Six former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, including the first player in Major League history to accomplish two very rare feats.
Trevor Cahill, pitcher for the 2021 Pirates. He was selected in the second round of the 2006 draft by the Oakland A’s out of high school. He debuted in the short-season rookie level Arizona League, where he had a 3.00 ERA in nine innings over four starts. Cahill played for Kane County of the Low-A Midwest League in 2007, where he went 11-4, 2.73 in 105.1 innings, with 117 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP. The next season saw him go 11-5, 2.61 in 124.1 innings, with 136 strikeouts and a 1.01 WHIP, while splitting the season between Stockton of the High-A California League and Midland of the Double-A Texas League. Going into the 2009 season, Baseball America rated him as the #11 prospect in all of baseball. That year he went right to the majors, where he had a 10-13, 4.63 record and a 1.44 WHIP in 178.2 innings over 32 starts. After averaging more than one strikeout per inning in the minors, Cahill had just 90 strikeouts that year. He made two starts in Triple-A in 2010 with Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League, but the rest of the season was spent in the majors, where he had a very impressive season. He went 18-8, 2.97 in 196.2 innings over 30 starts, with a 1.11 WHIP and 118 strikeouts. He was an All-Star for the only time in his career that season, and he finished ninth in the Cy Young voting.
Cahill had a 12-14, 4.16 record in a career high 207.2 innings during the 2011 season, with 147 strikeouts and a 1.43 WHIP. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in December of 2011. He went 13-12, 3.78 in 32 starts during his first year in Arizona, which was the last time he made more than 25 starts in a season. He tossed 200 innings that year, finishing with a 1.29 WHIP and a career high 156 strikeouts. Cahill went 8-10, 3.99 over 146.2 innings in 2013, making 25 starts and one relief appearance, as well as four rehab starts in the minors. He had 102 strikeouts and a 1.42 WHIP. He made 17 starts and 15 relief appearances during the 2014 season, which was his final year in Arizona. He had a 3-12, 5.61 record and a 1.61 WHIP in 110.2 innings. He had 105 strikeouts, giving him a career best (at the time) 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves right before Opening Day in 2015, though he was released in June, then signed with the Chicago Cubs in August. He had a 7.52 ERA in 26.1 innings with the Braves, then improved to 2.12 in 11 relief appearances with Chicago. In between those two big league stints, he pitched for six weeks in the Los Angeles Dodgers system as a starter, while also making five relief appearances at Triple-A for the Cubs with Iowa of the Pacific Coast League. His minor league time that year amounted to a 4.29 ERA in 42 innings.
Cahill went 4-4, 2.74 in 65.2 innings over 50 games for the 2016 Cubs, with 66 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP. His season also included six starts for Iowa, where he had a 4.58 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP in 19.2 innings. He signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres for 2017, then got shipped to the Kansas City Royals at the trade deadline that year. He had a 3.69 ERA in 61 innings over 11 starts with San Diego, followed by an 8.22 ERA in 23 innings with the Royals. He had 87 strikeouts in 84 innings that season. Cahill was a starter back with the A’s in 2018, going 7-4, 3.76 in 110 innings over 20 starts and one relief outing. He had 100 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP that season. He played for the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, where he made 11 starts and 26 relief appearances. He went 4-9, 5.98 in 102.1 innings, with 81 strikeouts and a 1.47 WHIP. During the shortened 2020 season, Cahill had a 1-2, 3.24 record in 25 innings, with 31 strikeouts. He made six starts and five relief outings that season for the San Francisco Giants. He signed as a free agent with the Pirates on March 22, 2021, but a calf injury, and then a broken foot, limited him to eight starts and a relief outing. He went 1-5, 6.57 in 37 innings. Cahill became a free agent at the end of the season, then didn’t sign until mid-May when he inked a deal with the New York Mets. He made six starts and two relief appearances for Syracuse of the Triple-A International League, posting a 6.52 ERA in 19.1 innings. He was released in August, and has yet to sign for 2023. Through 13 seasons, he has an 86-99, 4.26 record in 1,507.2 innings over 23 starts and 128 relief appearances.
