A Book Review of Pie Traynor a Baseball Biography Written by James Forr
Hall of Fame careers like that of Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pie Traynor can often be overlooked.
The lack of video imagery, demonstrating the skill and style by which the player performed tends to relegate the career to historical archives.
It is the diligence and hard work of biographers such as James Forr and his co-author David Proctor that allow us to fully appreciate a player's place in history, and to provide some context by which to compare to more familiar names.
James Forr has completed his recent book Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography, published in January of 2010 by McFarland, bringing to life this legendary player once considered the greatest third baseman of all time.
What better way to get an in depth account of one of the greatest players the game has ever known, than to dig into a well written biography? There was one person in particular who did a great job of preserving and correcting the accounts of Pie's career, and that was his wife Eve.
As a way to understand the type of player Pie was, we point to an anecdote in the book about her following up a newspaper article that appeared in the Boston Globe.
Globe columnist Harold Kaese made the statement that "Pie Traynor was the Brooks Robinson of another day".
Eve corrected him by phoning the paper and insisting that "Pie wasn't the Brooks Robinson of his day.
Brooks Robinson is the Pie Traynor of his day".
Pie played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting with a cup of coffee in 1920 & 1921 and finally finding a permanent position starting in 1923.
He proceeded to put up a very consistent career at the plate (using a 42 ounce piece of begged, borrowed or shared lumber btw), and superior defensive seasons, until perpetual shoulder injuries robbed him of the ability to make accurate throws to first.
To this day, he appears in the top ten of many all time statistical categories for the Pirates.
The young Pirates of 1925 took on the Washington Senators in the World Series.
The star of the Senators team was another All Time Great Walter Johnson, who limited the Pirates to only one run in Games One and Four combined.
The Pirates offense was lead by future Hall of Famers Kiki Cuyler and Max Carey, as well as Traynor who hit .
346 for the Series, with 2 hits off Johnson in each of his first two starts.
Game Seven was played in a driving downpour upon the decision of Judge Kennesaw Landis, who feared more days of rain in Pittsburgh, and this time Johnson was mortal.
After staking the Senators to an early four run lead, the Pirates had to keep coming back with multi run innings to keep them in it, including a run scoring triple from Traynor in the 7th to tie the score at six.
In the bottom of the 8th inning the Pirates got to a dripping Johnson for three more runs and a 9 - 7 World Series clinching victory.
By 1934, following another World Series appearance in 1927 versus the mightiest of Yankee teams, Traynor was tapped as the player manager.
By piecing together a lifetime of anecdotes and accounts, the authors determined that Traynor's personality was simply not well suited to the challenges of managing a club.
Although they had some success during the 1938 season, faltering late in the season to the Cubs, Traynor's worrying and anxiousness contributed to teams not reaching their potential.
Traynor was let go after the 1939 season, and struggled for a while until finding the position that allowed him to ultimately become a fixture in the city of Pittsburgh for the rest of his life.
He became the Sports Director of local radio station KQV, allowing him to conduct interviews and tell stories in very short reports, but kept him close to the citizens who were attracted to his easy personality.
Pittsburgh was graced by his presence as he walked the streets, poking his head into his favorite shops on his way to work, and joyously sharing in the camaraderie of the call and response tag line of a sponsor, that would become sort of a signature.
"Who Can?"..
"Ameri - Can!" This sponsor relationship with the American Heating Company also led to a role after his retirement, that saw Pie Traynor as a ringside spokesperson on the weekly wrestling program called Studio Wrestling.
His live spots were an integral part of the popular program.
Pie's inability to turn down a request and willingness to share his stories made him a frequent guest on the banquet circuit, up until his death in 1972, just a few months after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Pittsburgh Pirates World Series appearance versus the Baltimore Orioles.
James Forr's has covered the full life of Pie Traynor from his days of youth in Massachusetts, to his playing days and post career celebrity in the city of Pittsburgh.
