Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Paul Waner. Over the span of twenty seasons, most notably for the Pittsburgh Pirates but also with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, and New York Yankees, Waner established himself as one of the best players of his time and as one of the best all-around Right Fielders in baseball history. 

Paul Waner Career Statistics/Accolades (1926-1945):

.333 BA 3,152 HITS 113 HR 1,309 RBI 1,627 RUNS .404 OBP

  • 4x All-Star
  • 1927 NL MVP

As a Hitter

As a left-handed hitter, Waner wasn’t known for hitting home runs. Instead, he used the whole field. Waner had fourteen seasons where he batted .300 or higher, leading three times. As well as averaging 200 Hits per season for a career, he had eight seasons recording 200 or more, as he led his league twice. Waner never once had a season in which he struck out more than he walked, as he only struck out 376 times in his career while Walking 1,091 times. The bottom line is Waner got on base whether it was a Walk or a Hit, as he recorded an OBP of .400 or higher eleven times. Despite not being a big base stealer, Waner had ten seasons of Triples in the double digits and hit as high as 62 Doubles in 1932. Waner had ten seasons of scoring 100 or more Runs, leading the league twice.

As a Defender

Waner spent 2,250 games and 19,000 plus Innings in Right Field, where defensively, he was one of the best at his position. Over the span of his career spent in Right Field, Waner posted a career .973 Fielding Percentage, which was .05 above the league average among others at his position, during his career. Also, he ranks top in the three major Fielding Categories: 1st all-time in Putouts (4,563), 3rd all-time in Assists (238), and 4th all-time in Double Plays (54).

Best Years

Hands down, 1927 was his best individual season as he was named the NL MVP, and he would appear in the World Series. However, Waner had a lot of Hall of Fame-worthy seasons, as he was a three-time batting champion. His first two seasons saw him hit for a combined 40 Triples, 22 in 26 and 18 in 27.

1926: .336 BA 180 HITS 8 HR 79 RBI 101 RUNS .413 OBP (144 Games)

1927. .380 BA 237 HITS 9 HR 131 RBI 114 RUNS .437 OBP (155 Games)

1928: .370 BA 223 HITS 6 HR 86 RBI 142 RUNS .446 OBP (152 Games)

1929: .336 BA 200 HITS 15 HR 100 RBI 131 RUNS .424 OBP (151 Games)

1930: .368 BA 217 HITS 8 HR 77 RBI 117 RUNS .428 OBP (145 Games)

1932: .341 BA 215 HITS 8 HR 82 RBI 107 RUNS .397 OBP (154 Games)

1934: .362 BA 217 HITS 14 HR 90 RBI 122 RUNS .429 OBP (146 Games)

1936: .373 BA 218 HITS 5 HR 94 RBI 107 RUNS .446 OBP (148 Games)

Legacy

Paul Waner was that player who feared nobody, especially when he was at the plate. “I never let them [pitchers] get the better of me. If you flinch and show any fear, you’re done.” While Roberto Clemente came after him, and shined at the same position, it’s certainly up for debate on who was better. In 1952 on his sixth ballot believe it or not he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. What’s even more crazy is that it took until 2007 for the Pittsburgh Pirates to retire his #11 jersey. In 1999, he was ranked 62nd on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. 

References:

  1. Paul Waner Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wanerpa01.shtml#all_batting_standard 
  2. Wancho, Joesph. Paul Waner via SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/paul-waner/