Harry Niles

This article is about the baseball player. For the character in the book by Martin Cruz Smith, see December 6 (novel).

Herbert Clyde Niles (September 10, 1880 – April 18, 1953) was an outfielder/infielder in Major League Baseball who played for four different teams between the 1906 and 1910 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m), 175 pounds (79 kg), Niles batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Buchanan, Michigan.

Harry Niles
Outfielder/Second Baseman
Born: (1880-09-10)September 10, 1880 Buchanan, Michigan
Died: April 18, 1953(1953-04-18) (aged 72) Sturgis, Michigan
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 24, 1906, for the St. Louis Browns
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 1910, for the Cleveland Naps
MLB statistics
Batting average	.247
Home runs	12
Runs batted in	152
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
St. Louis Browns (1906–1907) New York Highlanders (1908) Boston Red Sox (1908–1910) Cleveland Naps (1910)

Career

Niles entered the majors in 1906 with the St. Louis Browns, playing for them two years before joining the New York Highlanders (1908), Boston Red Sox (1908–1910) and Cleveland Naps (1910). A valuable utility man and aggressive base runner, he scored 71 runs and stole 30 bases in his rookie season. Then, in 1907 hit career-numbers with a .289 and a .331 on-base percentage while collecting 65 runs and 19 steals, and in 1909 posted career-numbers in games (145), RBI (39) and extrabases (18).

On June 30, 1908, Nile was the only batter to reach base against Boston pitcher Cy Young. When batting leadoff for New York, Niles walked, then was caught stealing. Young retired the next 26 batters and had to settle for a no-hitter, rather than a perfect game.^[1] On August 30, 1910, New York's Tom Hughes took a no-hitter into the 10th inning before allowing a single to Niles, who was then playing for Cleveland.^[2][3]

In a five-season career, Niles was a .247 hitter (561-for-2270) with 12 home runs and 152 RBI in 608 games, including 278 runs, 58 doubles, 24 triples, 107 stolen bases, and a .310 on-base percentage. He made 582 appearances at second base (214), right field (184), left field (95), third base (52), center field (19) and shortstop (18). Niles died at the age of 72 in Sturgis, Michigan.

References

1. "Boston Red Sox 8, New York Highlanders 0". Retrosheet. June 30, 1908. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
2. "Cleveland Naps 5, New York Highlanders 0 (2)". Retrosheet. August 30, 1910. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
3. "Yankees Break Even". New-York Tribune. August 31, 1910. p. 8. Retrieved November 17, 2018 – via newspapers.com.

Further reading

• New York Times obituary Archived 2019-11-23 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet