Connie Mack's College guys....and then there were 9

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

In the early 1900's Connie Mack enthusiastically recruited players with College backgrounds.
From 1901 - 1908 Connie Mack's A's roster included 9 College educated ballplayers .....

.................................................. ..A's tenure

Eddie Plank (Gettysburg College)......1901-14
Eddie Collins (Columbia)..................1906-14, 1927-30
Jack Coombs (Colby College)............1906-14
Jack Barry (Holy Cross)...................1908-14
Andy Coakley (Holy Cross)...............1902-06
Doc Powers (Holy Cross).................1901-1909
Louis Castro (Manhattan College)......1902
Chief Bender (Dickinson College).......1903-14

Simon Nicholls (Maryland Agricultural College....now the Univ of Maryland)....1906-09

This post focuses on Simon Nicholls whose life story is the "stuff" that used to inspire great true life Hollywood BB movies.
Connie Mack acquired Nicholls at the end of the 1906 season. Nicholls was an average hitter, but an excellent shortstop.
One of his best days with the A's was at the opening game of Shibe Park on April 12, 1909. He hit a double, two singles,
and a walk and scored four run to win the 1st game at the A's new Stadium....in front of an unprecedented 35,000 fans.

In December 1909 Nicholls was traded to Cleveland. He lived on his Maryland farm and was a very devoted family man,
so this trade upset him. April 1910, the Cleveland Press noted that "Si" Nicholls was a gentleman farmer like the great
Cy Young. Nicholls Major Lge. career ended after 3 games with Clev. That season he connected with Baltimore (Eastern
Lge.) Mgr. Jack Dunn, who was impressed with Nicholls' play and made him field captain in 1911. Unfortunately, Nicholls
contracted typhoid fever and died at the young age of 28 on Mar 12, 1911.

Nicholls T206 cards

Nicholls (fielding pose) is one of only four A's players depicted in the 1st Series (150 Subjects) of the T206 set.

His 2nd card (batting pose) was issued when the 350 Series was available in early Spring of 1910. Unlike the other 200+
Subjects in the 350 Series whose American Beauty 350 backs are FRAMED, Nicholls' AB 350 back is without Frame. This
"oddity" has mystified T206 collectors for some time. Offered here is a plausible explanation for this anomaly. My theory
is..the Nicholls card was initially designed as a 350/460 Series Subject. However, it was not extended into the 460 series
press runs, due to his Major League career ending in early 1910.

The 350/460 release occurred in the Summer of 1910. The 55 cards in this series with AB 350 backs are without a Frame.




TED Z


Edited to remove Harry Davis; and, to add Chief Bender, Andy Coakley and Louis Castro

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Posted By: barry arnold

great exposition and explanation, Professor TRex.
keep it coming; i continue to take copious notes.

all the best,

Barry

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Ted isn't T-Rex, he's our "Professer"...

Great Ted. And a public thank you for that beautiful AB 350 card I just received in the mail.


Frank W.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Not to change the subject but Ted has been known as T-Rex since November of 2005. The name fits him well as he strikes fear in the hearts of t206 collectors,thats how he finished that sovereign set so quick. Long live T-Rex!

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Posted By: peter ullman

great story Ted...great stuff!

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

Thanks Ted..

always enjoy your posts..

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

Some Simon Nicholls cards.....I'm sure there are more, so please post them.

1907 Sporting Life Cabinets (W600)

1908 American Caramel (E91-A)

1909 Briggs (E97)....A's
1910 Briggs (E97)....Clev.

1909 Ramly (T204)

1909 T206 (150 Series)
1910 T206 (350/460 Series....but, no 460 cards have been found)

1910 NADJA (E104-3)



PETER....
What issue is your Nicholls card ?

TED Z

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Posted By: peter ullman

t-rex...it's an e97 b/w.

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

I've never seen the E97 B/W "proofs".....I assume your's is one of them.

And, you have the tougher version of the two Nicholls cards in this set.
The 1910 version of the E97 Nicholls identifies him with Cleveland....and,
I think it's his only card that depicts him with Cleveland.

Any Net54er's have the 1910 E97 Nicholls with Cleveland ?

TED Z

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Posted By: peter ullman

ted...I believe the b/w e97's only depict nicholls w/phil. the e97...color...depicts him w/either clev or phil...phil being the tougher card.

pete

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

Is your B/W Briggs Nicholls paper thin and blank backed ?

And, if you are correct that these are only found with the A's team, then I'd say that explains why the re-
gular issue E97 with Nicholls (A's) is extremely tough to find. They short-printed the A's version because
he was already traded to Cleveland when these were issued.

This scenario sounds very similar to my theory regarding the T206 Nicholls (batting) card, that I'm specula-
ting was actually printed as a "350-460" card....but, was never issued with it's 460 backs.

TED Z

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Posted By: peter ullman

yes ted...it's an e97 b/w...sometimes incorrectly referred to as proofs...blank backed...very thin stock...I know tbob has the same card as do others on the board. In 15 years of casual searching I've only seen 1 or 2 e97 color phil nicholls cards...they are tough. I agree with your theory.


pete

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Posted By: S Gross

as always ......... Ted's the man.

