Pie Traynor

Harold Joseph Traynor played 17 seasons at third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit .320 for his career, and spent so long as the standard at his position that "the best third baseman since Pie Traynor" became a sportswriting cliche that persisted for decades. He played his entire career in Pittsburgh and became as identified with that city as any athlete of his generation.

Framingham to Forbes Field

Traynor was born on November 11, 1898, in Framingham, Massachusetts, and grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts, near Boston. The nickname "Pie" came from childhood. One common account holds that he had a fondness for pies at a neighborhood grocery store. He played semipro ball in the Boston area before signing with Portsmouth of the Virginia League in 1920. The Pirates purchased his contract that September and brought him up for 17 games at the end of the season.

He spent 1921 in the minor leagues at Birmingham of the Southern Association before returning to Pittsburgh. By 1922, he was the everyday third baseman. He hit .282 that year and improved rapidly, hitting .338 in 1923 and .294 in 1924.

The Standard

From 1925 to 1930, Traynor was the best third baseman in baseball and one of the best hitters in the National League. He hit .320, .317, .342, .337, .356, and .366 across those six seasons. He drove in 100 or more runs seven times across his career. He played third base with soft hands and quick reflexes, fielding bunts and sharp grounders down the line with a technique that contemporaries described as effortless.

The 1925 Pirates won the World Series, beating the Washington Senators in seven games after trailing three games to one. Traynor hit .346 in the Series and drove in key runs in the comeback. It was the only championship of his career, but it cemented his reputation as a player who performed when it counted.

He was named player-manager of the Pirates in 1934 and held the role through 1939, though the teams he managed were mediocre. His career as a regular ended after 1934, when he injured his throwing arm in a collision at home plate. He appeared sparingly through 1937, playing his last game on August 14 of that year.

Pittsburgh

Traynor stayed in Pittsburgh after his playing days. He worked as a Pirates scout and broadcaster and remained a fixture in the city's baseball community for decades. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1948 by the BBWAA.

He finished with a career batting average of .320, 2,416 hits, and 1,273 RBIs across 1,941 games. His defensive reputation rested as much on perception as on statistics, since advanced defensive metrics did not exist in his era, but the consensus among contemporaries was firm. John McGraw reportedly called him the greatest team player in the game.

Traynor died on March 16, 1972, in Pittsburgh, at age 73. The position of third base was not valued highly during his era, and few third basemen had sustained the kind of offensive production Traynor delivered. He set the standard that every subsequent third baseman was measured against.