WHY I THINK PAUL HINES SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK PAUL HINES SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien 

Paul Hines is best remembered as the first Triple Crown winner in MLB history. In 1878, the last non-shortened 60 game season, he batted .358 with four home runs and 50 RBI’s. Hines had many more fine seasons, and his overall batting record is better than dozens of players already in the Hall of Fame. He was also regarded as a top defensive centerfielder who won two fielding titles and had a career fielding percentage 20 points above the league average. Hines also played 194 games at first base, showing that he had versatility as well. Paul Hines started his career with the Washington Nationals of the NA in 1872, at the age of 17, and collected eleven hits and nine runs scored in eleven games. Hines batted .331 in 1873 and .328 in 1875, and in 1876, the season in which the National League made its debut, he batted .331 for the Chicago White Stockings and led the league in doubles. He slumped to .280 in 1877 but captured the league Batting Title in each of the next two seasons, both for the Providence Grays, including his Triple Crown win in 1878. Over the next five seasons, Hines batted .300 three times (and .299 in 1883) and led the NL in doubles twice more. He turned 30 in 1885 and had one of his least productive seasons in the Majors with a .270 mark in 98 games, but came back in 1886 to hit .312. That season, Hines was beaned, which caused permanent damage to his hearing. When he died in 1935, he was blind and deaf. At any rate, Hines batted over .300 two more times but reached the declining phases of his career in 1890, when he batted a combined .239 with two teams. He played in 54 games in 1891 for the American Association’s Washington Statesmen, batting .282, before retiring. Paul Hines was a great hitter, a stellar run producer, a fine fielder, and the first Triple Crown winner ever. He really should have been elected to the Hall of Fame as soon as it was instituted. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,658 season high: 133 in 1888 

At Bats career: 7,062 season high: 513 in 1888 led NL: 409 in 1879 

Hits career: 2,133 season high: 152 in 1886 led NL: 146 in 1879 

Doubles career: 399 season high: 36 in 1884 led NL: 21 in 1876, 27 in 1881, 36 in 1884 

Triples career: 93 season high: 10 in 1879, 1882, and 1884 

Home Runs career: 57 season high: 10 in 1887 led NL: 4 in 1878 

Runs career: 1,217 season high: 94 in 1883 and 1884 

Runs Batted In career: 855 season high: 72 in 1887 and 1889 led NL: 50 in 1878 

Stolen Bases career: 163 season high: 46 in 1887 (Hines’s stolen base numbers from 1876 through 1885 are unavailable) 

Walks career: 372 season high: 49 in 1889 

Strikeouts career: 310 season high: 45 in 1888 

Batting Average career: .302 season high: .358 in 1878 led NL: .358 in 1878, .357 in 1879 

On Base Percentage career: .340 season high: .380 in 1887 

Slugging Percentage career: .409 season high: .486 in 1878 led NL: .486 in 1878 

Total Bases career: 2,889 season high: 225 in 1886 led NL: 125 in 1878, 197 in 1879 

Sacrifice Hits career: N/A 

Fielding Percentage career: .903 season high: .965 in 1889 led NL OF: .923 in 1876, .927 in 1880 

Double Plays career: 189 season high: 66 in 1889 led NL OF: 7 in 1880 

Putouts career: 4,844 season high: 1,121 in 1889 

Assists career: 622 season high: 117 in 1875 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-was the youngest player in the NA in 1873 

-had a .455 OBP, five runs scored, and two stolen bases in the 1884 World Series 

-pitched an inning in 1884 without allowing an earned run 

-went 6-for-6 on August 26, 1879 

-hit three home runs off of Hall of Famer John Clarkson, two each off of Bobby Mathews, Pud Galvin, Mickey Welch, and Tim Keefe, and one each off of Tommy Bond, Jimmy Ryan, and Hank O’Day 

-led the NL twice each in plate appearances and at bats per strikeout and once each in singles, home run percentage, times on base, OPS, and games in the outfield  

-among MLB outfielders, ranks 23rd in career double plays and 28th in assists 

-also played three games at catcher, 74 at second base, 18 at third base, 16 at shortstop, 68 in leftfield, and seven in rightfield