Johnny Ray, second baseman for the 1981-87 Pirates. He was originally a 12th round draft pick of the Houston Astros in 1979 out of the University of Arkansas, who came to the Pirates in an August 31, 1981 trade that sent Phil Garner to Houston. Ray split the 1979 season between the Gulf Coast League Astros and Daytona Beach of the Class-A Florida State League. He hit .311 in 37 games for the GCL Astros, finishing with 25 runs, 12 extra-base hits, 25 RBIs, a .902 OPS and an incredible 32:4 BB/SO ratio. He didn’t do so well at the higher level, batting .221/.338/.338 in 24 games. He had a strong 1980 season in Double-A with Columbus of the Southern League, hitting .324 in 138 games, with 86 runs, 32 doubles, six triples, ten homers, 72 RBIs, 59 walks and an .873 OPS. He moved up to Triple-A Tuscon of the Pacific Coast League in 1981, and remained there until joining the Pirates. At the time of the trade to Pittsburgh, he had a .349 average, with 111 runs, 50 doubles, ten triples, five homers, 83 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and a .908 OPS in 131 games. Ray immediately took over the second base job after joining the Pirates, where he hit .245/.284/.353, with ten runs, 11 doubles and six RBIs in 31 games. He started every game during his first full season in the majors in 1982, leading the league in games played, while hitting for a .281 average, with 79 runs scored, 30 doubles, seven triples, seven homers, 63 RBIs, 16 stolen bases and a .700 OPS. That led to a second place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. Ray batted .283 in 1983, while leading the league with 38 doubles, which helped him win the Silver Slugger award. He also had 68 runs, 53 RBIs, 18 steals and a .722 OPS in 151 games. He followed that up by leading the league with 38 doubles again in 1984, while also posting a career high .312 batting average. He finished with 75 runs, 50 extra-base hits, 67 RBIs and 11 steals. His .789 OPS that year was his career best. The Pirates were extremely bad in 1985, and Ray saw a slight dip in his production. He managed to drive in 70 runs still, which was his career high up to that point. He batted .274 in 154 games, with 67 runs, 33 doubles, 13 stolen bases and a .700 OPS.
Ray topped the .300 batting mark for the second time (.301) in 1986. He also drove in 78 runs, which was his high while with the Pirates. He matched his 1985 totals in three categories with 67 runs, 33 doubles and seven homers. He also walked 58 times, which was a career high, helping him to a .757 OPS. He was traded to the California Angels on August 29, 1987, almost exactly six years after he was acquired. His .686 OPS through 123 games was his lowest while with Pittsburgh, and the return for the Pirates in the deal reflected his lower production and limited time before free agency. The Pirates received back Miguel Garcia, a pitcher who played briefly in the majors for parts of three seasons with the Pirates. They also got a power hitting minor leaguer named Bill Merrifield, who played just three minor league games after the trade before he was released. During Ray’s five full seasons in Pittsburgh, he played at least 151 games each year, hit 30 or more doubles every season, and scored at least 67 runs each year. He finished his time in Pittsburgh with a .286 average in 931 games, hitting 202 doubles and 37 homers, while adding 414 runs scored and 391 RBIs. Ray would go to California and do great in his brief time after the trade in 1987. He hit .346 in 30 games, with 16 runs, 11 doubles and 15 triples. Between both stops that season, he had a .289 average in 153 games, with 64 runs, 30 doubles, 69 RBIs and a .708 OPS.
