The original 'Guys were tougher in my day!'

A real man, with real talent.

"Back in my day boxers fought with their bare knuckles, and if a fight went fewer than 50 rounds we'd demand our nickel back." - Mr. Burns (The Simpsons)

:27 - :40. “In my time you got in not because the book said you hit a set percentage. Somebody looked at your teeth, your x-rays or ankles and labeled you prime rib of beef or just plain cow”

@jtjurje357

3 жыл бұрын

Way to go! That was harder to crack than a Soviet code but you somehow pulled it off.

@DanJosephauthor

3 жыл бұрын

I think you got it. I wouldn't have gotten "prime rib of beef" in a thousand years. Now the "just plain cow" makes sense. Great job!

@georgemartin5980

3 жыл бұрын

I was just working to figure it out too, and I got the "prime rib of beef" after about 4 tries. Helps to close my eyes and focus. Beautiful accent and expressions. Thanks for sharing.

@alejandromorenoc3194

3 жыл бұрын

It's a contribution catch the Sense ; thanks for your job.

@CommercialForest

3 жыл бұрын

I was just about to write we need someone from old steel country OH/PA to translate but you nailed it. Thanks

Every so often I'll peruse the internet searching for audio recordings of the dead ball era players. This is the first time I've heard Honus' voice. What a treat, you made my week!!!

@DN-kz6qt

2 жыл бұрын

watch the video "Honus Wagner Speaks! 1933 Colorized" thats amazing. Also in this rare video he plays groundballs and hit balls in box

@GreenLightMe

10 ай бұрын

There’s tons of video of him too from 1930s he was a position coach for Pittsburgh Pirates

@justinelliott3529

5 ай бұрын

There are so many now

He sounds exactly how he looks

@jtjurje357

3 жыл бұрын

I can't stop laughing at this comment. Truest thing I ever read on the internet I reckon.

@miro11912

3 жыл бұрын

💀

@mlb4747

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah , drunk. Like Ruth

@seththomas9105

3 жыл бұрын

@@mlb4747 Who asked you? Sit down, Frances.

@samlong6740

3 жыл бұрын

@@mlb4747 Yeah, that was my thought, too.

wow, honus would have been around 73-74 years old in 1948, the guy was born in 1874 just 9 years after the civil war ended. his career was from 1897 to 1917. what a physical specimen honus was, he grew up in an era when *everything* was hard labor, even factory work was back breaking and long hours. honus played until he was 43.

@daniellinehan63

3 жыл бұрын

He did batting practise at age 59 and was smashing the ball to all fields-that crack of the bat was something

@jimdrake3436

2 жыл бұрын

His eyesight on the field was still keen enough at age 59 that after hitting two or three balls at several angles, he passed on the next one and said to the pitcher, “That was outside a half an inch.”

The flying Dutchman! Honus played for the love of the game and boy was he a tough player!

To my way of thinking, Honus Wagner epitomizes what a true baseball player should be. And, man, what a player he was!

Look at the size of that bat!!! Hans was a gamer went head to head against Cobb 1909 World Series

The old saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same", is so true....If you didn't know it was Honus Wagner giving this interview back in 1948 you'd swear it was a player from the 60's referring to MLB in 2021.......

@jeffgo5742

3 жыл бұрын

Lol it’s crazy but that’s exactly how it sounded

@astralplaneencounters5812

3 жыл бұрын

@@jeffgo5742 😂 👍

@socraticgadfly

3 жыл бұрын

"Back in my day .... and we LOVED IT!"

@duradim1

3 жыл бұрын

I thought the same thing but also give Honus credit for not slamming the players for making the big bucks. The market sets a players salary, not the owners.

@stevensmoley7983

2 жыл бұрын

Back in my day, people were still usin' their fingers to dial a telephone and not talking out loud and speaking to Alexa.

That interview is an audio time machine. A rugged man playing baseball for survival not sport. He’s describing life . Baseball was just his occupation epitomizing the era he lived.

