| Pie Traynor | |
|---|---|
 Traynor in 1925 | |
| Third baseman | |
| Born:(1898-11-11)November 11, 1898 Framingham, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| Died: March 16, 1972(1972-03-16) (aged 73) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 15, 1920, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 14, 1937, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .320 |
| Hits | 2,416 |
| Home runs | 58 |
| Runs batted in | 1,273 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1948 |
| Vote | 76.9% (eighth ballot) |
Harold Joseph "Pie"Traynor (November 11, 1898 – March 16, 1972) was an Americanthird baseman,manager,scout andradio broadcaster inMajor League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career between 1920 and 1937 for thePittsburgh Pirates.[1] Traynor had a .320 careerbatting average, batting over .300 ten times with seven seasons with over 100runs batted in (RBI). Withhome runs limited by playing inForbes Field, the most difficult park for power hitting in theNational League (NL), he compensated by reaching double digits intriples eleven times, leading the league in 1923. He batted .346 in the1925 World Series to help the Pirates take their first championship in 16 years.
Traynor led NL third basemen inputouts seven times, indouble plays four times, and inassists three times; his 41 double plays in 1925 were an NL record until 1950, and his 226 putouts that year remain the highest NL total since 1905. He set major league records for career double plays (303) and games (1,863) at third base which were broken in 1945 and 1960 respectively, and which remained NL records untilEddie Mathews broke them in 1964 and 1965; his 2,289 putouts remain the NL record, and his 3,521 assists were the league record until Mathews passed him in 1964. Traynor was inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame in1948, becoming the initial third baseman elected by theBaseball Writers' Association of America.
Following World War II, Traynor was often cited as the greatest third baseman in major league history. In recent years, his renown has diminished, with the modern-era careers of third basemen including Mathews,Brooks Robinson,Mike Schmidt, andGeorge Brett moving to the forefront in the memories of baseball fans;[2][3][4] however, he is still widely regarded as the top third baseman in the National League prior to 1950.
Traynor was born inFramingham, Massachusetts, to parents who had emigrated from Canada.[5] He received his nickname as a child inSomerville, Massachusetts, because he frequented a grocery store and often asked for pie. The store owner called him "Pie Face", which was later shortened to Pie by his friends.[2]
In 1919, he played in what is now theCape Cod Baseball League (CCBL). Playing for both theFalmouth andOak Bluffs town teams, he batted .447 for Falmouth and had a combined batting average of .322 for the two teams. In 2009, he was inducted into theCCBL Hall of Fame.[6][7]
Traynor began hisprofessional baseball career in 1920 as ashortstop for thePortsmouth Truckers of theVirginia League.[8] He was asked by aBoston Bravesscout to work out with the team atBraves Field, but the scout forgot to tell Braves managerGeorge Stallings. Stallings ran Traynor off the field, telling him not to return.[9][10]
Traynor made his major league debut with thePittsburgh Pirates at the age of 21 on September 15,1920, appearing in 17 games that season.[1] He appeared in 10 games for the Pirates in1921, but spent the majority of the season playing for theBirmingham Barons.[8] He posted a .336batting average in 131 games for the Barons, but he committed 64errors as a shortstop.[5][8]
Traynor became the Pirates' regular third baseman in1922, hitting for a .282 batting average with 81runs batted in (RBI).[1] Following the advice ofRogers Hornsby, he began using a heavierbat in1923 and blossomed into one of the best hitters in theNational League (NL). He hit above .300 for the first time with a .338 batting average along with 12home runs and 101 runs batted in.[1][5] With tutoring provided by teammateRabbit Maranville, his defense also began to improve, leading National League third basemen inputouts andassists.[5][11]
In1925, Traynor posted a .320 average with six home runs, 106 runs batted in and led the league infielding percentage as the Pirates won the NLpennant by8+1⁄2 games over theNew York Giants.[1][12] In the1925 World Series, he hit .346 including a home run off future Hall of FamepitcherWalter Johnson as the Pirates defeated theWashington Senators in a seven-game series.[13][14] Traynor ended the season eighth inMost Valuable Player (MVP) Award balloting.[15] His 41 double plays in 1925 set an NL record for third basemen that stood for 25 years.[5]
The Pirates won the pennant again in1927 with Traynor hitting .342 with five home runs and 106 runs batted in, but they lost to theNew York Yankees in the1927 World Series.[1][16] In November of that year, members of theBaseball Writers' Association of America selected him as the third baseman for the 1927 all-star major league team.[17] Traynor hit .337 and produced a career-high 124 runs batted in during the1928 season despite hitting only three home runs and finished in sixth place in the NL MVP Award balloting.[1] He continued to be a cornerstone for the Pirates, posting a .356 batting average in1929.[1]
