Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography »

[James Forr is a marketing consultant and director. He lives in Columbia, Missouri. David Proctor works in the postal system in Massachusetts.]

Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948, Pie Traynor was the face of Pittsburgh baseball during the twenties and thirties, a time when the Pirates were a perennial pennant contender. (They would win the Series in 1925.) Traynor was a line-drive hitter who drove in runs as effectively with doubles and triples as most of his peers did launching balls over the fence, and by all accounts he was a dazzling defender.

After his playing days ended, Traynor stayed in Pittsburgh, managing the Pirates for five years and working as a popular broadcaster for decades, cementing his place as one of the most popular athletes ever to play in the Steel City.

Library Journal

When it comes to the greatest fielding third basemen, many baseball stat fans still speak up for Pie Traynor of the 1920s and 1930s Pirates, a consummate team player with a lifetime .320 batting average to boot. His years as the most eminent hall of famer without a full biography are now over. McFarland, which counts numerous excellent baseball titles among its lists, again offers a signal contribution to our understanding of a great golden age player. Moreover, the meticulous account here by enthusiasts Forr and Proctor of Traynor's life after he ceased to manage the Bucs is no less interesting, notably his success as an announcer. Although the book is jointly written, its style is engaging, with a narrative that flows without a hitch. Splendid.

Acknowledgments ix

Preface 1

1 From Canada to Somerville 5

2 Discovered on Cape Cod 21

3 Portsmouth's $ 10,000 Beauty 29

4 Killing Ushers in Birmingham 41

5 I Wouldn't Trade Him for Half of the Brooklyn Ballclub 51

6 World Champions 70

7 A Great Club Melting Away 89

8 Not a Kid Anymore 106

9 Endings and Beginnings 120

10 Squeezing Orange Juice from a Potato 135

11 The Homer in the Gloamin' 151

12 Keen Regret 171

13 At the Corner of Walk and Don't Walk 181

14 Live from Ringside 204

15 It Kind of Made Me Feel Like Crying 217

Appendix 1 Funeral Service 231

Appendix 2 Major League Statistics 233

Chapter Notes 235

Bibliography 251

Index 257