Paul Waner Marquee Hall of Fame 1952

b. April 16, 1903 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1926–1940, Brooklyn Dodgers 1941, 1943–1944, Boston Braves 1941–1942, New York Yankees 1944–1945

He batted .333 over twenty seasons with 1,627 runs and 1,309 runs batted in, and drew 1,091 walks against 376 strikeouts. He was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1927, when he led the league in hits with 237, in triples with 18 and in runs batted in with 131. Pittsburgh won its pennant that year.

His 62 doubles in 1932 are the fifth-highest single-season total in the majors. He and his younger brother Lloyd were Pittsburgh outfielders together for fourteen seasons, 1927 through 1940, and crowds called them Big Poison and Little Poison. Lloyd reached the Hall of Fame too, in 1967.

Pittsburgh released him after the 1940 season. On June 19, 1942, wearing a Boston Braves uniform, he singled against the Pirates for his 3,000th hit. He went back to Brooklyn, then to the Yankees, and stopped at 3,152 in 1945. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1952.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	4	1933, 1934, 1935, 1937
Baseball Magazine All-Star	5	1927, 1928, 1934, 1936, 1937
The Sporting News All-Star	3	1927, 1928, 1937
Most Valuable Player	1	1927

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1926	PIT	144	536	101	180	35	22	8	79	66	19	11	.336
1927	PIT	155	623	114	237	42	18	9	131	60	14	5	.380
1928	PIT	152	602	142	223	50	19	6	86	77	16	6	.370
1929	PIT	151	596	131	200	43	15	15	100	89	24	15	.336
1930	PIT	145	589	117	217	32	18	8	77	57	18	18	.368
1931	PIT	150	559	88	180	35	10	6	70	73	21	6	.322
1932	PIT	154	630	107	215	62	10	8	82	56	24	13	.341
1933	PIT	154	618	101	191	38	16	7	70	60	20	3	.309
1934	PIT	146	599	122	217	32	16	14	90	68	24	8	.362
1935	PIT	139	549	98	176	29	12	11	78	61	22	2	.321
1936	PIT	148	585	107	218	53	9	5	94	74	29	7	.373
1937	PIT	154	619	94	219	30	9	2	74	63	34	4	.354
1938	PIT	148	625	77	175	31	6	6	69	47	28	2	.280
1939	PIT	125	461	62	151	30	6	3	45	35	18	0	.328
1940	PIT	89	238	32	69	16	1	1	32	23	14	0	.290
1941	BRO/BSN	106	329	45	88	10	2	2	50	55	14	1	.267
1942	BSN	114	333	43	86	17	1	1	39	62	20	2	.258
1943	BRO	82	225	29	70	16	0	1	26	35	9	0	.311
1944	BRO/NYY	92	143	17	40	4	1	0	17	29	8	1	.280
1945	NYY	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	—
Career	—	2549	9459	1627	3152	605	191	113	1309	1091	376	104	.333

On this day & linked events

1903

Born April 16, 1903

Harrah, OK, USA

1965

Died August 29, 1965

1926

Major-league debut: Paul Waner

Paul Waner made a major-league debut on April 13, 1926.

1942

Paul Waner's 3,000th Hit

Paul Waner gets his 3,000th hit for the Boston Braves against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team he had played for the previous fifteen seasons.

1945

Final major-league game: Paul Waner

Paul Waner played a final major-league game on April 26, 1945.

Image: Goudey, public domain