Honus once said he scooped up a rabbit instead of the ball and still got the runner out by a hare.

Tough guys like Honus used to field grounders with their face. And still the ladies loved them.

@jgrullon32

3 жыл бұрын

They ate nails for breakfast with no milk.

@ndep93

3 жыл бұрын

@@jgrullon32 They went to the Salty Spitoon after the games too.

@miro11912

3 жыл бұрын

@@ndep93 they cluld beat up people without even laying hands on them

@BeastieNewYorkNewYorkville

3 жыл бұрын

Dude that was Hilarious

One of my prized possessions is a Horus Wagner mitt that I picked up at a antique shop. Purchased a wool uniform and at the last minute inquired about the mitt . The shop owner apparently didn’t know what he had and gave it to me for 25bucks . Best Buy I ever had It’s a keeper!

“Some of them even wear ties” the way he says it sounds so funny

That's what Wagner had to say about "MODERN DAY" baseball and the "modern-day" baseball player in 1948. Imagine what he would have to say about such things in 2021.

@69FOSTER

3 жыл бұрын

I'm sure in 2050, baseball players who played in 2020 will be saying the same thing, "In my day we were tougher and played for the love of the game, today they only care about picking up their paycheck." Or, "Players in my day cared about the name on the front of the jersey, today's players care about the name on the back."

@johnh7018

3 жыл бұрын

He would say the same thing. That’s how old guys talk. Always

@anonymike8280

3 жыл бұрын

@@69FOSTER They were tougher. The world has been going straight downhill since Day One.

@salamisumo2

3 жыл бұрын

@@anonymike8280 Keep cryin, boomer

@LambeauLeeeper

3 жыл бұрын

@@salamisumo2 Lol hes telling the truth whiner.

"Indians were still scalping out west" really puts his time in perspective. Amazing

This man was at the forefront of baseball early history. He played against some of the most well known hitters and pitchers of all time and lasted longer than most of his contemporaries. No wonder his baseball card is so valuable.

Back in the old days, before my grandpa was even thought of

"The indians were still scalpin' settlers out West, not wearin' silk pants for a night game at Yankee Stadium." 🤣 Thanks for posting this.

One of the best hitters in national league history, period. He won 7 batting titles

@bbb8997

Жыл бұрын

close, but I will take wagner

@howardmenkes2926

4 ай бұрын

I thought 8?

Never got civilized. Straight out of HUCKLEBERRY FINN!

One of the greatest shortstops to have ever played the game

One of the greats.

Wow, just imagine what he would say about ball these days, he made 35 dollars a month, now they are making millions a year. Thanks for the video, it was amazing hearing an old ball players voice.

Listen to the man-children talking about baseball cards. The one thing I can be sure of is that old Honus couldn't have more contempt for these Comic Book guys.

look at the pictures of the old time players compared to modern players, the old timers look like they came out of coal mines and modern players from college.

@fouronetwo813

3 жыл бұрын

Because they did then and they do now 😂

@howardmenkes2926

4 ай бұрын

No lie

For a detailed description of professional baseball in the early 1900’s read “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty” by Charles Leerhsen. Great book, well researched and documented. It’s difficult for us to comprehend and appreciate Wagner’s statements including that “all the teams were fighters, that’s the way it went.” Baseball was like the wild west compared certainly to the modern game.

@philippiansfourfour1081

3 жыл бұрын

Today it’s a bunch of soy boys prancing around with man buns

I didn't think any recordings of his voice existed. Awesome find!

@GreenLightMe

10 ай бұрын

Plenty of interviews with him in the 30s on video

Very cool.

Can you imagine what ne would say about today's baseball?

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

Bonus Wagner’s baseball card sold for $3.25 million in October 1920!!

@charleswinokoor6023

3 жыл бұрын

Are you certain?

@fouronetwo813

3 жыл бұрын

2020?

