Chester Raymond Nichols Sr. (July 3, 1897 – July 11, 1982) was an American

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who appeared in 44 career

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over six seasons in

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between and for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

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and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Born in

Woonsocket, Rhode Island Woonsocket ( ), is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 43,240 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the sixth largest city in the state. Being Rhode Island's northernmost city, Woonsock ...

, he threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed .

Baseball career

Minor leagues

Nichols was 27 years of age when he broke into professional baseball in 1925. Pitching for the

New Haven Profs The New Haven Profs was one of the longest lasting names of a minor league baseball team that was located in New Haven, Connecticut and played primarily in the Eastern League and Connecticut League The Connecticut League, also known as the Conne ...

of the higher-level Eastern League—a team then owned by future

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executive George M. Weiss—Nichols won 15 games, lost 20, and compiled a 2.93

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 43 games and 304

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of work. The following year, he was more successful, winning 13 and losing six, with an ERA of 2.37.

Major Leagues

He earned a promotion all the way to the

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Pirates, where he appeared in three games as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

between July 30 and August 4, 1926, but posted a poor 8.22 ERA. Pittsburgh sent Nichols back to New Haven, where in 1927, he won six of ten decisions and sported an earned run average well below 3.0 at 2.60. But in a second trial with the Pirates, who were headed for the National League pennant, Nichols again fared poorly. He pitched in eight games, all in relief, lost all three of his decisions, and put up a mediocre 5.86 earned run average (which, unfortunately, would be the best ERA of his

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career). His last appearance in a Buc uniform came on July 23, two months before the Pirates played in the

1927 World Series The 1927 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1927 season. The 24th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees against the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirat ...

. Nichols was drafted by another contending club,

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

's New York Giants, that off-season, but turned out to be the worst season of his major league career. Nichols allowed 13 runs (seven

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) and 11

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in only three games and 2 innings. He spent part of 1928 and all of 1929 in the

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with the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

of the top-level

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. Then, in October 1929, he was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the tail-ending Philadelphia Phillies. The campaign would be Nichols' only full year in Major League Baseball, and it was an historic season for his ball club. The 1930 Phillies batted .315 as a team; they featured two batters who hit over .380—Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (.386) and

Lefty O'Doul Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues. He was also a vital figure in the establishmen ...

(.383)—and scored 944 runs. But their pitching staff allowed 1,199 runs of their own, and posted a horrendous 6.71 earned run average. The Phillies finished 52–102 and dead last in the National League. Nichols worked in 26 games for the 1930 Phillies, and compiled a 1–2 won–lost record with a 6.79 earned run average. He made the only five starts of his big-league career, and on June 17 recorded his only

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

and only victory in a major league uniform, defeating the Pirates 5–4 at the

Baker Bowl National League Park, commonly referred to as the Baker Bowl after 1923, was a baseball stadium and home to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1887 until 1938, and first home field of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1933 to 1935. It opened in 1887 with a ...

, going all ten innings on the mound. The following year saw Nichols appear mostly for the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

of the

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, although he was treated roughly in three July games during another trial with the Phillies. In , Nichols got into the last 11 games of his pro career, all as a relief pitcher for the Phillies. He dropped two more decisions, but earned his only MLB save (not then an official statistic) on April 25 against the

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br>box score (25 April 1932): "Philadelphia Phillies 4, Boston Braves 3"
/ref> His final professional game came in a Philadelphia uniform on May 29; he was the losing pitcher in relief in a contest against the Giants. All told, Nichols posted a 1–8 won–lost record as a big-leaguer, with a 7.19 career earned run average. He allowed 167 hits and 56

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 33 strikeouts, in 122 innings pitched. However, his son, Chet Jr. (1931–1995), would enjoy a degree of success during his nine-season MLB pitching career (1951, 1954–1956, and 1960–1964), winning 34 games and, as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, becoming the earned run average champion of the National League.

References

External links

1897 births 1982 deaths Baseball players from Rhode Island Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Royals players New York Giants (NL) players New Haven Profs players People from Woonsocket, Rhode Island Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Paul Saints (AA) players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub