October 1, 1927: Big Poison and Little Poison Lead a Pennant

Lloyd (left) and Paul Waner

October 1, 1927: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-6 at Redland Field (later renamed Crosley Field) in Cincinnati. This gives the Pirates the National League Pennant, their 5th, and their 2nd in the last 3 seasons.

Right fielder Paul Waner went 2-for-5, and center fielder Lloyd Waner went 3-for-5. That season, Paul, in his 2nd season, led the NL in batting with a .380 average, 237 hits including 18 triples and 131 RBIs; he added 9 home runs. Lloyd, a rookie, only had 2 homers and 27 RBIs despite playing 150 games, but batted .355 with 223 hits. Despite their heroics, and that of 3rd baseman Harold "Pie" Traynor, the Pirates were swept in 4 straight games in the World Series, by the New York Yankees.

At one point that season, while the Pirates were at the Polo Grounds to play the New York Giants, a sportswriter overheard a fan saying, in a New York accent, "Them Waners! It's always the little poison on toid and the big poison on foist!" Meaning, "the little person on third base and the big person on first base." The nicknames, "Big Poison" for Paul and "Little Poison" for Lloyd,stuck with them for the rest of their lives. Except Paul was 5-foot-8, and listed at 153 pounds during his playing career; while Lloyd was slightly taller, at 5-foot-9, and listed as 150 pounds. But both hit big.

Both brothers were born in Harrah, Oklahoma, about 20 miles east of Oklahoma City: Paul Glee Waner on April 16, 1903; and Lloyd James Waner on March 16, 1906, in each case before the Oklahoma Territory gained Statehood in 1907. Both graduated from Central High School in Oklahoma City, and both briefly attended what is now named East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma before turning pro.

Paul helped the San Francisco Seals win the 1925 Pacific Coast League Pennant, and the Pirates, who had won the World Series that season, purchased his contract. Lloyd was also a 1925 Seal, but did not hit well. But he won the batting title and the Most Valuable Player award in the South Atlantic League in 1926, playing for the South Carolina-based Columbia Comers, and the Pirates purchased him, too.

Both men batted lefthanded, but while Paul also threw lefthanded, Lloyd threw righthanded. Lloyd was usually the Pirates' leadoff hitter, with Paul batting 3rd. Both brothers remained with the Pirates through 1940, but, despite having Hall-of-Famers as teammates in Traynor through 1935 and shortstop Joseph "Arky" Vaughan starting in 1932, both of them solid hitters and great fielders, neither brother ever won another Pennant.

The Pirates finished 2nd in 1929, but 10 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs; 2nd again in 1932, but 4 games behind the Cubs; 2nd again in 1933, but 5 games behind the Giants; 3rd in 1937, but 10 games behind the Giants; and they led most of the way in 1938, but went 12-16 from September 2 to October 2, while the Cubs went 21-5 from September 4 onward, including a 3-game sweep of the Pirates from September 27 to 29, and the Pirates finished 2 back.

Paul played briefly with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941, spent most of 1941 and all of 1942 with the Boston Braves, collecting his 3,000th career hit in 1942, returned to the Dodgers in 1943 and '44, and closed his career with 9 games in 1944 and 1 in 1945 with the Yankees.

Lloyd played 3 more games with the Pirates in 1941, before being traded to the Braves, reunited with Paul, but only played 19 games with them before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1942, and retired, spending the 1943 season working in a war-production job with Douglas Aircraft. But the manpower drain of World War II led to the Dodgers offering to reunite him with Paul in 1944, but the Pirates reacquired him later that year, and he finished with them in 1945.

Along with pioneers Harry and George Wright, the Waners are the only brother combination to both be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lloyd's election is often considered one of the more dubious, but he finished his career with a .316 average and 2,459 hits. He led the NL with 20 triples in 1929 and with 214 hits in 1931. He never hit more than 5 home runs or drove in more than 74 runs in a season, but that was partly due to the Pirates playing at spacious Forbes Field.. In 10 seasons, he batted .309 or higher, peaking at .362 in 1930.