@willdrucker4291

3 жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@nicholasschroeder3678

3 жыл бұрын

And it's in large part because there were few made because he objected to tabacky

@elhijodelchupacabra

3 жыл бұрын

Wow. And what is the price today after 101 years ? 😜

What a gem Dan, TY for sharing.

Wow! You go Hans!! 🤠

Man, thank you for sharing this!

"I was playin' ball before McKinley was elected president." McKinley was elected in 1896. You gotta love basbeball

He was truly a amazing player. In the World Series Pittsburgh versus Detroit he clearly outshone Ty Cobb

KZread is a time machine

Gold

Wish I had his baseball card

@greylanders6101

3 жыл бұрын

I wish I had seen him play.

The most expensive baseball card in the world!

@roseforyoubabe

3 жыл бұрын

not anymore it has been surpassed by mickey mantle 1952 card

@citizenbeeswax7985

3 жыл бұрын

@@roseforyoubabe wow, I knew the mantle card was up there, but had no idea it surpassed it.

@citizenbeeswax7985

3 жыл бұрын

I just looked it up and the mantle card was sold for 5.2 million, but what's more amazing is that mike trout's 2009 bowman rookie sold for 3.9 million.

@jtjurje357

3 жыл бұрын

@@citizenbeeswax7985 I know, it was shocking. That Mike Trout sale is a travesty.

@citizenbeeswax7985

3 жыл бұрын

@@jtjurje357 my favorite card growing up was the 89 upper deck Griffey rookie card. But that card never went up in value like I thought it would. If anything, it went down in value, which I just dont get.

Could only imagine what he would say about today's players LMFAO

Would love to hear the full interview

It seems to be true that the culture surrounding the game in the deadball era was rougher and more colorful, and they did earn less than players did in 1948. It is less clear whether one of the top deadball teams could have beaten one of the top teams from 1948 consistently. But I wanna know! Why isn't time travelling a thing? At least there's youtube. Thank you for sharing this here.

Honus Wagner, .352 lifetime average (I think second only to Ty Cobb). He would not go to movies as he thought they might affect his eyesight. Also, he has the image of the highest priced baseball card, as it was from a tobacco company - and he had them stop production immediately (he was apparently opposed to shag). Would have loved to see some old games from that era.

@greylanders6101

3 жыл бұрын

Wagner hit .329 lifetime Hornsby hit .358, and Joe Jackson hit .356.

@zanthtuckerbye8177

Жыл бұрын

After we die .. I'm hoping such things like that are possible .. I want to watch Ruth also as well as Cobb .. All those old timers

@kenshiloh

Жыл бұрын

@@zanthtuckerbye8177 Hi. In heaven, we won't remember anything of this earth. That is because the best of times here cannot compare to anything that is in heaven. Yet, do you know Christ? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? That is, those who have been born again love Christ first. If I asked you what you thought about most of the time, would it be Christ? If not, ask and you shall receive! Christ died on a Cross so that we may know Him. Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

Wow.

Funny how in 1948 he's talking about how much money the players get paid. I guess it seemed like a lot to him compared to what he got, but in 1948 most of those players still had to have winter jobs to get by. Can you imagine what he'd think now seeing these players get paid with contracts worth hundreds of millions. If Wagner played today he'd be one of the top paid players and would probably be paid in just one week more than he ever earned in his entire lifetime.

@stevensmoley7983

2 жыл бұрын

I actually think if Wagner was still alive and past his playing days, he would be in favor of the high salaries based on him saying in this interview that "the player deserves everything he gets".

@lukedrifter1

Жыл бұрын

@@stevensmoley7983 Wagner today would earn more in one DAY as an MLB player than he ever earned in his lifetime. For example, if youdo the math on Mike Trout's salary it comes out to $222,000 per game. I doubt Honus made anything close to that in his entire career.

