Walter “Rabbit” Maranville was known for quite a few things: his sense of humor, his durability, and defensive skills, the latter two of which ranked him on this list of all-time Braves.
Maranville would become Boston’s full-time Shortstop in 1913, where he dazzled the Majors with his glove, and he was third in MVP voting. In 1914, he finished second in MVP voting and led them to a World Series win. While nobody was aware of Defensive bWAR (or any kind of WAR for that matter), Maranville was a two-time leader with Boston in that category and ranked in the top ten another seven times while he played in Massachusetts. Defense was his expertise, and while his offensive numbers aren’t that great, this was a 23-year veteran who would accumulate 2,605 Hits over his career, 1,696 as a Brave. Maranville was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before 1921, but he returned in 1929 and was still effective.
Rabbit Maranville entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954 on his 14th year of eligibility. The Braves would later induct Maranville into their franchise Hall of Fame in 2014.
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