Paul Hines
baseball player (1855–1935)
Paul Aloysius Hines (March 1, 1855 – July 10, 1935) was an American center fielder in professional baseball player who played in the major leagues 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 Washington Nationals or played on its junior team before joining the National Association with that club in 1872. When 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.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Paul Hines” is baseball player (1855–1935). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Paul, Hines and baseball, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “baseball player (1855–1935)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1564506. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1855, 1935, 1872 and 1891.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Paul Hines”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Paul Hines primary sources, Paul Hines archive and Paul research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paul Hines”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Paul Hines” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.