Lloyd Waner,
Hall Of Fame centerfielder for the
Pittsburgh Pirates, long lived in the shadow of his admittedly more talented brother. Yet in his career, Lloyd generated hit after hit, amassing nearly 2,500 before he retired. A lifetime .316 hitter, Waner showed that he could stand on his own two feet among the giants of baseball.
Before Baseball
Lloyd James Waner was born March 16, 1906 in Harrah, Oklahoma. The younger brother of "Big Poison" Paul Waner, Lloyd quickly followed in his brother's footsteps, and joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in time for the start of the 1927 season.
Rookie Sensation
While Murderer's Row was making headlines in the American League, the Waner brothers quietly led their Pirates to the World Series. Lloyd had his best season in the majors, batting a career-high .355 (3rd best in the National League behind brother Paul's .380) and collecting 227 hits, a rookie record which stood until 2000. That year, in his only World Series appearance, 21 year old Lloyd batted .400 with 2 doubles and a triple - but the Yankees still swept the series in 4 games.
The Man Could Play
"I don't know if he was the reason why, but soon after he came up, you started hearing about teams looking for fast ball players."
Al Lopez, teammate
Waner was a small (at 150 pounds) pesky slap hitter, collecting 200 hits in each of his first 3 seasons, and batting .300 in 10 of his first 12 seasons. In 1930, while in the midst of another outstanding season, he came down with appendicitis, but it only slowed him down temporarily. In the 1930s Waner had 4 separate 20+ game hitting streaks.
The End Of A Career
Traded to the Boston Braves (and later the Cincinnati Reds) in 1941, Lloyd set the modern-day record by appearing in 77 consecutive games without striking out. After a subpar 1942 season, Waner "retired", only to return to the game in 1944, where he served as pinch hitter for the Brooklyn Dodgers until he was traded to the team he had began with, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Retiring again in 1945, Waner had amassed over 2,400 hits and a .316 lifetime average.
After Baseball
Waner continued to work for the Pirates as a scout until 1955, when he joined the Orioles organization as their head of development. He was elected by the Veterans Committee to join his brother in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967, a testament to his scrappy play. Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner died July 22, 1982 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Lifetime Statistics
YEAR TEAM G AB R H D T HR RBI SB CS BB K BA
1927 PIT NL 150 629 133 223 17 6 2 27 14 0 37 23 .355
1928 PIT NL 152 659 121 221 22 14 5 61 8 0 40 13 .335
1929 PIT NL 151 662 134 234 28 20 5 74 6 0 37 20 .353
1930 PIT NL 68 260 32 94 8 3 1 36 3 0 5 5 .362
1931 PIT NL 154 681 90 214 25 13 4 57 7 0 39 16 .314
1932 PIT NL 134 565 90 188 27 11 2 38 6 0 31 11 .333
1933 PIT NL 121 500 59 138 14 5 0 26 3 0 22 8 .276
1934 PIT NL 140 611 95 173 27 6 1 48 6 0 38 12 .283
1935 PIT NL 122 537 83 166 22 14 0 46 1 0 22 10 .309
1936 PIT NL 106 414 67 133 13 8 1 31 1 0 31 5 .321
1937 PIT NL 129 537 80 177 23 4 1 45 3 0 34 12 .330
1938 PIT NL 147 619 79 194 25 7 5 57 5 0 28 11 .313
1939 PIT NL 112 379 49 108 15 3 0 24 0 0 17 13 .285
1940 PIT NL 72 166 30 43 3 0 0 3 2 0 5 5 .259
1941 PIT NL 3 4 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 .250
BSN NL 19 51 7 21 1 0 0 4 1 0 2 0 .412
CIN NL 55 164 17 42 4 1 0 6 0 0 8 0 .256
TOT NL 77 219 26 64 5 1 0 11 1 0 12 0 .292
1942 PHI NL 101 287 23 75 7 3 0 10 1 0 16 6 .261
1944 BRO NL 15 14 3 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 .286
PIT NL 19 14 2 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 .357
TOT NL 34 28 5 9 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 0 .321
1945 PIT NL 23 19 5 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 .263
CAREER 1993 7772 1201 2459 281 118 27 598 67 0 420 173 .316
* Bold denotes led league.
Sources
- TheBaseballPage.com - http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/wanerlloyd/default.htm
- Baseball-Reference.com - http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wanerll01.shtml
- BaseballLibrary.com - http://www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/W/Waner_Lloyd.stm
Honus Wagner | Paul Waner
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