Paul Waner was born on Thursday, April 16, 1903, in Harrah, Oklahoma. Waner was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 13, 1926, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Paul Waner baseball stats page.
"He (Paul Waner) could drink pretty good. That's no secret. But he could also sober himself up in a hurry. He would do backflips. He had remarkable agility, like an acrobat. Fifteen or twenty minutes of backflips and he was cold sober, ready to go out to the ball park and get his three hits." - Hassett, Buddy. Baseball Between the Lines. 1976.
Paul Waner |
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Paul WanerPaul Waner Pitching Stats |
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| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD |
| - | - | Did Not Pitch | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
Paul WanerPaul Waner Hitting Stats |
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| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 1926 | 23 | Pirates | 144 | 536 | 101 | 180 | 35 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 79 | 66 | 4 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 7 | .336 | .413 | .528 |
| 1927 | 24 | Pirates | 155 | 623 | 114 | 237 | 42 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 131 | 60 | 2 | 14 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 11 | .380 | .437 | .549 |
| 1928 | 25 | Pirates | 152 | 602 | 142 | 223 | 50 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 86 | 77 | 1 | 16 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | .370 | .446 | .547 |
| 1929 | 26 | Pirates | 151 | 596 | 131 | 200 | 43 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 100 | 89 | 3 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 20 | .336 | .424 | .534 |
| 1930 | 27 | Pirates | 145 | 589 | 117 | 217 | 32 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 77 | 57 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 13 | .368 | .428 | .525 |
| 1931 | 28 | Pirates | 150 | 559 | 88 | 180 | 35 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 70 | 73 | 4 | 21 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 16 | .322 | .404 | .453 |
| 1932 | 29 | Pirates | 154 | 630 | 107 | 215 | 62 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 82 | 56 | 3 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .341 | .397 | .510 |
| 1933 | 30 | Pirates | 154 | 618 | 101 | 191 | 38 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 70 | 60 | 7 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 10 | .309 | .372 | .456 |
| 1934 | 31 | Pirates | 146 | 599 | 122 | 217 | 32 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 90 | 68 | 5 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .362 | .429 | .539 |
| 1935 | 32 | Pirates | 139 | 549 | 98 | 176 | 29 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 78 | 61 | 1 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 15 | .321 | .392 | .477 |
| 1936 | 33 | Pirates | 148 | 585 | 107 | 218 | 53 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 94 | 74 | 3 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 15 | .373 | .446 | .520 |
| 1937 | 34 | Pirates | 154 | 619 | 94 | 219 | 30 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 74 | 63 | 5 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 11 | .354 | .413 | .441 |
| 1938 | 35 | Pirates | 148 | 625 | 77 | 175 | 31 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 69 | 47 | 3 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .280 | .331 | .378 |
| 1939 | 36 | Pirates | 125 | 461 | 62 | 151 | 30 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 35 | 5 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12 | .328 | .375 | .438 |
| 1940 | 37 | Pirates | 89 | 238 | 32 | 69 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 23 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .290 | .352 | .378 |
| 1941 | 38 | Dodgers | 11 | 35 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .171 | .326 | .171 |
