Maranville finished third in the MVP voting in his first full season, playing for the
Boston Braves as a 21-year-old in 1913 even though his batting average was just .247 in 143 games with two homers. The following year, Maranville was the runner-up in the MVP voting to teammate
Johnny Evers as the Braves won the National League pennant and then went on to sweep the powerful
Philadelphia A's in the World Series. That year, Maranville was the Braves' cleanup hitter, despite batting just .246 and hitting four home runs. Following the series, he and several of his teammates went on a
vaudeville tour, reenacting plays from the World Series while also singing and telling stories. Maranville was demonstrating a stolen base to an audience in
Lewiston, Maine, when he accidentally slid off the edge of the stage and fell onto a drum in the orchestra pit, suffering a broken leg. Maranville played only 11 games in 1918, spending most of the year in the
United States Navy during
World War I. baseball card of Walter "Rabbit" Maranville, 1933 Maranville threw and batted right-handed; he stood tall and weighed . Over a lengthy career which spanned both the
dead ball and
live-ball era, he played for the
Boston Braves (1912–1920, 1929–1933, 1935),
Pittsburgh Pirates (1921–1924),
Chicago Cubs (1925),
Brooklyn Robins (1926) and
St. Louis Cardinals (1927–1928). He retired having compiled a .258
batting average, 2,605
hits, 1,255
runs, 28
home runs, 884
RBI and 291
stolen bases. As a shortstop, he finished his career with a positional record 5,139
putouts. He moved to second base in 1924 after the Pirates installed
Glenn Wright at the shortstop position. He used to don a pair of glasses to make fun of umpires and mimic the actions of hitters or pitchers who took an especially long time to get ready. Other stunts he pulled included throwing firecrackers, stepping out on hotel ledges, and
swallowing goldfish. Not long after that, he was out on the street outside
Ebbets Field in
Brooklyn mimicking a newsboy hawking papers. He cried out, "Read all about it! Maranville fired!" And so he was—the next day. 1926 was a struggle for Maranville. Having been claimed off waivers by the Brooklyn Robins, he spent the first half of the season with them but was released halfway through the year. The Cardinals signed him that November but assigned him to the
Rochester Tribe of the
International League in 1927. Maranville realized he would have to make a change in his lifestyle if he wanted to continue playing in the major leagues. "Either I had to lay off the booze and get serious with the game or it would be the end of me." On May 24, 1927, Maranville resolved to stop drinking. Later that year, Cardinals general manager
Branch Rickey stated, "Walter is a changed man ... it is apparent that he has seen the light ... his change in attitude is remarkable." He missed the entire 1934 season after breaking his left
fibula and
tibia in a collision at home plate during an exhibition game. Maranville attempted a comeback in 1935 but was unable to play like he used to. With Elmira in 1936, he served as a player-manager, batting .323 in 123 games. After managing in the minor leagues, Maranville was employed by youth baseball programs in Detroit and Rochester. Then, he directed a baseball school sponsored by the
New York Journal-American newspaper. He enjoyed working with children and always cautioned them against adopting the same wild lifestyle he had pursued during his earlier career. ==Death and legacy==