You are 3 Degrees from Honus Wagner !
 

Posted By: <b>Jason L</b><p>Ok, an OT post because it's another one of my family-related posts (I know, collective groans), but ON-topic because it pertains to Honus Wagner...<br /><br />Everyone has heard of the old "6 Degrees of Separation" -made popular by the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon game...<br /><br />Well, all of you who have endured my posts over the past year can assume that you "know me" for the sake of this fun Friday night exercise.<br /><br />You know me (1) <br />I knew my grandfather (2) <br />My grandfather knew my cousin Lee Handley (3)<br />and Lee knew Honus Wagner!<br /><br />There are only 3 people between you and Honus!!!<br /><br />I had surmised that Lee had some sort of relationship with Honus throughout his Pirate playing days, as Honus Wagner hung around and coached the team in various capacities for many years coincident with Lee's tenure with the team, but until this discovery this week, I had never seen any hard evidence that they knew each other and were in fact contemporaries. At least from this we now know that they travelled together on at least one occasion!<br /><br />I picked this up from someone who was selling pieces from Whitey Wietelmann's estate. It is a 1978 copy of a photo that was originally taken on Feb 25, 1947. On the reverse, Whitey wrote the following description: "Second Pirate Squad, in charge of Coach 'Honus Wagner'...headed for Miami Beach Feb 25, 1947. Left to right - John 'Honus' Wagner, Frankie Gustine, Frank Kalin, Whitey Wietelmann, and Lee Handley..." <br /><br />[IMG]<img src="http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l289/smallcapdaddy/1947TravelPicture-HandleyWagner.jpg">[/IMG]<br /><br /><br />PS - of course, this also means you are 3 degrees from Lee's other HOF teammates, including Frankie Fritsch, the Waner brothers, and Arky Vaughan!<br />AND - 4 degrees from everyone that Honus knew, including all the other great HOFers of the deadball era!<br /><br />Hope that makes your weekend!<br /><img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>

You are 3 Degrees from Honus Wagner !
 

Posted By: <b>Brian</b><p>Another family relation: My great-grandfather, Frank Miller, was a friend and team mate of Wagner. Here are a few things I have of the two of them.<br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/millerbr/bullet/clip1.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/millerbr/bullet/pic007.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/millerbr/bullet/Clip2.jpg">

You are 3 Degrees from Honus Wagner !
 

Posted By: <b>MVSNYC</b><p>very cool guys...do you have cards of your relatives?

You are 3 Degrees from Honus Wagner !
 

Posted By: <b>Brian</b><p>I pick up his cards every chance I get.<br />Shameless plug - Always looking for these cards of Miller, San Francisco:<br /> 1910-1911 Obak T212<br /> 1911-1912 Zeenuts<br /> Obak T4<br /> Home Run Kisses<br /> Gilmartin<br /><br /><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/millerbr/bullet/cards.jpg">

You are 3 Degrees from Honus Wagner !
 

Posted By: <b>MVSNYC</b><p>hope you realize how cool that is?! (i'm sure you do)...that is your great-grandfather on those cards, so awesome

You are 3 Degrees from Honus Wagner !
 

Posted By: <b>Jason L</b><p>I do have several interesting pieces related to my cousins' careers, including cards, photos, book and article mentions, as well as a contract.<br /><br />The 2 brothers had an interesting journey, at an interesting time, and actually link throughout history:<br />Honus Wagner (coach of Lee's), Commissioner Landis (granted Lee free agency in 1936), Jackie Robinson (credits Lee with being the first opposing player to wish him well upon his ascension into the the majors), Don Zimmer (traded to the Cubs for his rookie season in exchange for Lee Handley, among others), and Steve Trachsel (discovered by Gene while he was a scout for the Cubs)<br /><br />You can see these items and stories on my website, if you are interested:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.freewebs.com/chisywact/thehandleyproject.htm" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.freewebs.com/chisywact/thehandleyproject.htm</a>