Paul Waner's 3,000th Hit

Paul Waner spent fifteen years as a Pittsburgh Pirate. On June 19, 1942, wearing a Boston Braves uniform, he singled against Pittsburgh for the 3,000th hit of his career, drove in a run, and watched his new team win 7–6.

Waner was thirty-nine and two years removed from the Pirates, who had released him after the 1940 season. He had been the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1927 and had won three batting titles, hitting .333 for his career with 605 doubles and 191 triples.

For twelve of those Pittsburgh years he played alongside his younger brother Lloyd, who reached the Hall of Fame himself; Pittsburgh crowds knew the pair as Big Poison and Little Poison. Paul hung on until 1945, moving through Brooklyn and finally the Yankees, and stopped at 3,152 hits. Cooperstown came calling in 1952.