NL Player of the Week - Paul WanerPaul Waner (HA 9) was an outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1926 to 1940. From 1941 through his retirement in 1945, he also played for Brooklyn, Boston (NL) and New York (NL). Historian Bill James rates Waner's rookie season (1926) as the greatest by any right fielder.
Every year from his rookie season in 1926 until 1937, Waner was far above the league average in OPS. His lifetime BA/OPS/SLG is .333/.404/.473 (.326/.397/.461) neutralized. He won the MVP in 1927, when his team won the NL pennant, only to be annihilated by the 1927 ("murderer's row") New York Yankees in four straight games. He finished second in the 1934 MVP race to Dizzy Dean. He won the league batting title in 1927, 1934 and 1936.
Waner was well known his his ability to imbibe. He reportedly gave up alcohol at the request of Pirates' management in 1938, and proceeded to have the first year he hit below .300 in his career. Casey Stengel once quipped that his graceful slide came from his ability to avoid breaking the liquor bottle in his pocket. Also unsuccessful was an attempt to "improve" his hitting by correcting his nearsightedness with eyeglasses.
Waner was also strong in the field. According to one account, he had perhaps the finest arm in the Pittsburgh outfield until Roberto Clemente. Another interesting anecdote: Waner was only the sixth player to reach 3,000 hits. When his 3,000 appeared to come on a botched line drive, Waner signaled to the scorer that it should be ruled an error so his 3,000 would come on a clean hit.
Waner's brother, Lloyd, was also a long time member of the Pirates' outfield. Together, they were known as "Big Poison" (Paul) and "Little Poison" (Lloyd). Together, they are the answer to the question "which group of brothers had the most hits in major league baseball" as together Paul and Lloyd Waner (5,611) outpaced the Alous (5,094) and the DiMaggios (4,853).
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Every year from his rookie season in 1926 until 1937, Waner was far above the league average in OPS. His lifetime BA/OPS/SLG is .333/.404/.473 (.326/.397/.461) neutralized. He won the MVP in 1927, when his team won the NL pennant, only to be annihilated by the 1927 ("murderer's row") New York Yankees in four straight games. He finished second in the 1934 MVP race to Dizzy Dean. He won the league batting title in 1927, 1934 and 1936.
Waner was well known his his ability to imbibe. He reportedly gave up alcohol at the request of Pirates' management in 1938, and proceeded to have the first year he hit below .300 in his career. Casey Stengel once quipped that his graceful slide came from his ability to avoid breaking the liquor bottle in his pocket. Also unsuccessful was an attempt to "improve" his hitting by correcting his nearsightedness with eyeglasses.
Waner was also strong in the field. According to one account, he had perhaps the finest arm in the Pittsburgh outfield until Roberto Clemente. Another interesting anecdote: Waner was only the sixth player to reach 3,000 hits. When his 3,000 appeared to come on a botched line drive, Waner signaled to the scorer that it should be ruled an error so his 3,000 would come on a clean hit.
Waner's brother, Lloyd, was also a long time member of the Pirates' outfield. Together, they were known as "Big Poison" (Paul) and "Little Poison" (Lloyd). Together, they are the answer to the question "which group of brothers had the most hits in major league baseball" as together Paul and Lloyd Waner (5,611) outpaced the Alous (5,094) and the DiMaggios (4,853).
www.baseball-reference.com
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/
BJHA
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