Always thought Nicholls fielding is one of the greatest T206s.
(((((and don't bring up me selling my e97 ))))))




Although one "semi-correction:"


As for Harry Davis, Girard College is not a college as we know. Girard is a k-12 private school in Philadelphia. It was originally founded (early 1800's) for orphan boys, but has expanded to single family and co-ed.

I don't know of Davis' biography, but it is probably interesting.

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Posted By: peter ullman

tbob's got the e97 nicholls clev card...c'mon bob...show it!

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Stranger yet is that I actually have this guy's autograph! What are the chances? I was totally unfamiliar with him. Thanks for all the info. Although the signature likely has little to no collector interest, at least it now makes for an interesting conversation piece!

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Posted By: barrysloate

Ted- you need to make your pictures smaller...calling Dan B.

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Posted By: T206Collector

...that he ever signed a T206 card? Probably nil.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Visit http://www.t206collector.com for my blog, interviews, articles, card galleries and more!

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

PETE

Thanks for all the info on the E97 Nicholls' cards.

TED Z

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

S GROSS
You are correct. Girard College is not a school of higher education. But, when it was founded in 1848
it was named a "College".


But, there still are at least 7 College guys......I forgot to include Andy Coakley, the 3rd guy on the A's
roster from Holy Cross. Andy pitched 9 years in the majors. He started with the A's (1902-06) and his
career ended with the NY Highlanders. His best season was 1905, when he enabled the A's win the AL
pennant....he was 20-7, with an ERA = 1.84.

To most BB fans, Andy is more known as Lou Gehrig's coach at Columbia. Andy coached BB at Columbia
Univ. from 1914 - 1951.

Does anyone have any Andy Coakley BB cards or photos.....if so, please let us see them ?

TED Z

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

Well, since there is no response with any BB cards of Andy Coakley.....do we assume that none
were ever issued. I find that very strange ?

Anyhow, here's a great photo of the four aces of the 1905 American League Champions.....that
includes Coakley. Between them they won 87 games, while losing only 40 for the A's.




Clockwise from left.....Bender.....Plank.....Coakley.....Waddell


TED Z

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

Coakley is in T204, Rose Co. PC's and W600 plus a couple others I think.

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Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

DAVE H

Thanks.....but, I'm still waiting to see some of these BB cards of Andy Coakley ?

TED Z

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Thanks to an email from a very well informed reader of Net54, I'm happy to add an 8th Connie Mack's College guy
to the list.

Louis Castro was recruited by Connie Mack while attending Manhattan College. Castro played for the A's in 1902
and contributed to the A's Championship that year. It was his only year in MLB. His BB career continued for 15
years with several Triple-A
Minor League teams, Rochester, Kansas City, Portland (PCL) and as player-manager with Augusta and Portsmouth.

Louis Castro was born in Colombia in 1876 and has the distinction of being the first Latin player in Major League
Baseball.

Louis Castro is portrayed in the Sporting Life Cabinet (W600) set.

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Posted By: DMcD

From Columbia yearbook (off internet):


Edited to add: Photo was scabbed from a Henry Yee eBay auction for a 1924 Columbia yearbook. Auction just ended, 918 bucks.

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Thanks to Gary Nuchereno....who emailed me this scan of his two E97 Simon Nicholls' cards.

The A's version is very rare.....a nice card goes for a 4-digit price.

TED Z

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Posted By: peter ullman

wow...that e97 phil variation is one of the nicest e97's I've ever seen...what a beauty...and quite a rare card as well!!!!!!

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

DAVID McD

Thanks for showing us the 1923 Yearbook picture with a very young looking Lou Gehrig.

TED Z

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Posted By: Dwight

I would be curious to know about Connie Mack's recruiting habits after 1910. In those subsequent seasons he offered my great-uncle, who opted to play in the minor leagues for 25 years, three contracts during various seasons. He had no formal education, hence the moniker "Rube" Eldridge. His real name was Jesse Morgan Eldridge. My grandfather said Rube couldn't write his name "so you could read it."

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Don't know how I overlooked Chief Bender....but, he went to Dickinson College....so, now we have 9 players
on Connie Mack's A's.

TED Z

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Posted By: DaveW

Here's a photo of the 1905 A's from an auction that just ended on ebay.



- Dave

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Quoting Ted Z.:

Louis Castro was born in Colombia in 1876 and has the distinction of being the first Latin player in Major League Baseball.



I would give my left, (*ahem*), ventricle for a signature of Castro.

Yes, Castro is often one of the players mistakenly identified as the first Latin-American to grace an MLB diamond. He certainly is the first Columbian (by nearly a century over the next Columbian, I believe), but nobody ever mentions this guy, the true holder of the record:


http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bellast01.shtml


Jodi

Edited to add: Strangely enough, Baseball Reference now lists Castro's place of birth as NYC. Although I don't know the reasons behind the change, I do agree with their spelling his first name Luis.

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Esteban Bellan played for the Troy Haymakers (1871-73) of the National Association (NA). That would
qualify him as the first Latin ballplayer; and, I am well aware of this. But in 1967, MLB determined that
the NA statistics should not count and consequently the Elias Sports Bureau does not include the stats
of the NA in their records. Some of the NA teams were reorganized into the American Association; how-
ever, Troy was not one of those teams.

Therefore, because of this 1967 ruling, Luis Castro is considered the first Latin Major League ballplayer.
You can say this is a very controversial call....but, that is my understanding of it.

Thanks for bringing this up.

TED Z