@stevensmoley7983

Жыл бұрын

@@lukedrifter1 That wouldn't surprise me. There was no free agency back then raising salaries at lightning speed and if you add 100 years of general inflation to the mix, he would be a very multimillionaire today.

@GreenLightMe

10 ай бұрын

He lived to 1955 and 50s salaries jumped due to Television and players were able to be full time baseball players

How the heck do you find these?!?!

@elb1038

3 жыл бұрын

Who knows lol

That last line...💥💥💥☠️☠️

Greatest sport since ever....

@marzmann5297

3 жыл бұрын

Yes

Lmao this made my day!! Imagine what he would say about these sissies playing today!! Amazing thank you!!!

@chickey333

3 жыл бұрын

He'd probably say: They're still making 35 dollars a month but what are all of those zeros doing there after the five? I wouldn't even know how to pronounce that number.

Thanks for bringing this to us 🇺🇸

Incredible find!!

@DanJosephauthor

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I like digging up rare baseball audio.

Lifetime BA was in the neighborhood of Ty Cobbs. His baseball card is priced maybe around $100,000.

"Maybe I never got paid because I never got civilized ", Damn, that's a rough self analysis 😕

Awesome

Steubenville ohio!! I grew up about 20 mins down the river from there. Youd be shocked how much this area comes up.

@danacoleman4007

2 жыл бұрын

it's called confirmation bias

@DavidMcdonald-df8tb

2 ай бұрын

Also Dean Martin

Like the others, thanks for this. This kind of thing always makes me thankful for baseball and it’s history.

May I attempt a translation? "You got in not because the book said you hit, and ___ or somebody looked at your teeth, and measurate(???) your ankles, and labeled you prime rib of beef, or just plain cow." Also, I think he says a "crowd of young players," not "proud young players." Very interesting is his pronunciation of "Ohio," and endearing is his inclusion of the article in "the Yankee Stadium."

@chickey333

3 жыл бұрын

I think you are right about his phrase: "a crowd of players stand in hotel lobbies..." And his expression "out here in Pittsburg" may have referred to how Pittsburg was so much farther west then all of those big east coast cities especially when having to ride the train to get to all their away games. And the phrase "boys waiting around for co-eds" well some things in life never change no matter what era they are talking about.

@howardmenkes2926

4 ай бұрын

I've heard Ohioans pronounce it this way.

I'm gonna start answering a lot of people with "some plain cow"

A big tough Dutchman who took no nonsense from anyone. One of the greats from long ago.

@nychris2258

Жыл бұрын

He was German not Dutch

@Brace67

Жыл бұрын

@@nychris2258 Well, we won’t hold that against him.

He said "today (meaning 1948), most players are in baseball because it's a well-paying job." Well, maybe compared to Honus' time, but the reserve clause still existed then, such that ball players did not have long-term control of their careers. The salaries in 1948 were still a fraction of the salaries today. What would old Honus say if he saw the state of baseball from the 1970s, when free agency began, to 2021?!!

@GreenLightMe

10 ай бұрын

How did Babe Ruth move to a different team ??

It's funny how he said "old days" and players playing for money or being business,just imagine if he was around after say 1980 when it really exploded! Very interesting to hear his thoughts about rough and tumble!

He was basically a feral baseball player. I like it.

Players were tougher in my day...... Never heard that one before!

@RobD-jq7ry

3 жыл бұрын

Its typically true though. I liked that while he said that he also said players of that current era were smart and deserved every penny they got. He even suggested that he may have never became civilized and that's why he's not like today's player. He's not bitter at all.

@rsuriyop

3 жыл бұрын

Well if that were the case then times must've been even _tougher_ before Wagner. Back in the 1870's and 80's and before, players had to field after plays _without_ the use of a glove, if you could even imagine that!

@RobD-jq7ry

3 жыл бұрын

@@rsuriyop you are probably correct.

@jimdrake3436

2 жыл бұрын

As Wagner himself said, in his prime he used a glove with padding only in the fingers, not the palm area.

