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. 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. 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==