 After winning the California League batting title in 1890, he played in Major League Baseball for Cap Anson's Chicago Colts from 1892 to 1894.He played six seasons from 1894 to 1899 for the Detroit Tigers of the Western League, led the team in batting each year, hit .447 in 1894, .424 in 1895, .372 in 1897, and won the Western League batting title in 1899.In 1900, he played for the Kansas City Blues of the newly established American League, compiling a .350 batting average to become the first American League batting champion.