Born: April 14, 1863
Died:
MLB Debut: September,14, 1888
Goto Baseball-Reference.com for Parson Nicholson
Thomas "Parson" Nicholson played semipro baseball in 1885 and 1886 before playing for Steubenville and Wheeling in the Ohio State League in 1887 at the age of 24. As the season wound down, the St. Louis Browns attempted to sign him in late September of 1887 to fill in for Yank Robinson, who suffered a spiked hand. Negotiations dragged on and ultimately he was signed in late October, 1887. He entered spring training in 1888 with the Browns as the favorite to start at shortstop, with Yank Robinson moving to second base. However, when games started in the spring, Chippy McGarr started at second base for the Browns while Robinson played short. Nicholson sat for the first two games between the Browns and Whites before starting at second base for the Whites in the third game. He then sat for another week or so before playing for the Whites again, this time in right field, in a couple of games against the Browns. After Jack Crooks was injured, Nicholson took over at second base for the Whites for the remainder of spring training. He was formally transferred to the Whites roster late in April. He batted lead off in every game for the Whites (one of only three to play in every game, along with Crooks and Burch), playing at second base and occasionally in the outfield.
After the Whites disbanded, Nicholson went back to Ohio to re-join Wheeling. Wheeling sold him to Detroit in the National League in September, where he made his major league debut on September 14, 1888. Detroit folded after the season. Nicholson joined Toledo in 1889 and returned to the majors in 1890 when Toledo moved to the American Association. He was back in the minors again in 1891 at Sioux City, and, except for 45 games with Washington in 1895, remained in the minors until 1899, when he returned to Wheeling as player-manager for his final season at age 36. After his basebal career ended, he returned to his hometown of Bellaire in Ohio, where he owned a shoe store and served a term as mayor. He died in 1917 from bronchopneumonia.
Major League record for Parson Nicholson Batting stats Year Team Pos Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1888 Det-N 2B 25 24 85 11 22 2 3 1 9 2 7 6 0.259 0.284 0.388 1890 Tol-a 2B-C 27 134 523 78 140 16 11 4 72 42 46 0.268 0.333 0.363 1895 Was-N SS 32 10 38 7 7 2 1 0 5 7 4 6 0.184 0.311 0.289 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals (3 yrs) 168 646 96 169 20 15 5 86 51 11 58 0 0.262 0.326 0.362 Stats with the St. Louis WhitesBatting stats
Year Team Pos Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1888 STW 25 39 170 32 47 8 2 1 23 0.277 0.365Spring stats for the Whites Date Opponent Pos. AB R BH 2B 3B HR SB BB K 3/28/1888 Browns 2b 4 2 2 3 4/7/1888 Browns rf 4 1 2 1 0 4/8/1888 Browns rf 4 0 1 0 4/12/1888 Kansas City 2b 4 0 0 4/15/1888 Browns 2b 4 0 1 0 4/16/1888 Bloomington 2b 5 3 4 1 4/17/1888 Bloomington 2b 4 3 1 1 4/18/1888 Bloomington 2b 3 3 1 1 4/19/1888 Peoria 2b 4 1 1 4/20/1888 Peoria 2b 5 1 1 4/21/1888 Davenport 2b 4 1 1 1 0 4/22/1888 Davenport 2b 4 2 2 1 0 4/23/1888 Rockford 2b 4 0 0 4/24/1888 Rockford 2b 4 3 2 1 4/25/1888 Dubuque 2b 4 1 1 1 0 4/26/1888 Dubuque 2b 3 0 0 0 Totals (16 G) 64 21 20 2 2 1 5 1 0 30 putouts, 36 assists and 9 errors