Rare is the rookie who is talented enough to move into a starting role and force one of the all-time great defensive shortstops to another position.  The Pirates had one of these gems in Glenn Wright, who’s excellent arm, incredible range and power bat were so highly thought of that Manager Bill McKechnie informed future Hall of Fame shortstop Rabbit Maranville that he would be moving to secondbase in 1924.

True, the story was not quite that simple.  Maranville had incurred the wrath of Barney Dreyfuss when his off field antics progressed into acknowledged problems.  Dreyfuss, indicating that he had made up his mind to trade Maranville by early 1923, obtained the rights to Glenn from Kansas City of the American Association.  Wright was in the process of having his second great year in a row in KC and longtime NL star Sherry Magee, managing in the Association at the time, applauded Dreyfuss’s purchase, stating Wright was the best infielder the league had producedand predicted major league stardom for him.  When Dreyfuss was unable to trade Maranville for anything respectable, McKechnie decided to move the vet to second and gave the shortstop job to Wright.

Wright played well as a rookie.  He showed almost as much range as the Rabbit and possessed the strongest shortstops arm in the National League.  The one weakness Wright had was that he sometimes muscled up too much on the ball and when he did, his throws became erratic, earning him the nickname “Buckshot.”   His throws accounted for many of his 52 errors, but he also set a record that year with 601 assists, a record which stood until Ozzie Smith broke it in 1980.  He also led the league with 102 double plays and his .946 fielding percentage was second among shortstops who appeared in 100 or more games.  He quickly established himself as a tough out at the plate as his 111 rbi’s tied Jim Bottomley for third in the league and far outdistanced any of his teammates.  He also finished third in the NL in triples with 18.

Wright was one of the stars of the 1925 championship club.   He again led the Bucs with 121 rbi’s as he and Kiki Cuyler established a new team record with 18 homeruns.  The rbi total was fourth in the league this time and he raised his average to .308.  Wright fielded more balls cleanly than any shortstop in the league, although he did once again commit over 50 errors.  One of the great moments in his career occurred on May 7, when Wright became the fifth man in major league history to turn a triple play, doing so against the Cardinals.  Wright had some trouble against Washington pitching in the World Series, batting just .185, but his homerun in Game 2 tied the contest in the fourth and ended the scoring until Cuyler’s gamewinning shot in the ninth.  His single won Game 5 in the final frame and kept the Pirates, down 3-1 in games, alive.  He easily outplayed his counterpart, American League MVP Roger Peckinpaugh in the field.  After the Pirates’ victory, Wright was named to The Sporting News Major League All-Star team over Peckinpaugh.

Buckshot equaled his .308 average in 1926, but injuries and bad luck limited him to 116 games in the field.  He was beaned by Cardinals’ pitcher Vic Keen and Wright’s fate was up in the air for a few days.  Then, released from a St. Louis hospital, he was en route via train to Pittsburgh to join his teammates when the locomotive was involved in an accident.  While escaping further injury, the star shortstop was understandably shaken up.

Healthier in 1927, Wright was the Pirates’ cleanup hitter during their pennant run.  He drove in 105 runs, although his batting average fell off to .281.  Defensively, he was tops in both putouts and errors.  His .154 performance in the World Series was one of the lowpoints of his career as he could not help the Bucs keep the Yankee’s broom closet closed.

If Glenn thought he had had trouble in the Series, he couldn’t imagine what the off-season had in store for him as he was named in a $40,000 lawsuit following a automobile accident.  He hit well once the season started, but injuries and personal issues kept him out of the lineup often and Donie Bush, who had taken over as manager prior to 1927, made it known he was unhappy with Wright.  Wright was moved to Brooklyn following the season and another problem immediately cropped up.  He arrived with an injured shoulder and the Robins claimed the Pirates had known about the injury and had traded damaged goods.  They demanded the trade be nullified, but Commissioner Landis agreed the trade would stand as Wright had claimed the injury happened after the move.  Unable to throw, Wright played little in 1929.  He rebounded for a big year in 1930, but never approached those numbers again and his arm was never the same.  He remained with Brooklyn through 1933 and tried a comeback with the White Sox in 1935, but was released after just nine games.  His trade though did not afford the Pirates much as the key man in the deal, Jess Petty, went just 12-16 before being released in 1930.

Wright later went on to manage in the Boston Red Sox system and scouted for them for a time.  He was inducted into the American Association’s Hall of Fame, primarily based on his great years in 1922 and 1923 and passed away in 1984.