Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams between 1926 and 1945, most notably playing his first 15 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The greatest Pirate outfielder up to his retirement, he won the 1927 NL Most Valuable Player Award in his second season, collecting a team-record 237 hits that year.

[2][3] In the only postseason appearance of his career, he hit .333 in the Pirates' 1927 World Series loss against the New York Yankees.

His younger brother Lloyd Waner is also a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame; Ora had once been offered a contract by the Chicago White Stockings but declined it, instead settling on a 400-acre farm.

[11] In October 1925, the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League purchased Waner and teammate Hal Rhyne from the Seals for $100,000.

On August 26, Waner collected six hits in six at-bats during a game against the Giants,[13] and he accomplished this feat using six different bats from six different players.

[16] He set the major league record for consecutive games with an extra-base hit, with 14 (June 3–19, 1927);[18][19] Since then this feat has also been accomplished by Chipper Jones in 2006.

[8] In the only postseason appearance of his career, Paul went 5-for-15 with 3 RBIs and a .333 batting average, but the Pirates were swept by the New York Yankees.

Playing in only 145 games (the fewest since his rookie year) during the 1930 season, he still recorded 217 hits with a .368 batting average and 117 runs.

By his measure, 1931 was a disappointing year for Waner, who was injured and missed time during spring training.

The 1933 season was also the first year that Major League Baseball hosted the inaugural MLB All-Star Game, for which Waner was selected as a reserve outfielder.

As Casey Stengel said in complimenting his base-running skills, "He had to be a very graceful player, because he could slide without breaking the bottle on his hip.

[15] On January 31, 1941, Waner was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers[1] and would patrol the outfield with Hall of Famer Joe Medwick.

Waner got his 3,000th hit off old Pirate teammate Rip Sewell on June 19, 1942, becoming the seventh hitter (after Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, and Cap Anson) to do so.

He played 92 total games, 83 with the Dodgers and nine with the Yankees after being released by the former on September 1, batting .280 with 17 RBIs and 40 hits.

He played one game for the Yankees in 1945, making one plate appearance as a pinch hitter in which he drew a walk.

[29][30] Waner led the National League in batting on three occasions and accumulated over 3,000 hits during his 20-year baseball career.

On September 15, 1938, the brothers hit back-to-back home runs against Cliff Melton of the New York Giants.

[5][a] After his retirement, he kept active by fishing, hunting, golfing and being a part-time hitting coach for the Phillies, Cardinals, and Braves.

[39] However, Russo noted that "Like Babe Ruth, [Waner's] distaste for discipline made him an inappropriate candidate for managing.

[34] In his spare time, he enjoyed reading Seneca, and he once authored a comedy skit that he and Heinie Manush acted in.

He died on August 29, 1965, in Sarasota, Florida after a respiratory arrest from emphysema complicated by pneumonia at the age of 62.

11 in a ceremony before their game vs. the Astros on July 21, 2007, 55 years to the day of his induction into the Hall of Fame.

A plaque was placed in the interior of PNC Park to commemorate the retiring of Waner's jersey.