He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators and Boston Braves.

[5] During this time, Shires assumed the fake identity of “Dana Prince” and enrolled at Marshall University where he joined the football team as a punter.

His ruse was discovered shortly thereafter by Athletic Director Roy Hawley who immediately made him ineligible, ending his collegiate football career barely after it had begun.

Shires made his major league debut with the White Sox on August 20, 1928 at the age of 21, delivering four hits in five at-bats off future Hall of Fame pitcher, Red Ruffing.

[10] White Sox manager Lena Blackburne named Shires to be the team captain before the 1929 season, succeeding third baseman Willie Kamm who asked to step down from the role to concentrate on his hitting.

[13] Shires made national news in May 1929 when he gave Blackburne a black eye during a fist fight and was suspended from the team.

[8] In December 1929, Shires tried his hand at boxing, taking 21 seconds to knockout an unknown fighter named Dan Daly.

[20] It was reported on December 14 that Chicago Cubs player Hack Wilson signed a contract to meet Shires in the ring in January.

[21] On December 18, Shires' boxing career suffered a setback when he lost a bout to Chicago Bears football player George Trafton.

[1] When White Sox owner Charles Comiskey failed to meet this demand, an angered Shires threatened to quit baseball.

[1][32] With typical bombast, Shires claimed that he was too good a player to be sitting on a major league bench and predicted that he would hit, "around .350" for Milwaukee.

[33] Shires proceeded to back up his claims with the Brewers in 1931, posting a .384 average with 11 home runs in 157 games, winning the American Association batting championship.