1934-1936 Diamond Stars: #99 "Pie" Traynor MG

Sunday, March 16, 2025

#99 "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 1920-35, 1937

World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1925, 1927

As a Manager: Pittsburgh Pirates 1934-39

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.

Building the Set

March 14, 2025 from Lincoln, MA (Champion Sportcards & Collectibles) - Card #115

My luck continued recently on eBay when I won this late series Traynor card for a final bid price that was less than half what the card's current book price is, according to Beckett. The card showed up in one of my saved searches, I placed what I thought was a "no way this is going to win" bid, and was pleasantly surprised when no one else entered the auction after my bid.

Unbelievably, I'm down to needing just four cards for my version of a master set . . . or maybe it's just three. I had wanted both the error and corrected versions of the Hank Greenberg (#54) card, but as I near the end of this collecting journey, maybe just one of those versions is fine. I'd of course feel differently if the card wasn't the most expensive in the set. I'm also still on the hunt for the cards of Mel Ott (#50) and the last high-number needed, Stan Hack (#107).

Variations Available

1 - 1936 / blue back / 1935 statistics / 1935 copyright

This is the second Traynor card in the set, with the Hall of Fame third baseman first appearing on card #27. 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. This card has the same text on the back as his earlier card, save for his 1935 statistics at the bottom replacing his 1934 statistics. Also, the ink on the back of card #99 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.

Comparing both the easier to find early series Traynor card to this harder to find late series Traynor card, the latter is actually the nicer of the two in my set.

1936 Season

This was the first season Traynor was a full-time manager, not playing in any games, although his SABR biography notes he kept himself on the Pirates' active roster. His team finished in fourth place in the National League with a 84-70-2 record. Shortstop Arky Vaughan (#151) was the team's MVP, leading the league with a .453 on-base percentage, 118 walks and 122 runs scored. Vaughan batted .335. First baseman Gus Suhr (#56) led the team with 11 home runs and 118 RBIs. Cy Blanton (#57) won 13 games and threw a league-leading four shutouts.