35$ a month salary, now it's 35 million per year and up... Hot dog and soda was what .10 now it's like 17.00 at Busch stadium.

"In my day, indians were still scalping the trappers out west, not wearing silk pants for a night game in Yankee Stadium." lol

@mbd501

3 жыл бұрын

That was a great line.

@michaelkaminski8339

3 жыл бұрын

And of course not true.

@JENDALL714

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelkaminski8339 Very true, but he left out the Indians were also scalping women and children in Wagon Trains that were crossing the plains coming west, it was so bad that the military had to start escorting the Wagon trains to protect the people. It's the truth, but probably too gruesome for him to mention on the radio.The Indians were not the benevolent peace pipe smoking people the revisionist want you to believe they were. In fact when Honus Wagner was born, Indians still owned Black Slaves, even though Slavery ended several years earlier. They refused to give them up because freeing the Slaves was the White man's law and they believed they didn't have to follow the White Man's laws!

@georgemartin5980

3 жыл бұрын

@@michaelkaminski8339 Wagner was born before the Battle of Little Bighorn. He was 15 years old at the time of the Wounded Knee Massacre, the last major clash between federal troops and the Indians.

@socraticgadfly

3 жыл бұрын

@@JENDALL714 THIS, in turn, is not true. The Oklahoma Indians were forced to give up their slaves at the end of the Civil War just like white Southerners. Scalping? White men did it a full millennium ago. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalping

Yea players today would get mauled by Wagner's generation. They might be more skilled today but they aren't tougher

@patron40silver

3 жыл бұрын

Wagner wouldn't make a AA roster now. It doesn't matter how tough he was. His physical abilities wouldn't allow it.

@Shinobi33

3 жыл бұрын

@@patron40silver what? Lol His physical abilities? That's what got him in the league. What you think he was overweight all the time? Have you see his Boston pictures or early Yankee years? Or 1926 and 1927 when he got back in shape to 57 and 60 HRs?!!! He was massive. Tall and strong. Plus he had an arm and was a left handed pitcher, a good one. He hit 29 HRs as a starting pitcher in the dead ball era. Later on in his career he could party all night and hit 2 homers the next day hungover. Masterful batting stance. So you mean to tell me that with today's nutrition and strength and conditioning coaches that he wouldn't past AA? Are you drunk right now?

@69FOSTER

3 жыл бұрын

@@patron40silver I agree, their is now way of comparing the players of Wagner's generation, but from looking at photos, those players then were so out of shape and look about 65 years old. And looking at film, the way the pitchers delivered the ball looked like they were playing overhand pepper.

@jessesmith7582

3 жыл бұрын

Today, a pitcher makes headlines if he goes 9 innings. In 1905 Rube Waddell pitched both games of a double-header. He out--pitched Cy Young to win the 2nd game in 20 innings. That season he went 27-10, 27 complete games and 328 total innings pitched. As far as I know, the distance from the mound to the plate was the same then as it is now.

@jessesmith7582

3 жыл бұрын

@@Shinobi33 He wouldn't have the patience to play on a team today. Seeing half the roster on the bench with "slight quad soreness" or "tenderness in the forearm" would turn him off.

Man with the most rarest baseball card and expensive

I read a book last year that says exactly what Honus is saying here. It was a book on the physics and psychology of baseball. Very interesting. But the author said, yeah, just like they apply algorithms to most things today, no-brain sissy jerks measure everything, put the stats thru computer models and decide that way who is most likely to fit into their scheme, hit the ball, catch the ball, survive a season, make the owners money. Every time you apply what you think is science to something that ISN'T, you ruin it. Took the whole spirit of the game away.

@danacoleman4007

2 жыл бұрын

what's the name of the book?

@whollybraille7043

2 жыл бұрын

@@danacoleman4007 Mike Stadler, "The Psychology of Baseball" 2007. Thanks

He would really be pissed now. Not so much with the players as with the Commissioner’s office and all the dumb rule changes.

