Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Pie Traynor. In a 17-year-long career, playing only for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Traynor established himself as one of the all-time great Third Baseman. Offensively and Defensively, Traynor was a tremendous player at Third Base. Before guys like Eddie Matthews, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, and George Brett, Traynor was widely considered the game’s greatest Third Baseman. Despite being overshadowed by others who came after him, Traynor is still one of the greatest Third Basemen who ever played.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1920-1935; 37):

.320 BA 2,416 HITS 58 HR 1,273 RBI .362 OBP 1,183 RUNS

  • 2x All-Star
  • 1925 World Series Champion

Despite playing in the Live Ball Era, Traynor played in Forbes Field, which at the time wasn’t friendly for power-hitting, so Traynor focused on making contact while at the plate. Traynor batted .300 or higher ten times and averaged 202 Hits a year for a career over a 162-game pace. Traynor was also productive when he came to the plate with runners in scoring position, driving in 100 or more RBIs seven times. While at the plate, he was patient, only striking out 278 times while drawing 472 career walks. In 1930, he only struck out seven times while drawing 30 walks. While he wasn’t known for being a big-time base stealer, Traynor was an excellent baserunner. He had 11 seasons of reaching Triples in the double digits and, for a career, averaged just under 100 Runs a season over a 162-game pace.

Defensively, Traynor was excellent at Third Base. Spending a total of 16,457 Innings at the hot corner, he recorded 2,289 Putouts, ranking 5th all-time. His 3,521 Assists rank 24th all-time. It was the record among NL Third Baseman until Eddie Matthews broke it in 1964. As well as having multiple seasons with a Fielding Percentage multiple points above the league average. Traynor led all NL Third Baseman in Putouts seven times, Double Plays four times and Assists three times. 

You can also check playing great in the big games off the list. In the 1925 World Series, the Pirates beat the Washington Senators in seven games. Traynor went (9 for 26) with .346 BA, a home run, and four runs batted in. His best season came in 1930, probably the greatest season in individual offensive-hitting production. In 1930, his stat line over 130 games was {.366 BA 182 HITS 9 HR 119 RBI .423 OBP 90 RUNS}. Traynor was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948 on his seventh ballot, which is crazy based on his incredible career at the plate and in the field. In 1999, he was ranked #70 on The Sporting News list of 100 Greatest Ballplayers. 

References:

  1. Pie Traynor via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_Traynor#
  2. Pie Traynor Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/traynpi01.shtml