Ray made his only All-Star appearance in 1988, hitting .306 in 153 games, with 75 runs,42 doubles (career high), seven triples, six homers and a career best 83 RBIs. His .773 OPS was the second best mark of his career. He signed to stay in California and played two more years for the Angels before finishing his career in the Japan Central League. Ray had a .289 average in 134 games in 1989, though it came with just 24 extra-base hits, resulting in a .685 OPS. He had 52 runs and 62 RBIs that season. He put up similar production in 105 games in 1990, with a .277 average and a .679 OPS, though he showed a little more power and drew fewer walks than the previous season. He had 47 runs, 28 extra-base hits and 43 RBIs. He hit .299 in his first season in Japan, while finishing with 62 runs, 36 doubles, 11 homers, 51 RBIs and an .842 OPS in 110 games. Ray then dropped to a .190 average and a .523 OPS over 49 games in 1992, which was his final season of pro ball. Over his ten-year big league career, he hit .290 in 1,353 games, with 604 runs, 294 doubles, 53 homers, 594 RBIs and 80 stolen bases. Ray had some strong years on defense early in his career, three times finishing among the top ten dWAR players in the National League. He had the third best mark in 1983 with his 2.8 dWAR. He finished with 24.2 WAR in his career.
Nick Strincevich, pitcher for the Pirates in 1941-42 and then again from 1944-48. He began his minor league career in 1935 when he was signed by the New York Yankees. He didn’t make his big league debut until 1940, after the Boston Bees took him in the Rule 5 draft. His career didn’t get off to a good start in pro ball, with 20 walks over 18 innings in 1935 at 20 years old in Class-C ball with Akron of the Middle Atlantic League. He moved down to Class-D ball with Butler of the Pennsylvania State League in 1936, where he went 10-8, 3.94 in 153 innings, while walking just 58 batters. He had a 1.33 WHIP and 92 strikeouts. He jumped over a level in 1937 to play for Norfolk of the Class-B Piedmont League, where he had an 11-8 record and threw 177 innings. His ERA isn’t available for that year, but he allowed 5.08 runs per nine innings. He had a 1.48 WHIP, 92 walks and 90 strikeouts. Strincevich moved to the upper levels in 1938, pitching for Newark of the Double-A International League (highest level of the minors at the time), where he went 11-4, 4.32 in 102 innings over nine starts and 21 relief appearances. He had a 1.45 WHIP, 46 walks and 44 strikeouts. He struggled with Newark in 1939, posting a 7.20 ERA and a 2.26 WHIP in 40 innings. He then spent part of the year in the Double-A Pacific Coast League with Sacramento, where he had a 3.86 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP in 56 innings, which led to his first big league shot. Strincevich only had one full season in Boston, and it did not go well. He moved between starting and the bullpen, while throwing 128.2 innings as a rookie. He went 4-8, 5.53 in 14 starts and 18 relief appearances, with a 1.59 WHIP and more walks (63) than strikeouts (54).
The Pirates acquired Strincevich during May of 1941 in an even swap for Hall of Famer Lloyd Waner, who was on the downside of his career. Prior to the trade, Strincevich pitched three times in relief for Boston, allowing five runs in 3.1 innings. He spent most of his first three seasons with the Pirates in the minors, pitching a total of 19 Major League games, before getting his big break in 1944 when many of the best players were serving in the military during WWII. He had a 5.23 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP in 31 innings for the 1941 Pirates, making three starts and nine relief appearances. He spent most of the year with Milwaukee of the Double-A American Association, where he went 4-2, 4.57 in 63 innings. He did well in limited time with the 1942 Pirates, posting a 2.82 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 22.1 innings over one starts and six relief appearances. He was with the Pirates for the first month of the season, then rejoined them in September. Most of that year was spent with Toronto of the International League, where he had a 2.40 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 199 innings. That was followed up by a strong season with Toronto in 1943, when he went 15-7, 2.47 in 233 innings. He had a 1.07 WHIP and cracked the century mark in strikeouts for the only time in his career (113), yet he didn’t see any time with the Pirates that year. He was supposed to join the Pirates in September after the Toronto season ended, but they made the playoffs and their season ended too late for him to rejoin Pittsburgh.
