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Pie Traynor
#20
| Third base | Pittsburgh
Pirates
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Pie Traynor |
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| Pie Traynor
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Widely regarded for years as baseball's greatest third baseman, Traynor was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1948, and was honored as a member of the all-time team selected in 1969 for baseball's centennial. One of the finest third baseman the game has produced, his spectacular defensive prowess over-shadowed his fine hitting. He led third basemen in double plays each year from 1924 to 1927; with a great arm, he was outstanding on bunts and slow choppers, and led the NL in putouts 7 times.
But he was also a consistent .300 batter and 100 RBI-man, retiring with a career batting average of .320. Traynor topped the .300 mark ten times, and from 1925 through 1930 batted .342 - yet, on a team with Lloyd and Paul Waner, he led the Pirates in hitting just once, with a .356 mark in 1929. When he hit .366 in 1930, teammate Paul Waner hit .368. Traynor usually made contact, striking out only 278 times in his career. He fanned only seven times in 540 at-bats in 1930. Playing in spacious Forbes Field, Traynor hit few home runs, but consistently reached double figures in doubles and triples. He tied teammate Carey for the NL lead with 19 three-base hits in 1923. He remains among the Pirates' all-time leaders in every offensive category but home runs.
His star has faded somewhat as sluggers have emerged at the third base position - guys like Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews and George Brett - and made it a hitter's spot in the lineup. Traynor's career and single-season marks have been far surpassed by post-WWII players Schmidt, Brooks Robinson and Graig Nettles combined offense and defense into a single package and have also contributed to Traynor's drop in the rankings of the greatest third basemen of all time. Also, the fact that he didn't walk a whole lot (his career .362 OBA is pretty low, given a lifetime batting average of .320) should give pause to those who would suggest that Traynor ranks among the greatest third sackers of all time. And remember that batting averages in the 20 years between the wars were at their historic highs, making Traynor's accomplishments relatively less impressive.
Some critics have noted Traynor's lack of power - he was not one for home runs, hitting just 58 in his 1,941 games - though he did double and triple at a pretty good rate, and any right-handed hitter who tried to reach the left field wall in Forbes Field would have been a little loopy (it was 365 feet to the foul pole, and about 460 feet to left-center).
Maybe Trayor got points for personality - classy, intelligent, genial and articulate, he was a great fan favorite and a clubhouse leader. Rugged, rangy and handsome, Pie was the pride of the Pirates in the 1920s and 1930s and was considered by none other than John McGraw as "the finest team player in the game."
The Massachusetts native had been ignored by both Boston clubs. He came up as a shortstop but was moved to third base by Pittsburgh manager Bill McKechnie in 1922 - the first of 12 straight seasons in which he played 130 or more games. He teamed with the Waner brothers - Big Poison and Little Poison - defensive standouts Glenn Wright and Max Carey, outfielder Kiki Cuyler and pitchers Ray Kremer and Lee Meadows to produce a very good ball club in the 1920s. They won their first pennant since 1909 in 1925, and Traynor hit .346 in their seven-game World Series victory over Washington. He homered off Walter Johnson in the opener. He handled 24 chances without an error.
The Pirates put together another NL-winning squad in 1927, but dropped four straight to the Yankees.
While posting a record-tying seventh season as the NL putout leader at third base despite a sore throwing arm, Traynor replaced George Gibson as Pirate manager in June 1934. He played occasionally in 1935 and 1937, finishing with a NL record 2,288 putouts at 3B. He managed for six seasons, leaving in 1939 with what was then the second-most wins in Pirate history (457). He came close to a pennant in 1938, but Chicago's Gabby Hartnett's "Homer in the Gloamin'" snatched it away. Traynor scouted for the Pirates until his death.
He received his nickname because of his fondness for pastry as a kid.
Picture from National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.
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