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Saturday, March.30, 2013

Kid Nichols was 361 – 208 (.634) for his Career -with a 2.96 Lifetime ERA. From 1896 – 1898 he led the NL in wins each year – amassing an incredible 92 – 37 (.713) Record in that time frame with the Boston Beaneaters. He is one of 13th players to throw in over 5000+ IP (5067.IP and good for 11th ALL – Time.  Incredibly he spent time growing up playing baseball in Surrey, B.C. Canada, which is where our Website Owner Chuck Booth played.

By Lee Edelstein (‘Baseball Memorabilia Enthusiast’ – visit his website here) Follow @chinmusicstory

MLB Reports:  We are pleased to present you with Baseball Author Lee Edelstein as the newest writer with us at the Reports.  Lee will be providing us with great stories about baseball memorabilia on a regular basis.

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An American Hobby

Blog 7

Kid Nichols

Charles Augustus “Kid” Nichols was born four years after the end of the Civil War.  He would live long enough to see himself inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1949.

His journey to Cooperstown began in 1890 when he debuted for the Boston Beaneaters.  He had quite a rookie season, winning 27 games, putting up an ERA of 2.23, and leading his league with 7 shutouts.  But Kid Nichols was just warming up. 

In 1891 he won 30 games, the first of seven seasons when he would reach the 30-win plateau.  In 1892, Nichols won 35 regular season games plus two more in the Championship Series where they vanquished the Cleveland Spiders and their top pitcher, a guy named Cy Young.

Youtube Tribute Page to 300 Game Winners – Many of the them featured:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j99r1TcnBrU&list=FLt4R0b8rfq11zVEjnHUcJsQ%5D

Statistic Description: Wins

1893 saw a major change in the rules of baseball – the distance between the pitching mound and home plate was increased from fifty feet to today’s standard, sixty feet, six inches. 

It didn’t have much of an impact on the Kid as he went 34-14 and led his team to another title.  He went on to win 30+ games in five of the next six seasons.  He was the winningest pitcher of the 1890’s, leading his team to five pennants.

Kid Nichols is the youngest pitcher to reach 300 wins (Age 30).  He ranks #5 in career WAR for pitchers, #11 in Innings Pitched, and 4^th in Complete Games.  The statistic that he was most proud of was the fact that he completed 532 of his 562 Starts.

“You never heard anyone with a sore arm in my day. When we weren’t pitching, we either played the outfield or doubled as ticket takers. The biggest strain my arm ever underwent was at the Polo Grounds when I counted 30,000 tickets.” – Kid Nichols, 1948

After Nichols retired from baseball, he partnered with Joe Tinker (of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame) in a movie distribution business.  Later on, he became a proficient bowler, winning Kansas City’s Class A Championship at the ripe old age of 64.

Pictured below is Kid Nichols in his Boston Beaneaters uniform.  This is one of forty-eight cards from the 1895 N300 Mayo’s Cut Plug tobacco card series.  Graded an 8 (near mint/mint), it is by far and away the finest example in existence.  It last sold in 2011 for $16,500.

Do you have any Kid Nichols memorabilia – let us know!

***The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Baseball Memorabilia Enthusiast’ Lee Edelstein for preparing today’s featured article. Lee was born and raised in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York.  He inherited his love of baseball from his dad. The game has been Lee’s constant companion since he was seven years old – when his dad took him to see his first ball game at Ebbets Field.   This was followed by a brief and largely unsuccessful Little League career.  While he wasn’t all that good on the ball field he became an ALL-Star at collecting baseball cards. 

His collection is still alive today after surviving many scares over the years. Lee was also much better at business than playing baseball.  He was good enough that he was able to retire and pursue his other passion – writing about baseball! Chin Music is his first novel. He is hard at work on his second, Mound Music. You can read a full overview and find links to purchase here and also check out a quick synopsis in the picture below.  Feel Free to follow Lee on Twitter and chat about the game of baseball.  Follow @chinmusicstory

Sixteen-year-old Ryan Buck is a talented athlete who was fortunate to escape with minor injuries from the horrific car crash that devastated his family. Two-and-a-half years and countless hours of therapy later, Ryan still can’t remember a thing about the accident and it’s making for agonizingly slow progress. But everything changes when his mom, Susan, is forced to sell the old Babe Ruth artifacts that have been in the family for years.

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