His biography Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography is available in bookstores and online locations wherever you buy books.
The lack of video imagery, demonstrating the skill and style by which the player performed tends to relegate the career to historical archives.
It is the diligence and hard work of biographers such as James Forr and his co-author David Proctor that allow us to fully appreciate a player's place in history, and to provide some context by which to compare to more familiar names.
James Forr has completed his recent book Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography, published in January of 2010 by McFarland, bringing to life this legendary player once considered the greatest third baseman of all time.
What better way to get an in depth account of one of the greatest players the game has ever known, than to dig into a well written biography? There was one person in particular who did a great job of preserving and correcting the accounts of Pie's career, and that was his wife Eve.
As a way to understand the type of player Pie was, we point to an anecdote in the book about her following up a newspaper article that appeared in the Boston Globe.
Globe columnist Harold Kaese made the statement that "Pie Traynor was the Brooks Robinson of another day".
Eve corrected him by phoning the paper and insisting that "Pie wasn't the Brooks Robinson of his day.
Brooks Robinson is the Pie Traynor of his day".
Pie played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, starting with a cup of coffee in 1920 & 1921 and finally finding a permanent position starting in 1923.
He proceeded to put up a very consistent career at the plate (using a 42 ounce piece of begged, borrowed or shared lumber btw), and superior defensive seasons, until perpetual shoulder injuries robbed him of the ability to make accurate throws to first.
To this day, he appears in the top ten of many all time statistical categories for the Pirates.
The young Pirates of 1925 took on the Washington Senators in the World Series.
The star of the Senators team was another All Time Great Walter Johnson, who limited the Pirates to only one run in Games One and Four combined.
The Pirates offense was lead by future Hall of Famers Kiki Cuyler and Max Carey, as well as Traynor who hit .
346 for the Series, with 2 hits off Johnson in each of his first two starts.
Game Seven was played in a driving downpour upon the decision of Judge Kennesaw Landis, who feared more days of rain in Pittsburgh, and this time Johnson was mortal.
After staking the Senators to an early four run lead, the Pirates had to keep coming back with multi run innings to keep them in it, including a run scoring triple from Traynor in the 7th to tie the score at six.
In the bottom of the 8th inning the Pirates got to a dripping Johnson for three more runs and a 9 - 7 World Series clinching victory.
By 1934, following another World Series appearance in 1927 versus the mightiest of Yankee teams, Traynor was tapped as the player manager.
By piecing together a lifetime of anecdotes and accounts, the authors determined that Traynor's personality was simply not well suited to the challenges of managing a club.
Although they had some success during the 1938 season, faltering late in the season to the Cubs, Traynor's worrying and anxiousness contributed to teams not reaching their potential.
Traynor was let go after the 1939 season, and struggled for a while until finding the position that allowed him to ultimately become a fixture in the city of Pittsburgh for the rest of his life.
He became the Sports Director of local radio station KQV, allowing him to conduct interviews and tell stories in very short reports, but kept him close to the citizens who were attracted to his easy personality.
Pittsburgh was graced by his presence as he walked the streets, poking his head into his favorite shops on his way to work, and joyously sharing in the camaraderie of the call and response tag line of a sponsor, that would become sort of a signature.
"Who Can?"..
"Ameri - Can!" This sponsor relationship with the American Heating Company also led to a role after his retirement, that saw Pie Traynor as a ringside spokesperson on the weekly wrestling program called Studio Wrestling.
His live spots were an integral part of the popular program.
Pie's inability to turn down a request and willingness to share his stories made him a frequent guest on the banquet circuit, up until his death in 1972, just a few months after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Pittsburgh Pirates World Series appearance versus the Baltimore Orioles.
James Forr's has covered the full life of Pie Traynor from his days of youth in Massachusetts, to his playing days and post career celebrity in the city of Pittsburgh.
His biography Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography is available in bookstores and online locations wherever you buy books.
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