Hughey got his professional start with the Indiana State League. Although there are no records for his time there he must have done good enough seeing that after his one-year stint at the club he was signed to the Wisconsin club in 91. There he developed his nickname "Smiling Jim" due to him smiling sarcastically before striking out any batter. This also must have been a successful season for Hughey because in 1891 when the Cincinnati team was removed from the American Association and replaced with the Milwaukee club Hughey was one of the only players’ contract they bought back. His time at Milwaukee was short-lived due to the association dismantling, the National League took in 4 teams unfortunately Milwaukee was not one of them.\n', '

In 1892 he was with the Kansas City club and turned out to be clubs best pitcher of the season with 111 strikeouts in 28 games before July when that league was also stopped. From there he moved to Macon city in 93 and then was invited to the Chicago Colts. After two days with the Colts he was removed for his poor performance in a game where he allowed ten runs in the second inning of a game against Louisville. In 94 Ban Johnson revived the Western League and Hughey signed with the Toledo White stockings for the season. During his time with Toledo he amassed a 25-12 record with 135 strikeouts in 335 innings. At the start of the 95 season Hughey\'s playing ability was dampened to what he described as an "crick in his elbow.", on his second start with the season he lost 19-5 to the Indianapolis club. He regained his ability back and pushed himself to another successful campaign with 150 strikeouts in 317 innings, unfortunately his teams financial situation worsened and after a ban was moved to Indiana and then finally he was bought by the Pittsburgh Pirates due his performance with the Toledo team.\n', '

Jim was hesitant about his move to the Pirates saying: ""I\'m not stuck on pitching ball in the Big League. When I was in the Western League I received as much salary and had an easier time of it. The newspapers do not roast the players in the Western League (the Blade excluded), though in the big league the men are subjected to severe roasts if they lose two or three games, especially the pitchers. Of course the pitcher is invariably blamed when his team loses."\n', '

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