Strincevich got his big break with the 1944 Pirates. He had a 14-7, 3.08 record and a 1.19 WHIP in 190 innings over 26 starts and 14 relief appearances. He had a 16-10, 3.31 record and a 1.24 WHIP in 1945, while setting a career high with 228.1 innings pitched and 74 strikeouts. He made 29 starts that year and completed 18 games. He posted a decent 3.58 ERA in 1946 (league average was 3.41), but the Pirates were a bad team and his record suffered, going 10-15 in 176 innings over 22 starts and ten relief appearances. Strincevich would throw three shutouts that season, two more than he threw during the rest of his big league career. After all of the players were back from the war effort, he was used out of the bullpen in 1947 and 1948, before the Pirates sold him mid-season in 1948 to the Philadelphia Phillies. He went 1-6, 5.26 in 89 innings in 1947, spread over seven starts and 25 relief appearances. He had a 1.66 WHIP, with 37 walks and 22 strikeouts. Before heading to the Phillies in 1948, he had an 8.31 ERA in three appearances, allowing four runs in 4.1 innings. He posted a 9.18 ERA in 16.2 innings for the 1948 Phillies, which finished his Major League career. He pitched two more years in the minors back with Toronto before retiring from baseball. Strincevich had an 11-15, 3.39 record in 202 innings for Toronto in 1949, before finishing off his career with an 0-6, 4.64 record over 33 innings in 1950. In seven seasons with the Pirates, he went 42-40, 3.64 in 88 starts and 74 relief appearances, throwing a total of 741 innings.
Lefty Webb, pitcher for the 1910 Pirates. He played four seasons in the minors prior to being drafted by the Pirates on September 1, 1909 in the Rule 5 draft. He went to Ohio Wesleyan for three years before going pro. At 21 years old in 1906, he played for Newark of the Class-C Ohio-Pennsylvania League, where he had a 6-6 record in 14 games. He also pitched one game for Dallas of the Class-D Texas League that season, allowing just two hits in a complete game. He split the 1907 season between Newark and Mattoon of the Class-D Eastern Illinois League. No stats are available for that year, but he was said to be the best pitcher in the Eastern Illinois League, throwing a variety of breaking balls with excellent control, along with a spitball that was considered to be the best in the league, back when the pitch was still legal. Webb won 20 games in 1908 for the Newark Newks of the Class-D Ohio State League. That year he pitched 280 innings and had 176 strikeouts. His ERA isn’t available, but he’s credited with allowed 3.12 runs per nine innings, while posting an 0.94 WHIP. He played the 1909 season for Grand Rapids of the Class-B Central League, where he had an 11-16 record and a 1.05 WHIP, while pitching 252 innings over 33 games. He allowed an average of 3.07 runs per nine innings that year. The 1910 season was his only year in the majors, and he was used sparingly by the Pirates throughout the season. He made three starts and four relief appearances, pitching a total of 27 innings. He had a 2-1, 5.67 record and a 1.41 WHIP. He debuted on May 23rd, and played his final big league game on August 5th. His debut was one scoreless inning at the end of a one-sided loss. The next day he was released to New Britain of the Class-B Connecticut State League, though the Pirates were able to repurchase him during the season if they wanted him back. They did just that a mere 20 days later, then he pitched six games over the next eight weeks. It was said that his time with New Britain was cut short because his old Grand Rapids team objected to him being in the minors with another team without their consent.
