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WHEREAS, Johannes Peter Wagner, know as Honus Wagner, grew up in Carnegie and played professional baseball from 1897 to 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates; and
WHEREAS, after Mr. Wagner hung up his cleats, he teamed up with fellow Pirate Pie Traynor to open a sporting goods store on Wood Street, Downtown, Honus Wagner Sporting Goods, selling sports gear, trophies, and team uniforms to the Pirates, semi-pro and high school teams; and
WHEREAS, name recognition didn't keep crowds coming, so the store went bankrupt in 1928 and was purchased by E. Louis Braunstein, and Honus Wagners' moved to 813 Liberty Avenue; and
WHEREAS, in the 1960's, Mr. Braunstein moved the store to its last location, 320 Forbes Avenue, where four generations of his family worked in the business, the last owners being Mr. Braunstein's granddaughter Harriet Shapiro and her husband Murray; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Shapiro's children chose other professions, so after 91 years as a fixture in Downtown Pittsburgh, Honus Wagner Sporting Goods closed its doors on March 11, 2011; and
WHEREAS, you can't think of the store without thinking of Honus Wagner, one of the greatest shortstops that ever lived, his statue bears a commanding image at the home plate entrance to PNC Park; and
WHEREAS, Honus Wagner won eight batting titles and hit .300 or better in 17 consecutive seasons, saw action in nearly 2,800 games with 10,450 at-bats, 3,430 hits and a .328 lifetime batting average. He had 651 doubles, 252 triples and 722 stolen bases - hardly heard of today; and
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Council and the City of Pittsburgh commends Honus Wagner, Pie Traynor, the Braunstein family and Harriet and Murray Shapiro for giving this City a destination, a place to meet, a location where everyone knew they could purchase high quality sporting goods and this City will miss Honus Wagner's Sporting Goods.