Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Rabbit Maranville. In a career that lasted 23 seasons during both the Dead Ball Era and the Live Ball Era, he played notably for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and the Brooklyn Robins. While the prime of his career took place over 100 years ago, Maranville still ranks as one of the greatest defensive Shortstops ever. 

Portrait of Walter ‘Rabbit’ Maranville (1891 – 1954), Shortstop and Second Baseman for the Boston Braves of the National League during Major League Baseball Spring Training circa March 1933 at Payne Park in Sarasota, Florida, United States. (Photo by Keystone View Company/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Career Statistics/Accolades (1912-1933; 35):

.258 BA 2,605 HITS 28 HR 884 RBI 1,256 RUNS .318 OBP

  • 1914 World Series Champion

Offensively, Maranville had the contact and speed to hit in the leadoff spot, which he did. He recorded Triples in the double digits nine times and could steal a base. However, he was never known as a big-time offensive player, never batting over .300 in a season. That is not to say he was a liability offensively. Still, consistently, he recorded more Walks than Strikeouts and was suitable for 150-plus Hits a year on average while playing a challenging position.

Defensively, this is where Maranville made his money. Playing 18,953 Innings at Shortstop, his lifetime .952 Fielding Percentage was .012 higher than the league average among others at his position throughout his career. He still holds the all-time in Putouts (5,139) among Shortstops and ranks 5th all-time in Assists (7,354). Later in his career, he moved to Second Base, spending 4,385 Innings at the position, recording a .973 Fielding Percentage, multiple points above the league average among Second Basemen.

Maranville was a big game player; in 1914, he won the World Series with the Boston Braves, where he hit .308 in the series. Fourteen years later, with the Cardinals, he appeared in the World Series again, hitting .308. Despite only hitting .246 in 1914, his performance in the World Series, and his incredible defensive play, he finished runner-up in the MVP voting. Historically average offensive Catchers and Shortstops have gotten into the Hall of Fame based on being historically excellent defensively. That is the case for Rabbit Maranville, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954.

References:

  1. Rabbit Maranville via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Maranville#
  2. Rabbit Maranville Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maranra01.shtml