Simon Burdette Nicholls (July 18, 1882 – March 12, 1911) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

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, they became the Oakland ...

, and

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

. A native of

Boyds, Maryland Boyds is an unincorporated community in exurban Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, located approximately north of Washington, D.C. Its ZIP Code is 20841. According to the United States 2020 Census, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) ...

, he attended the

Maryland Agricultural College The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Universi ...

. He was signed as an emergency replacement by the Tigers during a road trip to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in 1903 and played both games of a doubleheader for the Tigers. He was a member of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1906 to 1909, and was the team's primary shortstop in 1907 and 1908. He appeared for the Cleveland Naps in only three games at the beginning of the 1910 season. He spent most of that season with the minor-league

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

and was named the team's captain. He died of complications from

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

in Baltimore before the beginning of the 1911 season. In 312 games over six seasons, Nicholls posted a .251

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(284-for-1133) with 144 runs, 4

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 ...

, 58 RBI, 27

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

and 65

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

. He finished his career with an overall .918

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

. Recorded the 1st hit and 1st run scored in the history of Shibe Park in 1909

Personal life

Simon Burdette Nicholls was born on July 18, 1882, in

Germantown, Maryland Germantown is an urbanized census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 91,249 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous community in Maryland, after Baltimore and Columbia, Maryland, Col ...

, the older of two sons born to George (1848–1919) and Courtney (Burdette) (1846–1887) Nicholls. He had one younger brother, Roger Darby Nicholls (1885–1966), a native of

Gaithersburg, Maryland Gaithersburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the third-largest incorporated city and the ninth-most populous communit ...

. His father raised Simon and Roger on the family farm after Courtney died when Simon was five and Roger was two.

External links

Campbell Gibson, "Simon Nicholls," SABR Baseball Biography Project.
1882 births 1911 deaths Major League Baseball shortstops Detroit Tigers players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Cleveland Naps players Memphis Egyptians players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Baseball players from Montgomery County, Maryland Sportspeople from Germantown, Maryland Maryland Terrapins baseball players Deaths from typhoid fever in the United States {{US-baseball-shortstop-stub