In contrast, Paul's election is unquestionable: A .333 average and 3,152 hits. He led the NL in batting average 3 times, hits twice, doubles twice, triples twice (for those stats, Forbes' deep left and center field helped), and runs scored twice.

The Waners have more hits than any brother combination: 5,611. That's more for the 2 of them than the 3 Alou brothers with 5,094, more than the 3 DiMaggio brothers with 4,853, and more than the 5 Delahanty brothers with 4,025. It's also more than the Alomar brothers, Sandy Jr. and Roberto, and their father, Sandy Sr., had combined, with 5,128. Paul hit only 113 home runs in his entire career, Lloyd just 27. Yet, on September 15, 1938, they hit back-to-back home runs against Cliff Melton in a 7-2 win over the Giants at the Polo Grounds.

The brothers were also considered great fielders. Casey Stengel, a predecessor of Paul's in right field for the Pirates, said that Paul was the best right fielder in National League history -- although this was before the peak years of Hank Aaron. Baseball historian Frank Russo said, "Paul was a speedy outfielder who possessed perhaps the strongest arm in a Pittsburgh outfield until the arrival of Roberto Clemente."

Paul became a hitting coach for the Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Braves, who had moved to Milwaukee. He was also one of baseball's best golfers, frequently shooting rounds in the 70s. In 1952, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Lloyd became a scout for the Pirates, and then for the Baltimore Orioles, and worked for the City of Oklahoma City in the off-season. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967.

In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Paul 62nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. In 2007, the Pirates retired Paul's Number 11. They have not retired Lloyd's Number 10.

Both brothers became alcoholics: Lloyd Waner Jr. said his uncle was already a heavy drinker as a player, and his father's drinking intensified after his retirement -- in case case, like a later Oklahoma native in baseball, Mickey Mantle. Lloyd eventually quit.

Paul Waner died on August 29, 1965, in Sarasota, Florida, where he'd retired to be close to the Pirates' Spring Training complex in Bradenton. He was only 62 years old. He had recently been interviewed by Lawrence S. Ritter for his book The Glory of Their Times. When the book was published the next year, the chapter on Paul was made the last chapter.

Lloyd Waner died on July 22, 1982 in Oklahoma City, at the age of 76. Both brothers died from emphysema, a result of smoking rather than drinking. They are not buried together, or even in the same part of the country: Paul is laid to rest in Bradenton, Lloyd in Oklahoma City.

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October 1, 1927 was a Saturday. These other baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Wilcy Moore, one of baseball's first notable relief pitchers, started, pitched the 1st 5 innings, and got the win, to finish 19-7 on the season.

Babe Ruth, who hit his record-breaking 60th home run of the season the day before, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Lou Gehrig went 1-for-3, hitting a 3-run homer, for his 47th of the season -- at the time, the most of any player other than Ruth, who had hid 54 in 1920 and 51 in 1921. Tris Speaker, running down his career after starring in Boston and Cleveland, pinch-hit for Washington, and failed to reach base.

* The New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Dodgers (or the Robins, as they were called under manager Wilbert Robinson from 1914 to 1931), 6-1 at Ebbets Field. Burleigh Grimes out pitched Jesse Petty. Travis Jackson hit a home run. Rogers Hornsby went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Bill Terry went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Rookie Mel Ott did not play.

* The Boston Braves swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-9 and 8-6 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics swept a doubleheader from the Boston Red Sox, 10-2 and 3-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Russell "Jing" Johnson and Sam Gray were the winning pitchers. In the nightcap, Gray allowed 8 hits over 8 innings, and Jimmy Dykes pitched a hitless 9th to complete the shutout.

