Paul Waner | |||
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Right fielder | |||
Born: Harrah, Oklahoma |
April 16, 1903|||
Died: August 29, 1965 Sarasota, Florida |
(aged 62)|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 13, 1926, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
April 26, 1945, for the New York Yankees | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .333 | ||
Hits | 3,152 | ||
Home runs | 113 | ||
Runs batted in | 1,309 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Member of the National | |||
Baseball Hall of Fame | |||
Inducted | 1952 | ||
Vote | 83.33% |
Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves, and New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1926 to 1945. He won three National League (NL) batting titles and the NL Most Valuable Player Award while with the Pirates. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952.
Waner was born in Harrah, Oklahoma. He (3,152) and his younger brother, Lloyd (2,459), hold the career record for hits by brothers (5,611), outpacing the three Alou brothers (5,094): Felipe (2,101), Matty (1,777) and Jesús (1,216), and the three DiMaggio brothers (4,853): Joe (2,214), Dom (1,680) and Vince (959), among others. For most of the period from 1927 to 1940, Paul patrolled right field at Forbes Field while Lloyd covered the ground next to him in center field. On September 15, 1938, the brothers hit back-to-back home runs against Cliff Melton of the New York Giants. Paul was known as "Big Poison" and Lloyd was known as "Little Poison." One story claims that their nicknames reflect a Brooklyn Dodgers fan's pronunciation of "Big Person" and "Little Person." In 1927, the season the brothers accumulated 460 hits, the fan is said to have remarked, "Them Waners! It's always the little poison on thoid (third) and the big poison on foist (first)!" But given that Lloyd was actually taller, this story would seem somewhat incongruous.