Max Lanier
Born: 8/18/1915 in Denton, NC, USA
Died: 1/30/2007 in Lecanto, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1938-04-20 | Final Game: 1953-07-04
Bats: R | Throws: L | Height: 5'11" | Weight: 180 lbs
Full name: Hubert Max Lanier
Biography
Max Lanier, born in 1915, was a prominent pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1938 until his retirement in 1953. He established a solid career with a win-loss record of 108-82 and an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 3.01. Lanier was known for his effective pitching style, which contributed to his total of 821 strikeouts and 17 saves over his career. His skill on the mound earned him two selections as an All-Star, highlighting his status as one of the standout pitchers of his era.
Lanier's career unfolded during a dynamic period in baseball history, bridging the pre- and post-World War II eras. He played for teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Giants, where he showcased his talents in the major leagues. His contributions to the game were significant, as he helped define the role of the modern pitcher with his ability to control games and maintain low ERAs. Lanier's legacy remains a testament to his talent and dedication to the sport, marking him as an important figure in baseball history.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 108 | 82 | 327 | 204 | 91 | 21 | 17 | 1619.3 | 1490 | 541 | 65 | 611 | 821 | 3.01 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | STL | NL | 0 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45.0 | 57 | 21 | 28 | 14 | 4.20 | - |
| 1939 | STL | NL | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37.7 | 29 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 2.39 | - |
| 1940 | STL | NL | 9 | 6 | 35 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 105.0 | 113 | 39 | 38 | 49 | 3.34 | - |
| 1941 | STL | NL | 10 | 8 | 35 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 153.0 | 126 | 48 | 59 | 93 | 2.82 | - |
| 1942 | STL | NL | 13 | 8 | 34 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 161.0 | 137 | 53 | 60 | 93 | 2.96 | - |
| 1943 | STL | NL | 15 | 7 | 32 | 25 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 213.3 | 195 | 45 | 75 | 123 | 1.90 | - |
| 1944 | STL | NL | 17 | 12 | 33 | 30 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 224.3 | 192 | 66 | 71 | 141 | 2.65 | - |
| 1945 | STL | NL | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 1.73 | - |
| 1946 | STL | NL | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 56.0 | 45 | 12 | 19 | 36 | 1.93 | - |
| 1949 | STL | NL | 5 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 92.0 | 92 | 39 | 35 | 37 | 3.82 | - |
| 1950 | STL | NL | 11 | 9 | 27 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 181.3 | 173 | 63 | 68 | 89 | 3.13 | - |
| 1951 | STL | NL | 11 | 9 | 31 | 23 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 160.0 | 149 | 58 | 50 | 59 | 3.26 | - |
| 1952 | NY1 | NL | 7 | 12 | 37 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 137.0 | 124 | 60 | 65 | 47 | 3.94 | -1885.6 |
| 1953 | NY1 | NL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6.75 | 0.0 |
| 1953 | SLA | AL | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.3 | 28 | 18 | 19 | 8 | 7.25 | -815.6 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 328 | 535 | 46 | 99 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 23 | 45 | 0.185 | 0.219 | 0.196 | 0.415 | -2581.3 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | STL | NL | 18 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.100 | 0.0 |
| 1939 | STL | NL | 7 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.286 | 0.0 |
| 1940 | STL | NL | 35 | 30 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.200 | 0.0 |
| 1941 | STL | NL | 35 | 52 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.192 | -380.4 |
| 1942 | STL | NL | 34 | 47 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0.255 | -83.6 |
| 1943 | STL | NL | 32 | 73 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.164 | -570.2 |
| 1944 | STL | NL | 33 | 77 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0.182 | -484.1 |
| 1945 | STL | NL | 4 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.182 | 0.0 |
| 1946 | STL | NL | 6 | 25 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.200 | 0.0 |
| 1949 | STL | NL | 15 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.074 | 0.0 |
| 1950 | STL | NL | 27 | 68 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0.162 | -559.1 |
| 1951 | STL | NL | 31 | 53 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.151 | -503.9 |
| 1952 | NY1 | NL | 38 | 41 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.268 | 0.0 |
| 1953 | NY1 | NL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1953 | SLA | AL | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.167 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.444 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | WS | SLN | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 |
| 1943 | WS | SLN | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 |
| 1942 | WS | SLN | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 31.7 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 1.71 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | WS | SLN | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12.3 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 2.19 |
| 1943 | WS | SLN | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 15.3 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 1.76 |
| 1942 | WS | SLN | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 327 | 0 | 78 | 324 | 17 | 25 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | SLN | P | 18 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 1939 | SLN | P | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1940 | SLN | P | 35 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 3 | 1 |
| 1941 | SLN | P | 35 | 0 | 10 | 37 | 0 | 2 |
| 1942 | SLN | P | 34 | 0 | 5 | 38 | 2 | 1 |
| 1943 | SLN | P | 32 | 0 | 8 | 43 | 1 | 2 |
| 1944 | SLN | P | 33 | 0 | 8 | 39 | 3 | 3 |
| 1945 | SLN | P | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1946 | SLN | P | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 1949 | SLN | P | 15 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 1950 | SLN | P | 27 | 0 | 12 | 31 | 1 | 2 |
| 1951 | SLN | P | 31 | 0 | 9 | 28 | 2 | 5 |
| 1952 | NY1 | P | 37 | 0 | 13 | 37 | 3 | 4 |
| 1953 | NY1 | P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1953 | SLA | P | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 327 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 26th | 2.0 | 336 | 0 |