Mickey Cochrane went 2-for-4 with a walk in the opener, and sat out the nightcap. Eddie Collins sat out the opener, but went 4-for-4 in the nightcap. Ty Cobb, playing out the string with the A's after starring with Detroit, sat out both games. Over the 2 games, Dykes went 5-for-9 with 3 RBIs, Jimmie Foxx went 3-for-9 with 3 RBIs, and Al Simmons went 5-for-7 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 8-5 at Comiskey Park in the 1st game of a doubleheader. The White Sox were leading the 2nd game, 5-3 after 5, when the game was called due to rain, thus giving them a sweep.

* The Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Navin Field (later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day, the last day of the regular season. The Tigers swept, 11-5 and 5-4. The Indians led the 2nd game, 4-3 going to the bottom of the 9th, but 2 Cleveland errors and an RBI double by Jack Warner gave Detroit the victory.

* And the Chicago Cubs and their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, were rained out at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Since this was the next-to-last day of the season, and the Cardinals had been eliminated (they finished 2 1/2 games out), the game was never made up.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Army beat the University of Detroit, 6-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.

* Navy beat Davis & Elkins University, 27-0 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

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The University of Michigan defeats Ohio Wesleyan (not Ohio State), 33-0. This was the 1st game played at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, 38 miles west of downtown Detroit. I have a separate entry for this event. At the time, it seated 72,000. By 1956, it would top 100,000. Today, officially, capacity is 107,601.

* The University of Illinois beat fellow Central Illinois school Bradley University, 19-0 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. The Fighting Illini finished undefeated at 7-0-1, would be credited with both the Big Ten Conference Championship and the National Championship.

* The University of Minnesota beat the University of North Dakota, 57-10 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers finished undefeated at 6-0-2, but a tie with Indiana cost them the Big Ten title. They did not play Illinois that season.

* Missouri beat Kansas State, 13-6 at Memorial Stadium (now Faurot Field) in Columbia, Missouri. Mizzou went on to win the Championship of the Missouri Valley Conference, a forerunner of the Big Eight/Big Twelve.

* St. Mary's beat Stanford, 16-0 at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. This was not a Pacific Coast Conference game.

* The University of Southern California beat Santa Clara University, 52-12 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC and Stanford played each other in Palo Alto 2 weeks later, and it ended in a 13-13 tie. They went on to share the PCC title.

* Notre Dame beat Coe College, 28-7 at Cartier Field in South Bend, Indiana. This was not what would now be considered an early-season "cupcake" opponent for a national power's home game: Coe, a Presbyterian Church-affiliated school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, went 4-3-1 that season. However, since the reorganization of the NCAA in 1973, they have played in Division III.

* The University of Oklahoma beat the University of Chicago, 13-7 at Stagg Field in Chicago.

* Georgia Tech beat Virginia Military Institute (VMI), 7-0 at Grant Field (now Bobby Doddy Stadium) in Atlanta. Tech finished 8-1-1.

* Tennessee beat North Carolina, 26-0 at Emerson Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Tennessee finished undefeated at 8-0-1. However, since they were 5-0-1 in Southern Conference play, and Georgia Tech were 7-0-1 in the league, they were declared Co-Champions.

* In New York City: Columbia beat Union College of Schenectady, 28-6 at Baker Field in Upper Manhattan; New York University (NYU) beat West Virginia Wesleyan, 29-13 at Ohio Field in The Bronx; City College of New York (CCNY) lost to George Washington University, 19-6 at Lewisohn Stadium in Upper Manhattan; and Fordham beat Lebanon Valley College, 13-3 at Fordham Field in The Bronx.

* Among New Jersey teams, Princeton beat Amherst, 14-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton; and Monmouth College (now Monmouth University) lost to Iowa, 32-6 at Iowa Field in Iowa City.

* And in a New York City vs. New Jersey game, Rutgers beat Manhattan College, 24-6 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

And in English soccer, Arsenal drew with East London team West Ham Unitd, 2-2 at the Arsenal Stadium, nicknamed Highbury for its North London neighborhood.