Pie Traynor-Great Third Baseman of the Pirates

Mention the name Harold Traynor and few that follow baseball will know who you are speaking of. But if you used Harold's nickname of "Pie", then you would get a reaction. Pie Traynor was widely regarded as the best third baseman of the first half of the twentieth century. Pie Traynor's fielding skills were the best in the game at the hot corner, and he knocked in over one hundred runs for his Pittsburgh Pirates seven times in a season. Pie Traynor was modest and very quiet, an intelligent man who took the time to talk to the people on the streets he used to walk in his adopted Pittsburgh.

Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was born in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1899, the son of a printer. How Harold got the name that stuck forever depends on whose version you believe. One has his dad coming home from the print shop one night, seeing Harold Traynor covered with dirt from playing ball all day long, and commenting that he looked like pied type, printer's talk for jumbled type. The more popular tale is that when the local kids played ball and came to the parish priest for a snack after the game, rather than request ice cream like all the other boys, Traynor wanted pie.

The Pirates bought Pie Traynor's contract from the Virginia League team he played for in 1920 and by 1922 he was the Bucs' starting third baseman. Originally a shortstop, Traynor made a smooth transition, and soon it became apparent that he would be something special at third. Pie Traynor could range into the hole, cover the line, and charge bunts, plus he had a great throwing arm as well. At the plate, he was able to belt doubles and triples in spacious Forbes Field, but he only exceeded double digits in homer once because of the dimensions of the park. The right-handed hitting Traynor had no less than 82 runs batted in from 1922 through 1931, with a career high of 124 in 1928.

Pie Traynor hit .300 or better ten times, including 1925 when Pittsburgh beat out the Giants by eight and a half games for the NL flag. In the World Series against the Senators, who had won it all the year prior, Traynor batted .346 with a homer and four runs knocked in as the Pirates stormed back from a 3-1 deficit in games to win the title. In Game One of that Fall Classic, Pie Traynor homered and singled off of the incomparable Walter Johnson. Pie hit just .200 in the '27 Series, as the Pirates were swept by the mighty Yankees. Traynor played with the likes of Kiki Cuyler, Paul and Lloyd Waner, and Arky Vaughn during his time with the Pirates, and the great manager John McGraw once said that Pie was the greatest team player he had ever seen, which was quite a compliment coming from him. Although Traynor never led the National League in any major offensive category except triples in 1923, he was always among the league leaders in hits, batting average, and runs batted in. His lifetime average was .320, and Traynor collected 1,278 runs batted in over his seventeen seasons playing the sport.

Going to bat over 7,500 times, Pie Traynor struck out only 278! In 1929, Traynor batted .356 in 540 at bats; he whiffed just seven times. In 1927, Traynor and Paul Waner shared a 42 ounce bat that they had gotten a hold of and used it all season; Traynor hit .342 with it and Waner won the batting title at .380. A collision in 1934 at home plate with Cincinnati catcher Jimmy Wilson broke Traynor's right arm, and he was never the same. Traynor took over the managerial reins of the Pirate while still active in 1934, and played little after that. He was too soft-spoken and nice to be a great manager, although he almost won a pennant in 1938. The club collapsed down the stretch however, and Traynor left managing after the 1939 season with a 457-406 won-lost mark. He became a scout and instructor for the Pirates, living in Pittsburgh.

Having never learned to drive a car, or wanting to for fear that he would get lazy and stop walking, Traynor had a radio show in Pittsburgh for ten years. He would walk the five miles to the station and then walk back home, meeting and greeting people on the streets. Often it would take Traynor twenty minutes to walk a block, as he talked to everyone he knew. When recognized once, Traynor was told he was the greatest ballplayer of all time by an adoring fan. He replied, "No, no, not me. There were only two. Wagner and Cobb". Pie Traynor went into the Hall of Fame in 1948, and was hailed as the greatest third baseman ever in 1969 during baseball's centennial celebration. Pie Traynor passed away from emphysema in 1972 and was buried in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetery next to his wife, a player so great with his glove that baseball fans used to joke, "Roger Hornsby doubles to left, and Pie Traynor throws him out at first".