In his first game after returning to the Pirates, Webb threw a complete game in a 6-1 road win over the St Louis Cardinals. He beat St Louis again four days later at Forbes Field, while throwing another complete game. His season took a turn for the worse on July 11th when he gave up six runs in 2.1 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had just one mop-up appearance after that point. The 25-year-old Webb would end up pitching ten games in the minors that season for Grand Rapids after the Pirates released him back to his old team on August 20th. After returning to Grand Rapids, he went 5-4 in 80 innings, with 2.25 runs allowed per nine innings. He played another four years in the minors before retiring, seeing time with four different clubs, including three Central League teams. Webb had a 7-17 record and pitched 186 innings for Indianapolis of the Class-A American Association in 1911, the highest level of the minors at the time. It was his only season playing at the top level of the minors. He missed the end of that season due to typhoid fever. The next three years were spent in the Central League with one season each for Springfield (1912), Dayton (1913) and back in Grand Rapids to finish in 1914. He had a 13-11 record and a 1.18 WHIP in 188 innings during the 1912 season, when he allowed 4.16 runs per nine innings. He went 9-11 over 193 innings in 1913, with 102 strikeouts, a 1.24 WHIP and 3.68 runs per nine innings. Webb finished up with an 8-9 record, 89 strikeouts and a 1.11 WHIP over 160.2 innings in 1914, while giving up 4.48 runs per nine innings. His real first name was Cleon. Approximately 2/3 of his references in newspapers during his career used his first name, while Lefty was used the rest of the time.
Henry Yaik, catcher/outfielder for the 1888 Alleghenys. He had three years of semi-pro ball and two seasons of minor league experience before making his Major League debut with Pittsburgh on October 3, 1888. He debuted in pro ball in 1886 with Mansfield of the Ohio State League (no stats available). He was in that league with Sandusky as well in 1885, though it wasn’t classified as a minor league until 1886. He was back in Mansfield in 1887, where he batted .253 in 75 games, with seven doubles, one triple and no homers. He spent the bulk of the 1888 season playing for Wheeling of the Tri-State League, where he was teammates with Sam Nicholl, who would debut with the Alleghenys two days after Yaik. The Wheeling club ended their season on September 26th, then both players signed with the Alleghenys right after the game. His time with Pittsburgh was short, especially when just looking at games. He joined Pittsburgh on September 27th, and he was one of just 12 players they had available at the time, after they let Jake Beckley and Fred Dunlap return home early. He debuted on October 3rd, and then his big league career was over by October 4th. Yaik would have played more, but a finger injury in his second game put him on the sidelines for the final eight games of the season. He signed a contract for 1889, though his release was announced on December 30, 1888 in an official press release from the league. However, seven days earlier it was announced that he had signed with Detroit of the International League for the 1889 season, after they were trying to get his services from Pittsburgh. The Alleghenys sold him to Detroit on December 19th for a price that one local paper estimated to be “no more than $200 or $300 because he cost Pittsburgh nothing”. During his brief big league career, he caught one game, played left field in the other and made three errors in each game (one source gave him just one error as a catcher). Yaik went 2-for-6 at the plate with a walk and a run batted in.
While he played for Detroit in 1889, he also saw time that year with Grand Rapids of the Michigan State League and Davenport of the Central Interstate League. The only stats for that season show him playing one game for Detroit without an at-bat, then going 2-for-18 in six games for Davenport. He was the catcher for Cy Young with Canton of the Tri-State League in 1890, during Young’s only season in the minors. Yaik played pro ball as late as 1895, although there are no records of him playing in the minors from 1891 until 1894. A search for his name came up empty during that time for pro teams, though he was playing semi-pro ball with a team from Windsor, Ontario in May of 1891, and also took part in indoor baseball in Detroit in November of 1894. It appears that he was playing in the Detroit area during that stretch, as he was also found there later in 1891 and earlier in 1894. He saw brief time with Detroit of the Western League and Ottumwa of the Eastern Iowa League in 1895, playing a total of 16 games. He is one of four lefty throwing catchers in Pirates history. It’s interesting to note that while now his birth date in listed as March 1, 1864, an 1888 bio for him lists it as February 29, 1863 and specifically mentions that he was born on a leap year. If you know anything about leap years, you know that 1863 didn’t have one, but there was one in 1864, so the year could have been off by one. Part of his scouting report after leaving Pittsburgh said that he was very fast down the first base line and he didn’t drink.
Paul Hines, outfielder for the 1890 Alleghenys. He didn’t have much of a career with Pittsburgh, hitting just .182 in 31 games, but Hines accomplish two feats that are very rare in baseball history, and he was the first to accomplish both of them. He began his career in 1872 at the age of 17, playing in the National Association, the first recognized Major League. In 1878, he not only became the first player to ever turn an unassisted triple play, but he also became the first Triple Crown winner in baseball history.
