Paul Hines, CF

The Setup:

The Providence Grays led the Boston Red Caps/Red Stockings 3-0 in the top of the eighth inning. A walk, a throwing error by the second baseman, and a muffed popup by the first baseman, made the score 3-1, with Jack Manning on third and Ezra Sutton, the tying run, on second. Jack Burdock, the Boston second baseman, was coming up to bat.

The Play:

Paul Hines, the Providence centerfielder, was playing deep, but then took a few steps in and towards leftfield. Burdock hit a short fly ball over the shortstops head. Both runners, seeing the opportunity to tie the game, took off for home. Hines came sprinting in and made an ankle-high catch, losing his balance and nearly falling. In fact, as he retold the story years later, he said, “I nearly fell and broke my neck.” Without falling, he regained his balance with his momentum carrying him towards third base. With both runners near home plate, he stepped on third base which, according to the rules of the day and not today’s rules, put both runners out. The umpire was quoted as calling out, “That’s three out. Side is out.” And there you have it. The first unassisted triple play in the history of major league baseball…or was it…?

The Rest of the Story:

After Hines stepped on third base, the Providence second baseman, Charlie Sweasy, called for the ball. Hines threw it to him, and “for good measure,” Sweasy stepped on second base which retired the runner, Sutton, if he wasn’t out before. Everybody agrees that it was a triple play, but there is disagreement on whether Hines should receive all three putouts, or two putouts and an assist. Box scores in the newspapers of the day differ, as do accounts of the play as told through the years by players, coaches, and an umpire. There is no record of who the official scorer was for that game. Two questions need to be answered to know unambiguously if Hines should receive credit for a UTP. The first question is, where was Sutton when Hines stepped on third base? Was he between third and home, which could give Hines credit for that putout, or was he between second and third, which would credit Sweasy with the putout? The second question is, would stepping on third retire Sutton if he were between third and home? According to today’s rules, second base, Sutton’s original base would have to be tagged. However, the rules in 1887, were not quite as clear and could be interpreted such that a tag of third base would be sufficient to put out the runner who originated at second. It should be noted that Major League Baseball does not credit Hines with a UTP. In recent correspondence from MLB’s baseball historian, John Thorn, he still believes Hines should be credited with a UTP. In this presentation, I am including Hines’ play. Who am I to argue with John Thorn?