Before there was Chicago Cubs legend Ron Santo, outfielder Bill Nicholson enjoyed success with the Cubs, despite playing with diabetes later in his career. Nicholson wasn’t actually diagnosed with the disease until after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1949.
During his 10 seasons with the Cubs, Nicholson averaged over 20 home runs per season while getting on base at a .368 clip. While he had a down year in 1945, seeing his OPS drop 201 points from the previous season, Nicholson helped the Cubs win the National League pennant, a feat which they haven’t duplicated since.
Nicholson’s best seasons with the Cubs occurred in 1943 and 1944. Between the two seasons, Nicholson belted 62 home runs while driving in 250 runs. His on-base percentage was a dynamite .388, while his OPS was .926 during the two years preceding the Cubs’ last visit to the World Series.
Nicholson only swiped 26 bases in his 10 seasons with the Cubs, but he ran hard, grounding into only 55 double plays with the Cubs. By contrast, Hall of Famer Jim Rice grounded into 36 double plays in one season (1984) , the most ever in major league history.
21 -min 14 48 8 0 0 .167 .354
24 -min 105 383 128 8 23 .334 .966
24 CHC 58 220 65 5 5 38 .354 .818
25 CHC 135 491 146 7 25 98 .366 .899
26 CHC 147 532 135 1 26 98 .357 .810
27 CHC 152 588 173 11 21 78 .382 .859
28 CHC 154 608 188 9 29 128 .386 .917
29 CHC 156 582 167 8 33 122 .391 .935
30 CHC 151 559 136 4 13 88 .356 .734
31 CHC 105 296 65 2 8 41 .325 .683
32 CHC 148 487 119 1 26 75 .364 .831
33 CHC 143 494 129 5 19 67 .371 .816
CHC (10 yrs) 1349 4857 1323 53 205 833 .368 .840
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 12/18/2011.
Bill Nicholson had the best fielding percentage for an outfielder in 1947, and was in the top five for assists by an outfielder from 1942-1944.
Despite being relatively young at 33 when the Cubs dealt him to the Phillies in 1949, his trade was the culmination of Nicholson’s declining skills during his last four seasons with the Cubs. He still managed an on-base percentage of .357 during that span, but his power numbers declined, evidenced by his .416 slugging percentage from 1945-1948.
During his last few years with the Cubs, Nicholson frequently experienced dizzy spells, poor eyesight, and weight loss. His eventual diagnosis of diabetes would explain the sharp downward trend in his hitting skills.
Nicholson is perhaps best known for his performance during a double-header in July, 1944 and what rare occurrence he was involved in that day. Nicholson hit four home runs during the double-bill against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. While coming to bat in the eighth inning of the second game, the bases were loaded. The Giants were ahead of the Cubs 10-7, and instead of pitching to Nicholson, the Giants’ player-manager, Mel Ott, decided to give Nicholson an intentional pass, giving him his seventh run batted in on the day.
Until that game in 1944, only two players were known to have been intentionally walked with the bases full, one of them being Ott, in 1929. It has only happened three times since Nicholson’s famous walk in ’44.
Bill Nicholson had a fine career with the Chicago Cubs, and considering the growing health problems that plagued him at a relatively young age, one has to wonder how much more Nicholson could have produced on the baseball field if he was in good health.
-James Kries
