kid durbin made his major league debut on april 24, 1907, for the chicago cubs. that season, he appeared in 5 games as a pitcher, going 0–1 with a save. he also played the outfield in 5 games that season. he played for the chicago cubs during their 1907 and 1908 pennant-winning seasons but did not play either world series. before he was traded by the cubs on january 18, 1909 along with tom downey to the cincinnati reds for john kane, he had a batting average of only .250 and over 14 games played. he played six games for the cincinnati reds. a few months later, durbin was traded on may 28, 1909 to the pittsburgh pirates. he finished his major league career with the pittsburgh pirates, playing his final game on june 30, 1909.