Paul Waner, Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Pirates rightfielder

Paul Glee Waner was born April 16, 1903 in Harrah, Oklahoma. After high school, he began attending college to become a teacher, but when that didn't work out for him, he dropped out. At the age of 20 he signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was assigned to the Pacific Coast League to play for the San Francisco Seals. Two years later, Paul led the league in hitting with a scorching .401 average, spanking a league-record 75 doubles in the process. The next year he got the call up to the big leagues.

Paul's rookie year was a big success; he clubbed 22 triples to lead the league while batting .336. The following year the 24 year old had his best year in the league, earning National League MVP honors by leading the league with a .380 average and 237 hits, including a league-leading 19 triples and 131 runs batted in. Many of those runs came courtesy of Paul's younger brother Lloyd, then a 21 year old rookie who batted .355. Paul and Lloyd were such a fearsome duo that one Brooklyn Dodgers fan lamented: "Those Waners! It's always the big person on third and the little person on first!" With his thick accent, the Brooklynite pronounced person "poison" - and from then on, Paul was known as Big Poison.

Although not the biggest or strongest player on the team, he was perhaps its best fielder, his arm displaying an enormous range in spacious Forbes Field. From 1928 to 1937 Paul batted .300 or better in every season and was consistently the most valuable player on the Pirates team. But in 1938 he only batted .280, the curious result related to the most interesting aspect of Paul's life and career: his alcoholism.

A constant party hound, Paul partied all night and then came to the stadium to play the next day. To sober up, he would do back-flips in right field and run laps with his brother. True to his name, Paul was Big Poison 24 hours a day. In 1938, however, the Pirates looked like real pennant contenders, something they hadn't done since Paul's MVP season of 1927, when they had been swept by Murderer's Row. So management demanded that Paul give up drinking. He did so reluctantly - and proceeded to bat below .300 for the first time in his career. After that, the team never told him what to do off the field, but by then, Paul was 35 years old and on the decline.

After two more average seasons with the Pirates, Paul's old nemesis Frankie Frisch took over as manager of the club, and Paul was shipped to the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, after only ten games with the team, he was moved again to the Boston Bees (later the Boston Braves.) Paul never really got off the ground in Boston, though in 1942 he collected his 3,000th hit against his old team the Pirates, becoming only the 6th player to do so in modern Major League history. In 1943, he rejoined the Dodgers. As a 40 year old reserve outfielder, Paul still managed to bat .311.

Paul finally retired in 1945 and became a manager for Miami in 1946. Paul's alcoholism and lack of discipline proved problematic for a managerial track, and so Paul was relegated to being a hitting coach. He helped several teams throughout the 1950s, including his old team, the relocated Milwaukee Braves, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1952, Paul was awarded a membership in the Hall of Fame. Big Poison passed away August 29, 1965 in Sarasota, Florida.

I may have got Paul Waner out, but I never fooled him.
Burleigh Grimes

Career Statistics

YEAR   TEAM    G   AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  SB   BB  SO    BA
1926 PIT NL  144  536  101  180  35  22   8   79  11   66  19  .336
1927 PIT NL  155  623  114  237  42  18   9  131   5   60  14  .380
1928 PIT NL  152  602  142  223  50  19   6   86   6   77  16  .370
1929 PIT NL  151  596  131  200  43  15  15  100  15   89  24  .336
1930 PIT NL  145  589  117  217  32  18   8   77  18   57  18  .368
1931 PIT NL  150  559   88  180  35  10   6   70   6   73  21  .322
1932 PIT NL  154  630  107  215  62  10   8   82  13   56  24  .341
1933 PIT NL  154  618  101  191  38  16   7   70   3   60  20  .309
1934 PIT NL  146  599  122  217  32  16  14   90   8   68  24  .362
1935 PIT NL  139  549   98  176  29  12  11   78   2   61  22  .321
1936 PIT NL  148  585  107  218  53   9   5   94   7   74  29  .373
1937 PIT NL  154  619   94  219  30   9   2   74   4   63  34  .354
1938 PIT NL  148  625   77  175  31   6   6   69   2   47  28  .280
1939 PIT NL  125  461   62  151  30   6   3   45   0   35  18  .328
1940 PIT NL   89  238   32   69  16   1   1   32   0   23  14  .290
1941 BRO NL   11   35    5    6   0   0   0    4   0    8   0  .171
     BSN NL   95  294   40   82  10   2   2   46   1   47  14  .279
     TOT NL  106  329   45   88  10   2   2   50   1   55  14  .267
1942 BSN NL  114  333   43   86  17   1   1   39   2   62  20  .258
1943 BRO NL   82  225   29   70  16   0   1   26   0   35   9  .311
1944 BRO NL   83  136   16   39   4   1   0   16   0   27   7  .287
     NYY AL    9    7    1    1   0   0   0    1   1    2   1  .143
     TOT      92  143   17   40   4   1   0   17   1   29   8  .280
1945 NYY AL    1    0    0    0   0   0   0    0   0    1   0 1.000
     CAREER 2549 9459 1627 3152 605 191 113 1309 104 1091 376  .333
* Bold denotes led league.

Hall of Fame Index
Lloyd Waner | John Ward

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