Henry Luther "Hinkey" Haines (December 23, 1898 – January 9, 1979) was a professional athlete who played
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
and baseball in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. Haines was a star of the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
football team in his time and has the distinction of being the only athlete to have played on national championship teams in both baseball and football. He won the
1923 World Series
The 1923 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1923 season. The 20th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees against the National League champion New York Giants. ...
with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and the
1927 NFL Championship with the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
.
Biography
Haines was born in
Red Lion, Pennsylvania
Red Lion (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Rot Leeb'') is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, settled in 1852 and incorporated on January 16, 1880. The population was 6,506 at the 2020 census.
History
Red Lion, settled in 1852, was named after one of t ...
. He batted and threw right-handed, was 5'10" in height and 170 pounds in weight. Haines graduated from Red Lion High School in 1916 and attended
Lebanon Valley College
Lebanon Valley College (LVC, Lebanon Valley, or The Valley) is a private college in Annville, Pennsylvania.
History
Lebanon Valley was founded on February 23, 1866, with classes beginning May 7 of that year and its first class graduating in 1870 ...
, where he played a major role in shaping their football program. Haines left Lebanon Valley in 1918 to serve in World War I.
After serving in World War I, he attended
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
in 1919. He earned
varsity letter
A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.
Description ...
s in baseball, football, and basketball, and joined
Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek Letter Organizations#Greek letters, Greek-let ...
fraternity. Haines earned
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
n honors in both football and baseball while at Penn State. He is in the Red Lion Area Senior High School's Hall of Fame.
Professional career
On April 20, 1923, Haines made his Major League debut at the age of 24. He only played one season, and was used many times as a defensive replacement/
pinch runner
In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...
. In his first three appearances, he was used as a pinch runner, coming around to score on all three occasions. In his overall 28 games, he collected nine
runs, four
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
, two
doubles, three
RBI, three
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
s and a .160
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
. In the field, Haines was flawless. He had a 1.000
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
with 17 chances.
Haines appeared in two World Series games in 1923, registering one
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
without a hit. As a pinch runner, however, he was able to score one run: the tying run for the Yankees in the final game. Haines stayed in the game defensively, and was playing center field when the Yankees recorded the last out in the 1923 World Series to become world champions. This was Haines' last professional baseball appearance.
In the fall, he played professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and was the
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
of the 1927
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
team—a team that won the Giants' first NFL championship.
Joe Guyon
Joseph Napoleon "Big Chief" Guyon (Anishinaabe: ''O-Gee-Chidah'', translated as "Big Brave"; November 26, 1892 – November 27, 1971) was an American Indian from the Ojibwa tribe (Chippewa) who was an American football and baseball player and co ...
was with him in the backfield. After playing for the Giants from 1925 to 1928, he played for the
Staten Island Stapletons
The Staten Island Stapletons also known as the Staten Island Stapes were a professional American football team founded in 1915 that played in the National Football League from 1929 to 1932. The team was based in the Stapleton section of State ...
in 1929 and 1931, a team that he also coached.
After his career as halfback for the Giants ended, he became their offensive coach from 1926 through 1931. Haines was an NFL official for a time after he finished coaching.
In later years, Haines settled in the Philadelphia area where he became active in Little Theater as an actor and director.
He died on January 9, 1979 in
Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania
Sharon Hill is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,697 at the 2010 census. Currently the population stands at 6,356 residents.
Government
The government of Sharon Hill operates under the Pennsylvania ...
. His body was laid to rest in
Middletown Cemetery in
Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Middletown is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Susquehanna River, southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ce ...
.
See also
*
History of the New York Giants (1925–78)
The New York Giants, an American football team which currently plays in the National Football League's National Football Conference, has a history dating back more than 80 seasons. The Giants have won 4 Super Bowls and drafted, Daniel Jones, in 2 ...
External links
*
Hinkey Haines, A Singular Achievement*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haines, Hinkey
1898 births
1979 deaths
People from Red Lion, Pennsylvania
Players of American football from Pennsylvania
New York Yankees players
New York Giants players
Staten Island Stapletons coaches
Staten Island Stapletons players
American football running backs
Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players
Penn State Nittany Lions football players
Union Quakers of Philadelphia players
American football quarterbacks
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
United States Army personnel of World War I