James Edward Hicks (May 18, 1940 – October 29, 2020) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball 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), ...

as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

from 1964 to 1970 and in the

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

league from 1973 to 1974. He played in 93

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

over all or parts of five seasons in Major League Baseball for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

and the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. He threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed .

Early life and education

Born in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

, Hicks attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

Career

White Sox farm system and Chisox

After signing with the White Sox in 1959, Hicks played six seasons in their

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

before breaking the ice with two MLB appearances as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

in the waning days of 1964. He spent portions of 1965 and 1966 with the ChiSox, but got into only 31 games with 47

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

MVP in Pacific Coast League

His contract was finally sold to the Cardinals' organization after the 1967

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

season. In 1968, Hicks was named Most Valuable Player of the Triple-A

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

when he batted .366 with 149

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

— including 32 doubles, 23 home runs and 85

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

for the Redbirds'

Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...

affiliate.

Single full MLB season

The banner year set up Hicks' lone full season in the majors, 1969, which he split between the Cardinals and the California Angels. He started an MLB-career-high 11 games as the Cardinals'

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

during May, but was hitting only .182 with one home run when he was traded to the Angels May 30 for another outfielder,

Vic Davalillo Víctor José Davalillo Romero (born July 30, 1936) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder. He played for 30 years in the U.S., Mexico, and his homeland, compiling more than 4,100 base hits total. Davalillo (pronounced da-va-LE ...

. The Angels used Hicks in 37 games as an outfielder, first baseman and

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, but he collected only four hits in 48

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

(.083), although three of those hits were home runs.

Hawaii and Japan

A brief stay on the Angels' 1970 opening-season roster produced one

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in four pinch-hitting appearances before he was sent to the Angels' Triple-A affiliate, the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

of the Pacific Coast League. Now a 30-year-old veteran, Hicks put up three strong seasons for the Islanders, hitting over .300 with power each year. As a result, he was acquired by Hiroshima and played two years in NPB, appearing in 183 total games and hitting .247 with 33 home runs.

Playing style and statistics

Hicks played a total of 93 MLB games as an

and

. Hicks' professional career in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

lasted for 16 seasons, and saw him hit more than 245

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. Jim Hicks batted .163 lifetime in the major leagues, with 23 hits – one double, three

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, five home runs and 14

— in 141 at bats. Hicks threw and batted

, stood tall and weighed .

Death

Hicks died on October 29, 2020.

References

External links

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Jim 1940 births 2020 deaths African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Mississippi California Angels players Chicago White Sox players Clinton C-Sox players Hawaii Islanders players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Holdrege White Sox players Idaho Falls Russets players Indianapolis Indians players Industriales de Valencia players Llaneros de Acarigua players Lynchburg White Sox players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball outfielders Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Pacific Coast League MVP award winners St. Louis Cardinals players Savannah Pirates players Sportspeople from East Chicago, Indiana Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni 21st-century African-American people