The triple play has been disputed due to different stories from the players involved. Hines was playing center field and caught a liner with men on second and third base. The runners were off on the play and Hines, who was playing shallow, continued running in on the play and tagged third base. Under the rules of the time, if the runner from second had passed third already and not retouched it yet while returning to second base, the fielder could just tag the base to retire both him and the other runner. Hines threw to second base anyway and that is where the dispute takes place. Some of the players involved said the runner was on his way back to second base so the throw was necessary, while others claimed Hines got to third base before he came back. It would be hard to imagine that Hines was able to get to third base from center field and he didn’t either pass the runner coming back and tag him, or if he wasn’t able to tag him, he would’ve still had enough time to keep running to third base then turn and make the throw to get the runner going back to second base. Because of the dispute between those involved, some sources list Neal Ball of the Cleveland Naps in 1909 as the first player to turn an unassisted triple play, but based on common sense, Hines seems to be the rightful owner of that distinction. More stories from the actual day verify the unassisted part of the play.
Home runs were not a common occurrence in 1878, and RBIs weren’t even an official stat, so now one knew about it when he won the triple crown in 1878. There was also a problem with his stats that kept him from ever knowing he won the batting crown that year. The player who finished behind him batting, Abner Dalrymple (the first batter in Pirates National League history), was awarded the title because stats accumulated in tie games weren’t counted in the overall stats back then. It wasn’t until many years later that research uncovered the error, then Hines was awarded the batting title. Hines also won the 1879 batting title without knowing, due to Cap Anson being credited with hits from a few games twice that put his average higher than Hines at the time.
Hines finished his career with a .302 batting average, 1,217 runs, 2,133 hits, 399 doubles, 93 triples, 57 homers and 855 RBIs in 1,658 games. His career game totals were cut short due to smaller schedules back in the day. He started in the majors at age 17, but his team didn’t play a 100 game schedule until his 13th season in the majors. With a full schedule, he would’ve likely been a Hall of Famer by now had he played the same amount of seasons (20) he ended up playing. He led the league in doubles three times during his career, once led in hits and twice led in total bases. He had 11 seasons batting over .300, and one year where he finished with a .299 average. Hines played every position at least once during his career, but a large majority of his work came as a center fielder.
For the 1872 Washington Nationals of the National Association, Hines hit .224 in 11 games, with nine runs, a double and five RBIs. He played for the Washington Blue Legs of the National Association in 1873, which was a different team in Washington than the 1872 Nationals. The club went 8-31 on the season in 1873, and Hines had a .331 average, with 33 runs, ten extra-base hits, 29 RBIs and a .750 OPS, while playing in all 39 games. He moved to the Chicago White Stockings in 1874 for the final two years of the National Association. He batted .295 over 59 games in 1874, with 47 runs, 12 extra-base hits, 34 RBIs and a .652 OPS. He hit .328 in 68 games during the 1875 season, with 45 runs, 18 extra-base hits, 36 RBIs and a .729 OPS. The National League was formed in 1876, and the Chicago White Stockings were one of the original eight teams. They are the current Chicago Cubs franchise, and one of just two original teams still in existence (the Boston Red Caps/Atlanta Braves are the other). Hines remained with the team during the move from the National Association to the National League. He hit .331 over 64 games in 1876, with 62 runs, a league leading 21 doubles, 59 RBIs and a .773 OPS. He slipped down to a .280 average in 1877, finishing with 44 runs, 18 extra-base hits, 23 RBIs and a .658 OPS in 60 games. Hines played his first of eight straight seasons with the Providence Grays during his Triple Crown season in 1878. He batted .358 that year, with four homers and 50 RBIs in 62 games. He also led the league in slugging, OPS and total bases. Interestingly enough, his 42 runs scored didn’t even place top ten in the league.
