Nicholas Raymond Thomas Etten (September 19, 1913 – October 18, 1990) was a

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 ...

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 (A ...

, who played for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

(1938–39),

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 ...

(1941–42, 1947) and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

(1943–46). Etten batted and threw left-handed. He was born in

Spring Grove, Illinois Spring Grove is a village in McHenry County. Portions of unincorported Lake County, Illinois also utilize Spring Grove postal addresses. It is a commuter village within the Chicago metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 5,487 ...

. Etten attended St. Rita of Cascia High School on the south side of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Etten attended

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Pennsy ...

and was drafted by the Athletics from the

Oakland Oaks Oakland Oaks may refer to one of the following sport teams, listed chronologically: * Oakland Oaks (PCL), a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1955 *Oakland Oaks (ice hockey), a professional ice hockey t ...

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 No ...

team. He made his major league debut with the Athletics late in 1938, also playing part-time for them in 1939. After playing two seasons with the Phillies, he was traded to the Yankees in January 1943, and he responded by leading 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 b ...

with 22

home run 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 ...

s, and drawing 97 walks in , and with 111

RBIs 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 ...

the following season, also best in the league. During his four-year stint with the Yankees, Etten also ranked among league leaders in most offensive categories, was a member of the 1943 World Champion team, and was selected to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

in 1945. In 1947, he appeared in fourteen games for the Phillies before retiring. In a nine-season career, Etten was a .277 hitter with 89 home runs and 526 RBIs. Playing every inning of his career as a first baseman, he recorded a .988

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

. Etten died in

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

, at the age of 77.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Etten, Nick 1913 births 1990 deaths American League All-Stars New York Yankees players Philadelphia Athletics players Philadelphia Phillies players Major League Baseball first basemen People from Spring Grove, Illinois Baseball players from Illinois American League home run champions American League RBI champions Davenport Blue Sox players Little Rock Travelers players Elmira Pioneers players Birmingham Barons players Oklahoma City Indians players Savannah Indians players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Jacksonville Tars players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Newark Bears (IL) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Memphis Chickasaws players Villanova Wildcats baseball players

See also

External links