| 1941 | 38 | Braves | 95 | 294 | 40 | 82 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 46 | 47 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .279 | .378 | .347 |
| 1942 | 39 | Braves | 114 | 333 | 43 | 86 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 62 | 2 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .258 | .376 | .324 |
| 1943 | 40 | Dodgers | 82 | 225 | 29 | 70 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 35 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .311 | .406 | .396 |
| 1944 | 41 | Dodgers | 83 | 136 | 16 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 27 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .287 | .405 | .331 |
| 1944 | 41 | Yankees | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .333 | .143 |
| 1945 | 42 | Yankees | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1.000 | .000 |
| Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
| 20 Years | 2,549 | 9,459 | 1,627 | 3,152 | 605 | 191 | 113 | 3 | 1,309 | 1,091 | 54 | 376 | 174 | 0 | 38 | 214 | .333 | .404 | .473 | ||
Paul WanerPaul Waner Fielding Stats |
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| Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| 1926 Pirates | LF | 6 | 5 | 123 | 30 | 5.0 | 30 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 6.59 |
| 1926 Pirates | RF | 133 | 132 | 3,456 | 326 | 2.5 | 318 | 2,299 | 19 | 8 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .997 | 18.11 |
| 1927 Pirates | 1B | 14 | 12 | 321 | 112 | 8.0 | 109 | 104 | 5 | 3 | 8 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .973 | 9.17 |
| 1927 Pirates | RF | 143 | 143 | 423 | 353 | 2.5 | 346 | 326 | 20 | 7 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .980 | 22.09 |
| 1928 Pirates | 1B | 24 | 23 | 555 | 246 | 10.3 | 242 | 234 | 8 | 4 | 17 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .984 | 11.77 |
| 1928 Pirates | RF | 131 | 129 | 3,375 | 321 | 2.5 | 313 | 299 | 14 | 8 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .975 | 2.50 |
| 1929 Pirates | 1B | 7 | 9 | 228 | 73 | 10.4 | 73 | 70 | 3 | 0 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 8.64 |
| 1929 Pirates | RF | 143 | 141 | 3,750 | 348 | 2.4 | 343 | 328 | 15 | 5 | 5 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .986 | 2.47 |
| 1930 Pirates | CF | 6 | 5 | 117 | 213 | 35.5 | 212 | 212 | 0 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .995 | 48.92 |
| 1930 Pirates | LF | 2 | 2 | 54 | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 2.50 |
| 1930 Pirates | RF | 136 | 135 | 3,489 | 350 | 2.6 | 336 | 327 | 9 | 14 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .960 | 2.60 |
| 1931 Pirates | 1B | 10 | 10 | 273 | 102 | 10.2 | 102 | 99 | 3 | 0 | 10 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 10.09 |
| 1931 Pirates | LF | 1 | 1 | 39 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 4.85 |
| 1931 Pirates | RF | 138 | 135 | 3,585 | 379 | 2.7 | 370 | 342 | 28 | 9 | 8 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .976 | 2.79 |
| 1932 Pirates | CF | 10 | 7 | 183 | 23 | 2.3 | 23 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 3.39 |
| 1932 Pirates | RF | 146 | 146 | 3,786 | 367 | 2.5 | 357 | 345 | 12 | 10 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .973 | 2.55 |
| 1933 Pirates | RF | 154 | 154 | 462 | 369 | 2.4 | 362 | 346 | 16 | 7 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .981 | 21.16 |
| 1934 Pirates | RF | 145 | 145 | 3,777 | 343 | 2.4 | 338 | 323 | 15 | 5 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .985 | 2.42 |
| 1935 Pirates | RF | 136 | 136 | 3,570 | 301 | 2.2 | 296 | 283 | 13 | 5 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .983 | 2.24 |
| 1936 Pirates | RF | 145 | 145 | 3,858 | 352 | 2.4 | 338 | 323 | 15 | 14 | 7 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .960 | 2.37 |
| 1937 Pirates | 1B | 3 | 3 | 48 | 32 | 10.7 | 30 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .938 | 16.88 |
