Hal Wagner

Harold Edward Wagner (July 2, 1915 – August 4, 1979) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1949, playing a total of 672 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Born in East Riverton, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, Wagner batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and was listed at. Altogether, Wagner hit for a .248 average with 15 home runs and 228 RBI, and had a .981 fielding percentage, during his major league career.

Path to the majors Wagner grew up in the East Riverton area, and attended Riverside High School before transferring to Palmyra High School, where he played both baseball and basketball before graduating in 1934. He attended Duke University where he played baseball under former major leaguer Jack Coombs. He played center field during his first season at Duke, before converting to catcher. After hitting .380 in 1937, his junior year at Duke, he signed with the Athletics organization.

Early in the season, Wagner had his first plate appearance – again playing the Washington Senators, Wagner caught the bottom of the 8th inning, then flied out for the second out of the top of the 9th inning. He would not appear in another game with the Athletics until August, spending much of the year with Spartanburg. Wagner rejoined the Athletics in early August, and had his first MLB hit on August 20 against the New York Yankees – as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning, he hit a single off of Monte Pearson. Wagner played in most of the Athletics' games from late August through the end of the season, ending with 33 games played and batting .227 (20-for-88) with 8 RBI. Defensively he appeared as catcher 30 times, with 22 complete games, and .972 fielding percentage.

Wagner spent most of the season with Newark. In just 5 games with the Athletics – 2 in April, 1 in May, and 2 in June – he batted .125 (1-for-8) and defensively caught just 1 complete game.

Over the next four seasons, Wagner saw his playing time with the Athletics increase – 34 games in , 46 games in , 104 games in , and 111 games in . For those four years he batted an overall .236 (185-for-783) while catching in 263 games, 184 of them complete games. Wagner hit his first MLB home run during the final game of the 1941 season, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox on September 28, a doubleheader better remembered for Ted Williams going 6-for-8 to finish the season with a .406 batting average. For the 1942 All-Star Game, Wagner was added to the American League roster, when Bill Dickey of the Yankees was unable to play due to injury,

In total, Wagner played parts of 8 seasons with the Athletics, appearing in 339 games while batting .234 with 3 home runs and 89 RBI.

Boston Red Sox Arriving in trade from the Athletics, Wagner played his first game with Boston on May 10, 1944, and received steady playing time in a platoon with the right-handed hitting Roy Partee. During June, for example, Wagner caught 11 complete games and appeared in 3 others, while Partee caught 14 complete games and appeared in 1 other. Wagner hit especially well during July and August, raising his average from .274 on June 30, to .295 on July 30, to .330 on August 27. But with World War II still ongoing, Wagner was called to serve, and on August 28 he joined the US Army. Wagner appeared in five games of the 1946 World Series, but went hitless in 13 at bats against the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated Boston in seven games.

Early in the season, the Red Sox traded Wagner to the Tigers for fellow catcher Birdie Tebbetts, a native New Englander who went on to have 3½ stellar seasons for Boston. At the time of the trade, May 20, neither catcher was hitting very well – .231 for Wagner, and .094 for Tebbetts. Their managers felt a change in home ballpark might benefit both players, It would be his final MLB appearance, as he was released by the Phillies one month later. Wagner's short stay in the National League was a total of four games played, and no hits.

After the majors Wagner spent most of 1949 with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class AAA International League, appearing in 95 games and batting for a .260 average, and then spent 1950 with the Dallas Eagles of the Class AA Texas League, batting .212 in 89 games. After his career, he continue to live in his hometown – he died in 1979 at the age of 64, in nearby Riverside, New Jersey.