1914
Born December 11, 1914
Chestertown, MD, USA
Bill Nicholson Marquee
b. December 11, 1914 · Philadelphia Athletics 1936, Chicago Cubs 1939–1948, Philadelphia Phillies 1949–1953
He led the league in home runs and runs batted in in 1943 and again in 1944, with 29 and 128 and then 33 and 122, and in runs the second year with 116. The 1944 Most Valuable Player vote went to Marty Marion, 190 points to 189. One point.
The nickname was Swish, from the sound of the misses; he struck out a great deal for the period and walked a great deal too, 800 times in sixteen seasons. In July 1944 the Giants walked him intentionally with the bases loaded rather than let him hit, which almost nobody has had done to them.
Sixteen seasons gave him 1,484 hits, 235 home runs, 948 runs batted in and a .268 average, with five All-Star selections. He was diabetic from 1950 and played four more years with it. The 1960 ballot gave him one vote of 269. He died in 1996, at eighty-one.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 5 | 1940, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1945 |
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3 | 1940, 1943, 1944 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1943 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | PHA | 11 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 1939 | CHC | 58 | 220 | 37 | 65 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 38 | 20 | 29 | 0 | .295 |
| 1940 | CHC | 135 | 491 | 78 | 146 | 27 | 7 | 25 | 98 | 50 | 67 | 2 | .297 |
| 1941 | CHC | 147 | 532 | 74 | 135 | 26 | 1 | 26 | 98 | 82 | 91 | 1 | .254 |
| 1942 | CHC | 152 | 588 | 83 | 173 | 22 | 11 | 21 | 78 | 76 | 80 | 8 | .294 |
| 1943 | CHC | 154 | 608 | 95 | 188 | 30 | 9 | 29 | 128 | 71 | 86 | 4 | .309 |
| 1944 | CHC | 156 | 582 | 116 | 167 | 35 | 8 | 33 | 122 | 93 | 71 | 3 | .287 |
| 1945 | CHC | 151 | 559 | 82 | 136 | 28 | 4 | 13 | 88 | 92 | 73 | 4 | .243 |
| 1946 | CHC | 105 | 296 | 36 | 65 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 41 | 44 | 44 | 1 | .220 |
| 1947 | CHC | 148 | 487 | 69 | 119 | 28 | 1 | 26 | 75 | 87 | 83 | 1 | .244 |
| 1948 | CHC | 143 | 494 | 68 | 129 | 24 | 5 | 19 | 67 | 81 | 60 | 2 | .261 |
| 1949 | PHI | 98 | 299 | 42 | 70 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 40 | 45 | 53 | 1 | .234 |
| 1950 | PHI | 41 | 58 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 0 | .224 |
| 1951 | PHI | 85 | 170 | 23 | 41 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 30 | 25 | 24 | 0 | .241 |
| 1952 | PHI | 55 | 88 | 17 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 19 | 14 | 26 | 0 | .273 |
| 1953 | PHI | 38 | 62 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 0 | .210 |
| Career | — | 1677 | 5546 | 837 | 1484 | 272 | 60 | 235 | 948 | 800 | 828 | 27 | .268 |
On this day & linked events
1996
Died March 8, 1996
1936
Major-league debut: Bill Nicholson
Bill Nicholson made a major-league debut on June 13, 1936.
1944
Bill Nicholson's Three-Home-Run Game, 1944
Bill Nicholson hit three home runs for the Chicago Cubs against the New York Giants on July 23, 1944.
1953
Final major-league game: Bill Nicholson
Bill Nicholson played a final major-league game on September 19, 1953.
Image: Bowman Gum, public domain