| 1937 Pirates | RF | 150 | 148 | 3,921 | 296 | 2.0 | 287 | 271 | 16 | 9 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .970 | 1.98 |
| 1938 Pirates | CF | 1 | 0 | - | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .000 | 0.00 |
| 1938 Pirates | RF | 147 | 147 | 438 | 302 | 2.1 | 295 | 284 | 11 | 7 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .977 | 18.18 |
| 1939 Pirates | RF | 106 | 105 | 2,754 | 223 | 2.1 | 218 | 206 | 12 | 5 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .978 | 2.14 |
| 1940 Pirates | 1B | 8 | 7 | 201 | 95 | 11.9 | 94 | 88 | 6 | 1 | 12 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .989 | 12.63 |
| 1940 Pirates | RF | 45 | 44 | 675 | 66 | 1.5 | 65 | 62 | 3 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .985 | 2.60 |
| 1941 Braves | CF | 3 | 3 | 48 | 5 | 1.7 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 2.81 |
| 1941 Braves | LF | 12 | 7 | 156 | 18 | 1.5 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 3.12 |
| 1941 Braves | RF | 66 | 60 | 1,506 | 118 | 1.8 | 113 | 107 | 6 | 5 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .958 | 2.03 |
| 1941 Dodgers | RF | 9 | 8 | 213 | 13 | 1.4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .923 | 1.52 |
| 1941 Braves | 1B | 7 | 1 | 27 | 22 | 3.1 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .909 | 20.00 |
| 1942 Braves | RF | 94 | 89 | 1,968 | 161 | 1.7 | 156 | 150 | 6 | 5 | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .969 | 2.14 |
| 1943 Dodgers | LF | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 1.80 |
| 1943 Dodgers | RF | 56 | 54 | 1,137 | 124 | 2.2 | 119 | 115 | 4 | 5 | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .960 | 2.83 |
| 1944 Dodgers | LF | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .000 | 0.00 |
| 1944 Dodgers | RF | 31 | 22 | 546 | 158 | 5.1 | 157 | 154 | 3 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .994 | 7.76 |
| Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| RF Totals | 2,254 | 2,218 | 46,689 | 5,270 | 2.3 | 5,139 | 6,902 | 237 | 131 | 53 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .982 | 4.13 | |
| 1B Totals | 73 | 65 | 1,653 | 682 | 9.3 | 670 | 641 | 29 | 12 | 52 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .982 | 10.94 | |
| LF Totals | 23 | 15 | 396 | 61 | 2.7 | 61 | 58 | 3 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 4.16 | |
| CF Totals | 20 | 15 | 348 | 241 | 12.1 | 240 | 238 | 2 | 1 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .996 | 18.62 | |
| 19 Years | 2,370 | 2,313 | 49,086 | 6,254 | 2.6 | 6,110 | 7,839 | 271 | 144 | 105 | n/a | n/a | n/a | .983 | 4.46 | |
Paul WanerPaul Waner Miscellaneous Stats |
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| Baserunning Statistics | Other Positions | Common Hitting Ratios | Common Pitching Ratios | |||||||||
| Team | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 1926 Pirates | 11 | 9 | .550 | 5 | 0 | n/a | 67.0 | 28.2 | 6.8 | - | - | - |
| 1927 Pirates | 5 | 6 | .455 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 69.2 | 44.5 | 4.8 | - | - | - |
| 1928 Pirates | 6 | 9 | .400 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 100.3 | 37.6 | 7.0 | - | - | - |
| 1929 Pirates | 15 | 9 | .625 | 1 | 0 | n/a | 39.7 | 24.8 | 6.0 | - | - | - |
| 1930 Pirates | 18 | 9 | .667 | 2 | 0 | n/a | 73.6 | 32.7 | 7.6 | - | - | - |
| 1931 Pirates | 6 | 9 | .400 | 2 | 0 | n/a | 93.2 | 26.6 | 8.0 | - | - | - |
| 1932 Pirates | 13 | 12 | .520 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 78.8 | 26.3 | 7.7 | - | - | - |
| 1933 Pirates | 3 | 4 | .429 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 88.3 | 30.9 | 8.8 | - | - | - |
| 1934 Pirates | 8 | 4 | .667 | 1 | 0 | n/a | 42.8 | 25.0 | 6.7 | - | - | - |
| 1935 Pirates | 2 | 8 | .200 | 3 | 0 | n/a | 49.9 | 25.0 | 7.0 | - | - | - |
| 1936 Pirates | 7 | 2 | .778 | 3 | 0 | n/a | 117.0 | 20.2 | 6.2 | - | - | - |