Traynor hit for a career-high .366 average in1930.[1] A different baseball was used in MLB in 1931, and Traynor's batting average decreased to .298. Despite the decline in his average, Traynor supported the use of the new ball, saying that the 1930 ball had caused too large of an advantage for hitters and had led to lopsided games that had ultimately decreased interest in the sport.[18] In 1933 MLB held its inauguralAll-Star Game and, Traynor was selected as a reserve player for theNL team.[19][20]
Traynor's last full season was in1934 when he hit over .300 for the ninth time in ten seasons, and was named as the starting third baseman for the NL in the1934 All-Star Game.[1][21] During the 1934 season, his throwing arm was injured in a play athome plate, and his defense began to suffer as a result.[5] That June, he became the Pirates' manager.[22] After playing in only 55 games in 1935, Traynor was a full-time manager in 1936. He played his final game on August 14,1937, scoring the game-winning run as a pinch runner in the ninth inning.[1][23][5]
In a 17-year major league career, Traynor played in 1,941games, accumulating 2,416hits in 7,559at bats for a .320 career batting average along with 58 home runs, 1,273 runs batted in and anon-base percentage of .362.[1] He retired with a .946fielding percentage.[1] Traynor reached a high of 12 home runs in 1923. He hit more doubles and triples, with 371 doubles and 164 triples lifetime and leading the league in triples in 1923, with 19.[1] He hit over .300 ten times and had over 100 runs batted in (RBI) in a season seven times.[1] Traynor accumulated 6 five-hit games and 39 four-hit games in his MLB career.[24] His seven seasons with more than 100 RBI is tied for second among major league third basemen, behindMike Schmidt's 9 seasons.[25][26] He had 208 hits in 1923, the last Pirate infielder with 200 or more hits until shortstopJack Wilson, who had 201 hits in 2004. Traynorstruck out only 278 times in his career.[1]
Traynor was considered the best fielding third baseman of his era, leading the National League infielding percentage once,double plays four times,assists three times, andputouts seven times.[1][5] His 2,289 putouts ranks fifth all-time among third basemen.[27] His 1,863 games played at third base was a major league record that stood until 1960 whenEddie Yost surpassed it.[28] Traynor is the only MLB player to stealhome plate in an All-Star Game.[5][29] Traynor finished in the top ten in NL MVP Award voting six times during his career.[1]
Traynor became the Pirates'player-manager during the1934 season.[22][30] He retired as an active player after the1937 season, but continued as the Pirates'manager.[31] Traynor almost won another pennant as a manager in1938, as the Pirates led the NL for most of the season before faltering to theChicago Cubs in the famous "Homer in the Gloamin'" game atWrigley Field.[32] The loss of the pennant devastated Traynor.[5] He seemed to lose confidence in his team, and after a sixth-place finish in1939, he resigned after five seasons as the manager of the Pirates.[5]
After spending time as ascout for the Pirates, Traynor eventually took a job as a sports director for Pittsburgh radio stationKQV in 1944. His radio broadcasts became popular with Pittsburgh sports fans and he remained at the job for 21 years.[5] Traynor retired from broadcasting in 1965. In1948, Traynor was selected to theBaseball Hall of Fame, being the first third baseman to be chosen by theBaseball Writers' Association of America.[33] In 1969, as part of the observance of the centennial of professional baseball, Traynor was named the third baseman on MLB's all-time team.[5] In 1971, he threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the1971 World Series atThree Rivers Stadium.[5] He died in 1972 in Pittsburgh, not long after the Pirates moved into Three Rivers Stadium. His #20 was retired posthumously at the Pirates home opener[34] onApril 18, 1972.[35][36] Traynor was buried inHomewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
In 1999,The Sporting News ranked him 70th on its list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was a finalist for theMajor League Baseball All-Century Team.[37][38] Baseball historianBill James ranked Traynor 15th all-time among third baseman in hisNew Historical Baseball Abstract in 2001.[3]
The television seriesThe Simpsons made a brief visual reference to Traynor in the 1992 episode "Homer at the Bat."Mr. Burns slotted Traynor to play third base for his nuclear power plant's all-star softball team, but his assistantSmithers points out that all the players he selected have long since retired and died.[39][40] Traynor was also mentioned by Mr. Burns in the 1990 episode "Dancin' Homer."[41]
The sketch comedy seriesSecond City Television (SCTV) contains a character of a burlesque dancer named "Honey Pie" Traynor, in likely homage to Traynor.[citation needed]
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle July 7, 1923 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
