Things You Didn't Know About Pittsburgh Pirates' Hall of Famers

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had many Hall of Fame ballplayers grace their roster over the years. Men such as Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Pie Traynor and Ralph Kiner all have worn the Pittsburgh Pirates' uniform with pride. The Pirates have fallen on hard times as of late, making their past stars' exploits even more important to their fans. Here are some things you might not know about some of the Pittsburgh Pirates' Hall of Famers.

1. Honus Wagner didn't become a full-time shortstop until he was almost 30 years old!

Universally associated with the position, the Flying Dutchman didn't even play shortstop in a major league game until he was 27, in 1901. Until then he had spent time in the outfield, second and third base, and as the first sacker. He played 61 games at shortstop in 1901 when he was 27 and didn't become the regular shortstop until 1903 when he was 29. For his career of 2,775 games, Wagner played 1,887 as a shortstop, which is roughly two-thirds.

2. Pie Traynor never drove a car!

The legendary Pirates' third baseman could drive in runs, but not an automobile. Instead, he walked everywhere he went around the Steel City. After his Hall of Fame career in which he was acknowledged as the best fielding third baseman of his time and accumulated a .320 average with 7 seasons of at least 100 RBI, Traynor stayed in Pittsburgh. Pie hosted a popular radio show for years and would walk from his home to the radio station- a round trip of 10 miles!

3. The Waner brothers had just 2 campaigns with at least 100 runs batted in!

"Big and Little Poison" were their nicknames and together they banged out over 5,600 base hits. "Big" Lloyd had over 1,300 RBI, but just a pair of years in which he got to 100; his 131 in 1927 and 100 on the nose a couple seasons later. "Little" Paul was a prolific run scorer and not a middle of the order type. He never had more than the 74 ribbies he collected in 1929.

4. Ralph Kiner "only" hit 369 homers!

Players not in Cooperstown such as Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito, and Gil Hodges all had a few more homers than Ralph did. A back injury prematurely ended Kiner's slugging days with Pittsburgh and he barely played the 10 years in the big leagues that the Hall of Fame requires. In his time with the Pirates he had a bit over 5,200 official at-bats, but made the most of them, winning 7 straight National League home run titles. His 14.1 at-bats per home run is the 5th best all time.

5. Willie Stargell hit more than 40 homers in a season just twice!

Willie clobbered 48 in 1971 and 44 in 1973, but other than those 2 seasons he never hit as many as 33 in a single year on his way to 475 round trippers. Stargell retired with the most strikeouts of any batter in Major League Baseball history, a record long since eclipsed by men such as Reggie Jackson, Sammy Sosa, and Jim Thome. He was the NL MVP in 1979 with 32 homers and just 82 runs batted in, mainly because almost every other one of those RBI was big during the Pirates' pennant drive.

6. Roberto Clemente had only 1 season in which he swiped more than 10 bases!

Of all these facts concerning Pittsburgh Pirates' Hall of Famers, this is the one I find the most amazing. Clemente was known for his speedy outfield play and for his mad dashes while running the bases, as his batting helmet would fly off his head. However, the most bases he stole in one year were the dozen he swiped in 1963. For his wonderful career, Clemente had just 83 stolen bases, while he was thrown out trying to steal 46 times.

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