Nichols, "Kid" (Charles A.)
Baseball
b. Sept. 14, 1869, Madison, WI
d. April 11, 1953
Even in an era when pitchers were expected to put in a lot of work, Nichols was unusually durable. In his first 10 years in the major leagues, he won 20 or more games every season, 30 or more seven times, and his innings pitched ranged from a low of 343 1/3 to a high of 453.
A right-hander, the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder joined the National League's Boston team in 1890 and had a 27-19 record, leading the league with 7 shutouts. During the next four years, he was 30-17, 35-16, 34-14, and 32-13 in 1894, when he again led the league with 3 shutouts.
After going 26-16 in 1895, Nichols was the National League leader in victories three years in a row, with records of 30-14 in 1896, 31-11 in 1897, and 31-12 in 1898. He also led the league in saves twice, with 3 in 1897 and 4 in 1898, and was tops in innings pitched with 368 in 1897.
Nichols had records of 21-19 in 1899, 13-16 in 1900, and 19-16 in 1901. Then he acquired part ownership of a minor-league team in Kansas City and became its playing manager for two season.
The St. Louis Cardinals hired Nichols as playing manager in 1904, when he had a 21-13 record as a pitcher. The team finished fifth, though, and he left early in the 1905 season to join the Philadelphia Phillies. He was 10-6 with Philadelphia, but retired with an 0-1 record in 1906 when back problems forced him to retire. Nichols later coached amateur teams in Kansas City, where one of his pupils was Casey Stengel.
Nichols used a fast ball and excellent control to build a 361-208 major-league record, with 48 shutouts and a 2.95 ERA. He struck out 1,868 hitters and walked only 1,268 in 5,056 innings.