Bill Nicholson

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1936-1953)

AVG .268
HR 235
RBI 948
H 1,484
OPS .830
PIV 21,540
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 205 lb
Born
12/11/1914 in Chestertown, MD, USA
Died
3/8/1996 in Chestertown, MD, USA
MLB Debut
1936-06-13
Last Game
1953-09-19
Awards
5× All-Star

Full name: William Beck Nicholson

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,677 5,546 837 1,484 272 60 235 948 27 800 828 .268 .365 .465 .830 21,540

Career AVG .268 vs. league average .263 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .365 vs. league average .335 across their career seasons — +9.1% above league average.

Career SLG .465 vs. league average .376 across their career seasons — +23.9% above league average.

Career OPS .830 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — +16.9% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1936 PHA AL 11 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .000 — — — — 0.0
1939 CHN NL 58 220 37 65 12 5 5 38 0 20 29 .295 .274 (+8%) .342 (+4%) .393 (+18%) .735 (+11%) 393.7
1940 CHN NL 135 491 78 146 27 7 25 98 2 50 67 .297 .267 (+11%) .335 (+9%) .387 (+38%) .722 (+24%) 2301.2
1941 CHN NL 147 532 74 135 26 1 26 98 1 82 91 .254 .262 (-3%) .332 (+7%) .373 (+21%) .705 (+15%) 1690.4
1942 CHN NL 152 588 83 173 22 11 21 78 8 76 80 .294 .253 (+16%) .323 (+18%) .349 (+36%) .672 (+28%) 3238.7
1943 CHN NL 154 608 95 188 30 9 29 128 4 71 86 .309 .255 (+21%) .324 (+19%) .346 (+53%) .671 (+37%) 4253.8
1944 CHN NL 156 582 116 167 35 8 33 122 3 93 71 .287 .261 (+10%) .325 (+20%) .357 (+52%) .683 (+37%) 4348.2
1945 CHN NL 151 559 82 136 28 4 13 88 4 92 73 .243 .260 (-7%) .328 (+8%) .354 (+6%) .683 (+7%) 1063.5
1946 CHN NL 105 296 36 65 13 2 8 41 1 44 44 .220 .256 (-15%) .328 (-1%) .358 (avg) .687 (-1%) 13.3
1947 CHN NL 148 487 69 119 28 1 26 75 1 87 83 .244 .262 (-7%) .336 (+8%) .376 (+24%) .712 (+17%) 1776.8
1948 CHN NL 143 494 68 129 24 5 19 67 2 81 60 .261 .263 (-1%) .340 (+9%) .379 (+17%) .719 (+13%) 1480.9
1949 PHI NL 98 299 42 70 8 3 11 40 1 45 53 .234 .262 (-11%) .343 (avg) .384 (+2%) .727 (+1%) 110.8
1950 PHI NL 41 58 3 13 2 1 3 10 0 8 16 .224 .265 (-16%) .346 (-8%) .401 (+12%) .747 (+2%) 10.5
1951 PHI NL 85 170 23 41 9 2 8 30 0 25 24 .241 .260 (-8%) .336 (+2%) .385 (+19%) .721 (+11%) 332.0
1952 PHI NL 55 88 17 24 3 0 6 19 0 14 26 .273 .252 (+8%) .326 (+20%) .369 (+38%) .696 (+30%) 487.8
1953 PHI NL 38 62 12 13 5 1 2 16 0 12 20 .210 .264 (-21%) .335 (+1%) .397 (+6%) .733 (+3%) 38.3
Career · 16 seasons 1,677 5,546 837 1,484 272 60 235 948 27 800 828 .268 — — — — 21,540

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
7 28 1 6 1 1 0 8 2 5 .214

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1945 WS CHN 7 28 1 6 1 1 0 8 2 5 .214

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1678 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home828270538973899442.273
Away8502839448746136511.263

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1953-09-19 PHIBROL 100000001
1953-09-07 PHIBROL 100000000
1953-09-02 PHISTLL 100000100
1953-08-25 PHIATLL 100000000
1953-08-16 PHINY1L 100000001
1953-08-13 PHIPITL 000000000
1953-08-02 PHIATLL 100000001
1953-07-19 PHICHCW 100000000
1953-07-11 PHIPITW 100000001
1953-07-08 PHIBROL 100000001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 1471 0 2954 118 67 20

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1936 PHA OF 1 0 1 0 0 0
1939 CHN OF 58 0 123 5 6 0
1940 CHN OF 123 0 235 10 13 2
1941 CHN OF 143 0 293 10 9 2
1942 CHN OF 151 0 327 18 5 2
1943 CHN OF 154 0 340 16 8 2
1944 CHN OF 156 0 305 18 7 4
1945 CHN OF 151 0 300 12 3 4
1946 CHN OF 80 0 179 4 5 1
1947 CHN OF 140 0 281 7 3 1
1948 CHN OF 136 0 244 7 5 1
1949 PHI OF 91 0 185 10 1 1
1950 PHI OF 15 0 20 0 1 0
1951 PHI OF 41 0 75 1 1 0
1952 PHI OF 19 0 33 0 0 0
1953 PHI OF 12 0 13 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Left Field 31
Right Field 1442

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1944 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1943 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1943 TSN All-Star OF
1940 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Washington College Chestertown MD 1934, 1935, 1936

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1944 Most Valuable Player NL 2nd 189.0 336 4
1943 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 181.0 336 5
1942 Most Valuable Player NL 19th 14.0 336 0
1941 Most Valuable Player NL 16th 16.0 336 0
1940 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 12.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Bill Nicholson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Vic Wertz
    .277 avg, 266 HR
  2. 95
    Bob Allison
    .255 avg, 256 HR
  3. 92
    Jackie Jensen
    .279 avg, 199 HR
  4. 90
    Matt Stairs
    .262 avg, 265 HR
  5. 88
    Roger Maris
    .260 avg, 275 HR
  6. 88
    Bobby Higginson
    .272 avg, 187 HR

Compare Bill Nicholson

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Nicholson's closest peers by position and era.

vs Ted Williams
vs Robin Roberts
vs Joe DiMaggio
vs Claude Passeau
vs Ralph Kiner
vs Larry Doby

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Bill Nicholson

What years did Bill Nicholson play?
Bill Nicholson played in Major League Baseball from 1936 to 1953.
Was Bill Nicholson a pitcher?
No. Bill Nicholson was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Bill Nicholson hit?
Bill Nicholson hit 235 career home runs with 1484 hits.