Paul Hines

Paul Hines
Paul Hines
Runs batted in	855
Teams
	Washington Nationals (NA) (1872); Washington Blue Legs (1873); Chicago White Stockings (1874–1877); Providence Grays (1878–1885); Washington Nationals (NL) (1886–1887); Indianapolis Hoosiers (1888–1889); Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1890); Boston Beaneaters (1890); Washington Statesmen (1891);
Career highlights and awards
	World Series champion (1884); Triple Crown (1878); 2× batting champion (1878, 1879); NL home run leader (1878); NL RBI leader (1878);

Paul Aloysius Hines (March 1, 1855 – July 10, 1935) was an American

National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. Born in Virginia, he is credited with winning baseball's first batting triple crown in 1878 (Tommy Bond had accomplished the pitching version the year before); the accomplishment was not noted at the time, as runs batted in would not be counted until years later, home runs were rare and home run leadership obscure, and Abner Dalrymple

was then erroneously recognized as the batting champion. Hines was the first of only three players to achieve the batting Triple Crown in the 19th century.

Hines likely practiced with the original

Chicago White Stockings resumed play in 1874, the teenage Hines played every game, usually in center field. He remained with the club four seasons, including the inaugural National League championship season of 1876, and then played eight seasons for the Providence Grays

from 1878 to 1885, spanning that club's entire major league association, during which the club won two pennants.

Professional career

Hines started his professional career with the National Association Washington Nationals at the age of seventeen in 1872. In eleven games, he batted .224 with eleven hits. The following year, he played one last year with Washington (with the Blue Legs) and batted .331 in 39 games.

He then moved over to the Chicago White Stockings in 1874. He batted .295 in 59 games with eighty hits. He also stole four bases (the first recorded ones of his career). The following year, he batted .328 in 68 games with 101 hits. He essentially repeated himself the following year, batting .331 with 101 hits in 64 games; he led the new National League in doubles with 21. The White Stockings were the first champions of the NL that year, going 52–14 that year. In his last year with Chicago in 1877, he batted .280 in sixty games with 73 hits.

He moved to the Providence Grays in 1878 and remained there for the next seven years. He thrived in his first season with the team in 62 games played, leading the league in batting average (.358), home runs (four), runs batted in (fifty), OPS (.849), and total bases (125). As the category of runs batted in (RBI) was not generally recognized at the time, Hines was only given credit as the first "Triple Crown" winner years later. On May 8, 1878, he took part in what is believed to have been an

Boston Globe. For his part, Sutton described himself as having been twenty feet away from third base when the ball was caught. The play remains a subject for researchers to discuss, with even official MLB historian John Thorn believing that the play was indeed unassisted (although the official MLB website does not recognize it). The scoresheet for the game does not survive as well.^[2]

The next year, he led the league in numerous categories again, doing so with 85 games played, hits (146), and batting average (.357); he also led the league in total bases (197), plate appearances, and at-bats. Hines was the first player to collect

Johnny Burnett

did so first in 1932 with nine). In 1880, he batted .307 with 115 hits while leading in plate appearances (387) within 85 games. The next year saw him play eighty games and bat just .285 but led the league in doubles with 27 while having 103 hits. The next year, he batted .309 with 117 hits in 84 games. He batted .299, .302, and .270 in his last three seasons with the Grays, which included at least 110 hits in each one while leading the league in doubles in 1884 with 36. He made his only postseason appearance in the pre-modern World Series in 1884. He batted .250 (2-for-8) with three walks, an RBI, and two stolen bases as the Grays won the title. The Providence club folded in 1885.

Hines moved over to the

Washington Statesmen) in 1891

. He batted .282 with 58 hits.

He continued to play baseball in minor leagues. He finished his professional career splitting 1896 between the minor league teams Burlington, Iowa and Mobile, Alabama, at the age of 41.

Legacy

Hines played in the outfield (primarily center field) in his career, playing 1,376 of his 1,682 total games there; he also played/started a game at first base (194), second base (74), third base (eighteen), shortstop (sixteen), catcher (three), and even pitcher (one inning). Hines had a .884 fielding percentage as an outfielder and a total fielding percentage of .903. Hines was a two-time batting champion (1878–79) while finishing in the top ten of the NA once (1875) and the NL four times (1876, 1880, 1882, 1886). He batted .300 in eleven of his twenty seasons played. He finished in the top ten among hits leaders in ten seasons.

During the first five NL seasons, from 1876 through 1880, Hines had more base hits than any other player, and he retired third to Cap Anson and Jim O'Rourke with 1,884 career hits in the majors. He also remained among the top ten major league career home run hitters as late as 1887. His total of sixteen seasons as a major league team's primary center fielder was not surpassed until Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb in 1925.

In 1,658 games over twenty seasons, Hines posted a .302

bases on balls, .340 on-base percentage and .409 slugging percentage

.

Hines was a favorite player of William McKinley while the latter was a United States Representative from Ohio.^[3]

Personal life

After his playing career ended, William McKinley helped him secure a government job.^[3]

He was arrested in 1922, at the age of 65, on charges of pickpocketing.^[4]

Hines died at age 80 in Hyattsville, Maryland, deaf and blind. His hearing had been impaired since 1886 after being hit in the head by a pitch.^{[citation needed]}