Damn if he was calling the players pretty boys bacc then I wonder what he would say about Bryce Harper

Homie said jfjfhdhdjskosks for a good 15 seconds

Take a look a the fields from that era. In some closeups of players you can see the really poor quality of the fields. Plus gloves were small, with little/no lacing. You had to use two hands almost always. And no batting helmets or even hat liners. And pitchers very willing to hit you. Not brush back, hit. Plus established players hazed rookies who were a threat to their jobs. Economic alternates in most eras were pretty bleak.

@oldmanballer5088

3 жыл бұрын

There’s another interview where Horus said his glove was just barely bigger than his hand and it didn’t have the padding that the modern gloves had. This interview was when he was coaching Pittsburgh. 1933 or so I think

@stevensmoley7983

2 жыл бұрын

It was even worse before Wagners time. The fields were so bad back then, that you didnt even look at the fields to know this! Pitchers would normally give up 100-200 UNearned runs a season due to the errors because the playing conditions were so bad.

He sounds like the coach from the waterboy. Blake Clark. Lol

I wonder what he’d think of the players today.

Back when men were tougher than woodpecker lips.

The player's these days make alot of money 🤣

@briangulley6027

3 жыл бұрын

If he saw todays money his head would explode.

If this interview were to have taken place in 2022, it might have sounded something like this: "Back in the old days there was no social media to whine and bitch on, no transsexuals reading stories to kindergarteners, we were 100% sure if we were male or female, and didn't get these...what do you call em......participation trophies".

Finally the answer to how his name is correctly pronounced: "HONNUS."

'back in the day...' -- something we're all going to say.

A 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card from Topps sold for $5.2 million to become the most expensive sports card of all time, PWCC Marketplace announced Thursday. The $5.2 million purchase easily topped the five-month-old record held by a Mike Trout rookie card that sold for just under $4 million in August.

This is when baseball was a real game.

Old world thinking,it’s what he grew up knowing & living through his eyes. But if he were to comment on current baseball,forgedaboutit!

Hong

I’m not sure if you have done this one but you should try Ty Cobb

@billjenkins9634

3 жыл бұрын

I just watched one. These are great!

@jtjurje357

3 жыл бұрын

I was surprised that Ty Cobb lived into the 1960s. In fact he attended the first home game in LA Angels history. It didn't seem possible to me that an 'ancient' legend should overlap with a newfangled expansion team like that. Almost like finding out that Babe Ruth played a few games for the Marlins or Walter Johnson struck out Kurt Bevaqua towards the end of his career. lol

Glad we got rid of those savage scalpers at least

Good to finally know for sure how he pronounced his first name [Hah-nes: It makes sense, as it was a truncated version of Johannes]______________|

All my life I imagined he had a German accent! Holy Shit! Along with ARod and Jimmy Rollins*, the greatest shortstop of all time. *Rollins because of his N.L. all time best fielding percentage, and his 2007 MVP season.

What ??

To be fair, no one is wearing silk pants to ball games anymore, no matter how untough we've gotten.

@BeckVMH

3 жыл бұрын

Haha I hope not.

Why do I get the idea that Wagner wasn't 'woke'?

@philippiansfourfour1081

3 жыл бұрын

They didn’t put soy in all the food back then

Huge fan of Honus Wagner. Sad to say he's sounding like Sniffer Joe here.

Those were great days to make a fast buck if you pick the one team to win how well I remember.......

Ehhh...too bad he didn’t talk about his T-206 baseball card...what’s it worth nowadays?...5 million dollars?...but back then?...the tobacco was worth more..lol

Can't imagine if Honus seen Cam Newton enter the stadium.

Back When Men were Men and the Sheep were Always Scared! #BetterTimes

Imagine if you will; The Flying Dutchman doing this interview, but having the voice of *Gilbert Gottfried* !!! 😂😂😂

@danacoleman4007

2 жыл бұрын

why?