Pie

Pie Traynor

Harold "Pie" Traynor got his nickname when he was a child. He frequented a neighborhood grocery store and would often ask for pie. The owner of the store started calling him "Pie Face," which was later shortened to "Pie" by his friends.

A mild-mannered and scholarly player, Traynor was ejected from a game just once in his career. The game was in Brooklyn, and the umpire who gave him the heave-ho was Pete McLaughlin. A call went against him and he supposedly exclaimed, "I'm sick and tired of such decisions!" and then threw the ball, his hat, and his glove.

"So he wouldn't be arrested for indecent exposure," McLaughlin said later, "I bounced him."

Along with his offensive prowess, Traynor was considered the best fielding third basemen of his era. He led the National League in assists and double plays three times and in putouts seven times. He ranks fifth all-time among third basemen in putouts.

And he was tough, too. Often, when balls were hit to his right at the hot corner, instead of backhanding with his glove, he would snare them with his bare hand. Said teammate Charlie Grimm: "I've seen him field a hot grounder over at third base barehanded and get the runner at first."

And, in an age when most ballplayers weren't overly concerned with fitness, Traynor was an exception. In fact, he purposely did not learn to drive so that he would never have an excuse not to walk.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him no. 70 on its list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century, and Major League Baseball nominated him as a finalist on its All-Century team.

"He was a mechanically perfect third baseman," said Branch Rickey at Traynor's Hall of Fame induction, "a man of intellectual worth on the field of play."