Paul Hines, Center Fielder

Hines was a Washington D.C. native who began his major league career in the old National Association in 1872.  He was partially deaf, which was somewhat of a handicap, but he also helped inspire umpires to develop hand signals for their decisions.  When the National League was founded in 1876, Hines starred as the center fielder for the champion Chicago team alongside Cap Anson and Al Spalding.  He was an original member of the Grays in 1878, and the only player to last the team's whole eight years.  It was on May 8, 1878 that he made his famous unassisted triple play, the first ever, and still the only one by an outfielder.  After making a spectacular running catch in short left-center field, he continued onward to third base, doubling off two runners who had already passed the bag.  That year, he led the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in, and is now considered the first Triple Crown winner.  He is also credited with being the first player to wear sunglasses.  In 1879, he set a league record with 146 hits that stood for several years, and led the Grays to their first pennant.  Bill James called Hines the best National League centerfielder of the 1870s, but also the least admirable star, as he "was castigated by [league president] William Hulbert in an open letter for his lack of hustle and poor attitude."  By the start of the 1884 season, Hines was an established 32-year-old star.  His 21 lifetime homers were the third-best on the all-time list, behind only Charley Jones and Harry Stovey.

In 1884, Hines was still in center field for the Grays, and put in his usual performance as the team's dominant hitter.  He led the team in batting average (.302), slugging average (.435), runs (94), doubles (36), triples (10), walks (44) and on-base average (.356).  He led off in every game, in a day when the lineup was structured to simply get the best hitters the most at-bats.  His numbers, while very good by league standards, were not exceptional.  Of his three home runs, two were cheap shots over a short fence in Chicago (June 28, September 27), and one was supposedly the first inside-the-park homer in the history of Messer Park (June 18).  Even by the standards of the dead ball era, Hines was not a real slugger.

The Gray's success was due more to exceptional pitching and defense.  Hines was by reputation an excellent defensive player as well, known for spectacular barehanded catches.  He was lauded for his "spectacular throwing" in the July 23 game, and for a "magnificent one hand catch" on August 27.  All things considered, Hines was probably the only player on the Grays besides Radbourn who would have started in the 1884 All-Star game if there was such a thing.

Hines was also an aggressive player.  He was fined $5 for complaining to the umpire on May 2.  On June 10, trying to break up a double play, he "fouled" the Boston second baseman, "Black Jack" Burdock.  Burdock was out cold for fifteen minutes, but stayed in the game upon regaining consciousness.  Hines, presumably feeling like a real tough guy, took a big lead off second, and was promptly picked off.  Black Jack Burdock applied the tag.

Hines pitched in a couple of meaningless October games (the 6th and 9th), mopping up in a couple of blowout losses, but did not give up any earned runs himself.

In the winter after the championship year, Hines volunteered to be the first man to catch a baseball off the top of the newly constructed Washington Monument.  When he actually saw a ball dropped from that height, however, he declined.  The man who took Hines' place caught the ball, but broke two knuckles.  Hines, with his hands intact, played for several years with various National League teams, and starred for Washington and Indianopolis.  He left the majors in 1891, and was a minor-league first-baseman through 1896.  He then returned home to Washington, where his ball-playing fame had won him many friends.  One friend, a former congressman named Bill McKinley, had recently been elected president, and rewarded the old ballplayer with a soft position as postmaster for the Department of Agriculture.  However, he must have fallen upon hard times, as he was arrested as a pick-pocket in 1922.  He ended up in a senior's home in Maryland, and died deaf and blind in 1935 at the age of 83.

copyright Rick Stattler 2002

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