between Steubenville and Benwood, W.Va., in which Steubenville prevailed 101-28. The Mears Club played until 1869.

By the early 1880s a semiprofessional baseball team had been formed here but played only local teams. In 1887 the Steubenville Stubs were formed as part of the Ohio State League which only played for one year. In 1895 the Stubs were reborn to be part of the Interstate League with teams from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia. By mid-year, the Steubenville Stubs moved to Akron then to Lima and finally disbanded. In 1906, 1907, 1909, 1911, 1912 and 1913, the Stubs played in a variety of leagues, finally permanently disbanding in 1913. But it was for the Steubenville Stubs, that a baseball legend would play for his first minor-league team in 1895.

Honus Wagner was born in Carnegie, Pa., in 1874 and was one of nine children. He dropped out of school at the age of 12 to help support his family by working in a coal mine. Later he trained as a barber. Reflecting on his past baseball career in 1916, Wagner wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that it was his brother Al “Butts” Wagner who introduced him to the game.

Honus said, “In my boyhood, Al was rated among the greatest ball players of the Western Pennsylvania District, but, aside from my pride in his reputation, I did not respond very readily to the wiles of baseball. Al, I thought, was the real ball player of the family, and one was enough.” It was Al who brought his brother Honus to Steubenville, since he was playing in 1895 for the Stubs in their season in the Interstate League. Honus recounted “This is how I got to Steubenville. My brother was with the team, and he was the real star of the period, while I was only a proud brother, glad of the privilege of sometimes making a trip and doing the trainer’s duties or carrying water. I went there as a pitcher in 1895 and in my first game they played me in the outfield. I muffed three flies and hit a home run, but the homer did not get back the runs caused by my muffs, and I quit the team and went back to old Carnegie on a freight. Al came after me hot-footed and I rejoined the club.” Honus wasn’t the best pitcher for Steubenville. “One day while pitching, I hit seven men, waked 12, struck out 15 and demoralized the Akron Club. After I had broken one man’s ribs, they insisted that I be taken out and threatened a court injunction to prevent a dangerous man like me from pitching.”

When he was not on the field with Steubenville, Honus acted as the club’s barber, and every Sunday morning he would shave the team, starting with his brother Al.

By 1897, Honus was playing for the Louisville Colonels, a National League team, but he only played a few seasons for them when he went to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900 due to the National League being reduced from 12 teams to eight. The owner of the Colonels, Barney Dreyfuss, became part owner of the Pirates in that year and took Honus to Pittsburgh. For the Pirates, he became a star and helped them get to the first World Series against the Boston Americans, although the Pirates were defeated five games to three.

Honus returned to Steubenville with the Pirates to play an exhibition game against the Steubenville Business College on Oct. 12, 1905, at Altamont Park. The weather was wintry but, according to the Herald-Star, more than 500 fans came out to enjoy the game. The Pirates defeated Steubenville 5-3, but Honus was evidently impressed with the local team because he agreed to come back eight days later for a rematch. Steubenville lost that game too, 7-3.

Honus played major league ball until 1917 when he retired from the Pirates. His batting average was .329, had 3,430 hits, 101 home runs, 1,732 RBIs and 722 career stolen bases. In 1911, Honus won his eighth National League batting title, according to his Wikipedia page. It was matched only once in 1997 by Tony Gwynn. His hit total was surpassed by Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1915, he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a record that stood for 70 years, broken only in 1985 by Tony Perez.

After retirement, he went on to play for some semipro teams, especially Superior Steel of Carnegie, which battled Steubenville’s LaBelle Iron Works Team in August 1919. For that game, held on Carnegie field in the North End, according to the Herald-Star, 3,000 fans turned out to see the old star play one last time. He was cheered every time he went to bat. A special rule was lobbied against him from the Steubenville team to the effect that he could only take two bases on any hit. Despite the rule, Steubenville lost 9-0. Later in 1933, Honus went on to coach for the Pirates until his death in 1955. His number, 33, was retired in 1952.

Honus was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class in 1936 along with Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. He is regarded as the best shortstop of all time, and his baseball card in August sold for a record $6.6 million, making it the highest selling sports card of all time. It’s incredible to think that this legend had his start right here in Steubenville. It could be that the next Honus Wagner might be playing down at the WBA Fields on Kings Creek today. Don’t forget to get the baseball card.