Chugging along with my 1971 "Minor League Days: Legends Edition" thread today, we add Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Paul Waner, who had himself both and amazing Major and Minor League career that led him straight to Cooperstown some 30 years later:
The man could just flat-out hit!
During
his three-year Minor League stint with the San Francisco Seals before
tearing up National League pitching, he hit .369, .356 and .401 between
1923 and 1925, collecting as much as 280 hits (1925) with a ridiculous
75 doubles and 402 total bases.
Quite clearly stating that he
was indeed ready for Major League play, the Pirates signed the 22
year-old and all he did was go on to hits .333 over the next 20 seasons
under the Major League Sun, winning three batting titles, topping
200-hits eight times, 100+ runs nine times, 10+ triples ten times and
300+ total bases seven times.
In his second season, 1927, the
24-year-old led the N.L. with a .380 average, 237 hits, 18 triples, 131
RBIs and 342 total bases.
The following year he'd lead with 142 runs scored, 50 doubles while "dropping" to a .370 average with "only" 86 RBIs.
Over
his 15 years with the Pirates he finished with a .340 career average
before playing the last five years with the Boston Braves, Brooklyn
Dodgers and New York Yankees, hitting .290 thus dropping his career
number to .333.
After one game in 1945 he called it a career,
finishing with 3152 hits, 1627 runs, 605 triples, 191 triples and 1309
RBIs, making the first three All-Star games between 1933 and 1935.
Just
an incredible player who anchored the Pirates for so many seasons,
while playing alongside his younger brother Lloyd, who was NO slouch
himself, totaling 2459 hits with a .316 career average over 18 seasons!
Incredible!
