in , following another retirement, wagner returned for his final, abbreviated season. returning in june, he was spiked in july and played only sparingly for the remainder of the year, batting .265. he briefly held the role of interim manager, but after going 1–4, wagner told owner dreyfuss the job was not for him. he retired as the nl's all-time hit leader, with 3,430. (subsequent research has since revised this total to 3,418.) it took 45 years for st. louis' stan musial to surpass wagner's hit total.