Skip to main content

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 68

By
Bill Nicholson was an outfielder with the Phillies from 1949-1953. Nicholson was a power hitting lefty batter whose best years were mostly behind him by the time he became employed by the Phillies.

Nicknamed "Swish" because of his free-swinging style, Nicholson became a 5-time all-star in his 10 seasons with the Chicago Cubs. He also hit over 20 homers in six different seasons during that same stretch playing with Chicago. Turned down for military service because he was color blind, Nicholson would dine well on war time hurlers. In 1943 and 1944, Nicholson led the National League in homeruns and RBI, finishing second in league MVP voting in 1944, when he also led the league in runs scored with 116 and batted .287. Nicholson fell just 2 voting points short of winning the award, when the Cardinals' Marty Marion took home the honor mainly for his defense, as Marion's offensive numbers (.267 avg., 50 runs, 6 HR, 63 RBI) did not compare to Nicholson's.

In that 1944 season, Nicholson hit 4 homeruns in a game against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. He came up to bat a fifth time and the Giants intentionally walked him, despite the fact that the bases were loaded with Cubs runners at the time. Forcing in just one run better protected the Giants' 3-run lead at that time. Nicholson is one of six men credited with receiving a bases loaded walk in MLB. The others are Abner Dalrymple (1881), Nap Lajoie (1901), Del Bissonette (1928), Barry Bonds (1998) and Josh Hamilton (2008).

With the Phillies, Nicholson served as the team's fourth outfielder, backing up the Whiz Kids group of Richie Ashburn, Dick Sisler and Del Ennis. In 1950, Nicholson twice hit game winning homeruns against the Dodgers to help the Phillies lock down a series in early July. Late that season, however, Nicholson fell ill and doctors discovered that he was diabetic, which caused him to sit out the World Series.

Swish Nicholson played through the 1953 season as a reserve with the Phillies and then retired from baseball.

_________________________________________


Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Labels:

Comments

Joe P.57 said…
There is a great biography of Nicholson, published by McFarland & Co. It's called "'Swish' Nicholson, a Biography of Wartime Baseball's Greatest Slugger," available at www.amazon.com
July 22, 2010 at 11:02 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crawford's Chronicles: JP Crawford talks Spring Training

By
JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Entering this year as the widely regarded top prospect in the Phillies organization, J.P. Crawford will be taking time each week to provide insight directly from inside spring training in Clearwater, FL, right here on PhilliesNation.com. Crawford, 20, was named the top positional prospect in two leagues (Class A South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Florida State League) last year, when he combined, in 123 games, to post a .285 average, 11 homers, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He also represented the Phils organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last season. As the 2015 campaign approaches, the six-foot-two 180-pound lefty batter is expected to reach the Double-A level and continue to prove why the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. In this initial installment of our weekly check-in with J.P., he shares thoughts on a variety of topics, including his exclusion from big league camp, which member of the big leagu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Heroes- Fight of the Century

By
VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...
7 comments
Read more

Phreestyle Battle & Notes

By
Unrelated to baseball, really...but it's fun and our Phils are off today. This new kid on the hip hop scene, Charles Hamilton , whose single Brooklyn Girl is ripping up radio and video count downs, was at PSU for a performance recently. A freestyle battle ensued, and as you'll see, the Penn State student held his own. Stay tuned for the ending. It's the best part. Here are some random Phillies-in-idle baseball thoughts and notes- Colbert Hamels is slated to make his Grapefruit League debut tomorrow vs. Team Canada. Shane Victorino is going to wear #50 on his jersey for Team USA, a nod to Hawaii Five-O. Brad Lidge is likely to not see game action till next week, after he throws some more bullpen sessions and works out the tightness in his forearm. Albert Pujols is declaring "respect for his country" as reasoning for sitting out of the Cardinals' exhibition this week against Team Dominican Republic. He told reporters, "I don’t want to play against them...
2 comments
Read more