Chester Raymond Nichols Jr. (February 22, 1931 – March 27, 1995) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. A tall, left-hander, he was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

over all or parts of nine seasons (, –, –) with the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Milwaukee Braves,

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

and Cincinnati Reds. In 1951, he was the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

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 ...

(ERA) champion as a 20-year-old

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 ...

, and was the runner-up to

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

for the league's

Rookie of the Year Award 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 ...

. He was the son of former major league pitcher Chet Nichols Sr., a right-hander who appeared in 44 games for three National League clubs between 1926 and 1932.

Career

Boston Braves

Nichols Jr. was born in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Fal ...

, where he attended East High School. After spending the 1949 and 1950 seasons in the Braves' farm system, he made Boston's 1951 roster out of spring training. He pitched exclusively in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

through May 23, posting a 3.00 ERA. In his first starting assignment, June 3 at Braves Field against the Cincinnati Reds, he held a 2–1 lead into the eighth inning when Cincinnati rallied for three runs; Nichols was saddled with the 4–2 defeat, but he threw a complete game and earned a place in Boston's starting rotation. Six days later, Nichols threw another complete game, this time a six-

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, 6–1 triumph over the

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 ha ...

. Nichols went on to work in 33 games, 19 as a starter, and compiled an 11–8 won–lost record. His 2.88 earned run average in 156 innings pitched was five-one-hundredths of a point better than

Sal Maglie Salvatore Anthony Maglie (April 26, 1917 – December 28, 1992) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher and later, a scout and a pitching coach. He played from 1945 to 1958 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New Y ...

's 2.93, giving Nichols the National League's ERA title. He threw 12 total complete games, posted three

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, and earned two saves out of the bullpen.

Milwaukee Braves

Nichols then missed the 1952 and 1953 seasons while serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He returned to the Braves, now based in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, in , but his performance declined. His ERA swelled to 4.41 and he issued 65 bases on balls to only 55 strikeouts in 122 innings pitched. The following season, , he lowered his ERA to 4.00, but still struggled with wildness, walking 67 men and striking out only 44 in 144 innings of work. After two lackluster performances in early , Nichols was demoted to the

minor leagues 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 No ...

Boston Red Sox

The Braves released him after the 1957 season, and Nichols spent all of 1958 out of the game working as a bank teller in his native Rhode Island,Nowlin, Bill, ''Chet Nichols.''

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Biography Project before getting a successful tryout with the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Red Sox, Boston's surviving MLB team, who signed him to a minor-league contract for 1959. Two strong seasons at the Triple-A level resulted in Nichols' promotion to the Red Sox in September . He spent the full seasons of through with the Red Sox, largely as a left-handed relief specialist. In 1961, he put up a stellar 2.09 earned run average in 51 innings, with three saves.

Final season and retirement

Boston released him after the 1963 season, and Nichols caught on with the Reds for 1964, but he was released after three early-season relief appearances, ending his MLB career. In the major leagues, Nichols compiled a 34–36 record in 189 appearances, 71 of them starts, with a 3.64 ERA. In 603 innings pitched, he allowed 600 hits and 280 bases on balls, with 266 strikeouts. He threw 23 complete games and four shutouts, and earned ten saves out of the bullpen. He returned to the banking field after his playing days, rising into management positions, and in 1977 he played an integral role in helping Rhode Island businessman

Ben Mondor Bernard Georges "Ben" Mondor (March 26, 1925 – October 3, 2010) was a Canadian-born American business executive and baseball executive, best known as the owner of the Pawtucket Red Sox from 1977 until his death. Biography Mondor was born in Mar ...

purchase the struggling

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

of the International League; during his 33-year stewardship, Mondor turned the "PawSox" into a highly successful Triple-A franchise. Nichols died of cancer at his

Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistical ar ...

, home at the age of 64.Chet Nichols; Pitcher, 64
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Chet Jr. 1931 births 1995 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Austin Senators players Baseball players from Rhode Island Boston Braves players Boston Red Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Deaths from cancer in Rhode Island Evansville Braves players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Braves players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players National League ERA champions Sportspeople from Pawtucket, Rhode Island Vancouver Mounties players Wichita Braves players