1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #27 "Pie" Traynor MG

Sunday, December 5, 2021

#27 "Pie" Traynor MG - Pittsburgh Pirates

Harold Joseph Traynor
Pittsburgh Pirates
Third Base-Manager

Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'0" Weight: 170
Born: November 11, 1898, Framingham, MA
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1920-1935, 1937

World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1925, 1927

As a Manager: Pittsburgh Pirates 1934-1939

Died: March 16, 1972, Pittsburgh, PA (73)

Hall of Fame Induction: 1948

The greatest third baseman of his era, Pie Traynor played his entire 17-year big league career with the Pirates. He helped the club win a World Series title in 1925, batting .346 (9 for 26) in the seven-game series against the Senators. Traynor batted over .300 in ten different seasons, attaining a career high in hits with 208 in 1923 and hitting a career-high .366 in 1930. His lifetime batting average was .320. He drove in over 100 runs in seven seasons, a record for third baseman until surpassed by Mike Schmidt. Traynor led the league in triples with 19 in 1923, and he's currently 30th on the all-time triples list with 164. He had 371 career doubles and astonishingly only struck out 278 times over 1,941 games and 8,298 plate appearances. An adept bunter, Traynor twice led the league in sacrifices. He was named to the first two All-Star Games in 1933 and 1934, and was the National League's starting third baseman in the 1934 contest. Exceptional defensively, Traynor's 2,289 career putouts at third base are fifth all-time.

He was named the Pirates' player-manager during the 1934 season, and he held that position through the 1939 season. Pittsburgh nearly went back to the World Series in 1938, but they fell to the Cubs following the Gabby Hartnett (#134) home run in the infamous Homer in the Gloamin' game at Wrigley Field on September 28, 1938. Traynor had a lifetime managerial record of 457-406. Traynor later served as long-time and popular radio host in Pittsburgh between 1944 and 1965. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1948, the first third baseman to be voted in by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Traynor threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the 1971 World Series and passed away a few months later. His #20 was posthumously retired by the Pirates before their home opener in 1972.

November 5, 2021 - In front of Traynor's plaque
Building the Set

November 10, 2021 from Blue Bell, PA - Card #35

This was a belated birthday present to myself, funded partially with birthday money given to me by my mother-in-law. Not wanting to put said birthday money to use for something practical, I opted instead for a somewhat pricey card for my growing Diamond Stars set. And while the birthday money didn't quite cover all of the price of this card, it provided a significant enough amount to allow me to pull the trigger on eBay seller's teamplatinum offer to me after I had added it to my watch list a few days earlier. This card became the most expensive card added to my set to date, eclipsing the Earl Averill (#35) card, added in October.

And the post office made things interesting for me too. I received notification that the seller had shipped the card from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, in October, but then the card spent some quality time apparently sitting in a distribution center in Philadelphia before finally finding its way to me on November 10th. In the interim, our family took a trip to Cooperstown and our youngest son Ben obliged me with a picture underneath Traynor's plaque in the Hall of Fame Gallery.

Variations Available

1 - 1935 / green back / 1934 statistics / 1935 copyright

The final 12 cards in the Diamond Stars set, released as part of series three in 1936, contain the exact same photos and players as earlier cards from the set. Traynor shows up again as card #99, with the same text on the back save for his 1935 statistics at the bottom replacing his 1934 statistics. Also, the ink on the back of card #100 is blue, similar to all cards from the third series.

The Card / Pirates Team Set

The tip on the back of the card provides guidance on where to stand in the batter's box, depending on your arm length and swinging style. It also implores the reader to study Traynor's form, given the current Pirates manager's success over the years while batting.

1935 Season

As the Pirates' player-manager, Traynor played in 57 games, inserting himself into the line-up with 49 starts at third base. His throwing arm diminished, Traynor committed 18 errors in those 49 games. The veteran Tommy Thevenow received the majority of starts at third base for the Pirates during the season. Traynor batted .279 with 10 doubles, a home run and 36 RBIs. His Pirates team finished the year with a 86-67 record, 13 1/2 games behind the Cubs, and in fourth place in the National League.