| 1937 Pirates | 4 | 3 | .571 | 2 | 0 | n/a | 309.5 | 18.2 | 8.4 | - | - | - |
| 1938 Pirates | 2 | 8 | .200 | 1 | 0 | n/a | 104.2 | 22.3 | 9.1 | - | - | - |
| 1939 Pirates | 0 | 3 | .000 | 20 | 0 | n/a | 153.7 | 25.6 | 10.2 | - | - | - |
| 1940 Pirates | 0 | 0 | .000 | 36 | 0 | n/a | 238.0 | 17.0 | 7.4 | - | - | - |
| 1941 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 2 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.8 | - | - | - |
| 1941 Braves | 1 | 5 | .167 | 17 | 0 | n/a | 147.0 | 21.0 | 6.4 | - | - | - |
| 1942 Braves | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 19 | 1 | n/a | 333.0 | 16.7 | 8.5 | - | - | - |
| 1943 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 25 | 0 | n/a | 225.0 | 25.0 | 8.7 | - | - | - |
| 1944 Dodgers | 0 | 0 | .000 | 52 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 19.4 | 8.5 | - | - | - |
| 1944 Yankees | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 9 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | - | - | - |
| 1945 Yankees | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | - | - |
| Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 20 Years | 104 | 100 | .510 | 201 | 1 | n/a | 83.7 | 25.2 | 7.2 | - | - | - |

Paul Glee Waner was a Major League Baseball player with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1926–1940), Brooklyn Dodgers (1941), Boston Braves (1941–1942), Brooklyn Dodgers (1943–1944), and New York Yankees (1944–1945). His iconic nickname, Big Poison, is quite unique as his brother Lloyd Waner, was nicknamed Little Poison. How did that happen?

Paul Waner Rookie Card | 1933 Goudey Baseball Card (#25 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library
"They used to call us Big Poison and Little Poison. A lot of people have thought we had those nicknames because we were ‘poison’ to the opposing pitchers. But that isn’t the way it came about. It started in 1927, in New York. We were playing the Giants in the Polo Grounds. There used to be this little Italian fellow who always sat in the center-field bleachers. He had a voice on him you could hear all over the park. When he hollered out you heard him no matter where you were.
"Well, Paul and I were hitting against the Giants. This one day we came out of the clubhouse between games of a doubleheader and this fellow started yelling at us. What it sounded like was Big and Little Poison, but what he was really saying was Big and Little Person. He was a real nice fellow and we would wave at him and he finally became our biggest rooter in the Polo Grounds. We got him an autographed baseball one time. But whenever we came in there he would yell that and the newspaperman finally picked it up, except they thought he was saying Poison instead of Person. It became a newspaper nickname, because no ball players ever called us that. And the name has stuck, right down to this day."
Source: Lloyd Waner. The October Heroes. Honig, Donald. Author. Simon & Schuster Publishing. 4 June 1979.
Did you know that when Paul Waner collected 237 hits in 1927, he set the still-standing Pittsburgh Pirates record for most hits in a season? Too easy? Did you know that the players who held the franchise record previously were Jimmy Williams (219 hits 1899), Kiki Cuyler (220 hits in 1925), and Paul's brother, Lloyd Waner, who "only" had 223 hits — during his rookie year — in 1927?
Did you know that when Paul Waner took the field on April 12, 1932, he became the first Pittsburgh Pirate to ever wear #11 in a regular season game? Seventy-five years later, on July 21, 2007, the Bucs retired the number in his honor.
Did you know that after the 1932 season ended, Paul Waner had stroked sixty-two doubles, the most doubles ever hit by a Pirate, the most doubles hit that season by any player, and a (since broken) National League record for most doubles in a season!

Paul Waner | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 1952 (HOF)
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