Hines won his second batting crown in 1879 with a .357 average in 85 games. He led the league with 409 at-bats and 146 hits, while adding 81 runs, 25 doubles, ten triples and 52 RBIs. His career best .851 OPS that season was two points higher than his Triple Crown season. Hines hit .307 over 85 games in 1880, with 64 runs, 25 extra-base hits, 35 RBIs and a .726 OPS. He batted .285 over 80 games in 1881, with 65 runs, a league leading 27 doubles, 31 RBIs and a .715 OPS. He hit .309 in 1882, with 73 runs, 28 doubles, ten triples, four homers, 34 RBIs and a .793 OPS in 84 games. The schedule expanded a bit in 1883, when Hines played a career high (up to that point) 97 games. He hit .299 that year, with 32 doubles, 45 RBIs, a .742 OPS and a career high 94 runs. He would match that run total in 1884, though the schedule expanded again that year, so he played 114 games. He had a .302 average, with 94 runs, a career high/league leading 36 doubles, ten triples, 41 RBIs, a .794 OPS and 44 walks, which was more walks than he had in his previous three seasons combined. Hines hit .270 in 98 games during the 1885 season, with 63 runs, 25 extra-base hits, 35 RBIs and a .648 OPS that was his low up to that point. He moved on to the Washington Nationals in 1886, and remained there for two seasons. With more games on the schedule in 1886, he batted .312 in 121 games, with 80 runs, 30 doubles, eight triples, nine homers, 56 RBIs, 21 steals, 35 walks and an .820 OPS. Hines hit .308 over 123 games in 1887, with 83 runs, 32 doubles, five triples, a career highs ten homers, 72 RBIs, 46 steals and an .838 OPS.
Hines was traded to the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the 1887-88 off-season. He spent the next two years there before joining the Alleghenys. He batted .281 in a career high 133 games during the 1888 season, with 84 runs, 33 extra-base hits, 58 RBIs, 31 steals and a .710 OPS. Hines hit .305 in 1889, with 77 runs, 27 doubles, six homers, 72 RBIs, 34 steals, a .775 OPS and a career high 49 walks in 121 games. He was brought in to play first base during his time in Pittsburgh. He joined the club in the middle of Spring Training, getting a $2,800 salary. He went right into the lineup before he was ready to face live pitching according to the papers, though that didn’t stop him from collecting three hits on the day he arrived at camp. A week later he had a five-hit game, raising expectations for the veteran. He lowered those expectations a bit days later with four errors in one game. Hines batted third and play first base in the season opener. He started the season so poorly that he was sent home after two weeks. The Alleghenys released him days later, only to rescind that release after they suffered some injuries. He played outfield after returning, but the batting average never returned before they released him on June 13th. He batted .182/.256/.190 in 31 games for Pittsburgh, with 11 runs, nine RBIs and a double, which accounted for his only extra-base hits. He finished the year with the Boston Beaneaters of the National League, where he hit .264 in 69 games, with 41 runs, 17 extra-base hits and 48 RBIs. He then finished his big league career with the Washington Statesmen of the American Association in 1891, where he hit .282 in 54 games, with 25 runs, 12 extra-base hits, 31 RBIs and a .740 OPS.
Hines remained in pro ball for some time after his final big league stint, playing his final minor league game in 1896 at 41 years old, serving his final two seasons as a player-manager for Burlington of the Western Association. He didn’t play every season between 1892 and 1896. He’s credited with playing two games for Nashville of the Class-B Southern Association in 1893, as well as 26 games for Sandusky of the Ohio-Michigan League, where he had a .285 average, 27 runs and 12 extra-base hits. He was with Burlington (Iowa) in 1895 for 21 games in the Class-B Western Association, and an unknown amount of time in the Eastern Iowa League. He had a .310 average, 16 runs and ten extra-base hits for the Western Association club. Hines was back with that club for part of 1896. His stats from that year only cover his 29 games with Mobile of the Southern Association, where he had a .301 average, 17 runs and eight extra-base hits.
