Paul Adrian Devine was an American baseball pitcher who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers from 1973 until 1980. He batted and threw right-handed and served primarily as a relief pitcher. Devine was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1970 and played for three of their minor league affiliates until 1973, when the Braves promoted him to the major leagues. After missing most of the 1974 season due to injury, he came back the following year and pitched well in the minors, resulting in him being called back up to the Braves that September when rosters expanded. After spending one more season with the organization, he was traded to the Texas Rangers. He was subsequently dealt back to Braves after one season. He returned to the Rangers in 1980 and played his last game on July 3 that year.
Devine made his Major League Baseball debut on June 27, 1973, at the age of 21, starting against the San Francisco Giants and giving up 5 earned runs in 5 innings in a 6–5 loss. He suffered an arm injury that caused him to miss most of the 1974 season. Although doctors advised him to retire from baseball and return to school, Devine elected to have surgery and attempt to pitch again during spring training in 1975. After pitching for the Class-AAA Richmond Braves and compiling a 10–6 win–loss record and a 2.98 ERA in 27 games during the 1975 season, he was called back up by the Braves during the September roster expansion that year. Devine was part of a five-for-one trade that sent him, Ken Henderson, Dave May, Roger Moret, Carl Morton and $200,000 from the Braves to the Rangers for Jeff Burroughs on December 9, 1976. He saved two games in one day against the Minnesota Twins on September 18, 1977, while pitching for the Rangers during a doubleheader. He finished seventh in the American League that year in saves with 15. Devine was traded back to the Braves from the Rangers along with Tommy Boggs and Eddie Miller in the first four-team blockbuster deal in Major League Baseball history on December 8, 1977 that also involved the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets and a total of eleven players changing teams. The Rangers received Al Oliver and Nelson Norman from the Pirates and Jon Matlack from the Mets. The Pirates acquired Bert Blyleven from the Rangers and John Milner from the Mets. The Mets got from the Braves Willie Montañez and from the Rangers Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson who was sent to New York to complete the transaction three months later on March 15, 1978. Devine was the winning pitcher in manager Bobby Cox's first win as a major league manager for the Atlanta Braves. Devine played his final major league game on July 3, 1980, at the age of 28. He briefly played for the Wichita Aeros the following year, and was subsequently released by the organization that June.
