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David Lawrence Nicholson
Kansas City Royals
Outfield
Born: August 29, 1939, St. Louis, MO
Signed: Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent, January 26, 1958
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1960, 1962; Chicago White Sox 1963-1965; Houston Astros 1966; Atlanta Braves 1967
Died: February 23, 2023, Carni, IL (age 83)
When Dave Nicholson stepped to the plate, there was usually only one of two outcomes - a towering home run or a strikeout. Nicholson had a career year in 1959 playing in the Orioles' minor league system, launching 35 home runs and collecting 115 RBIs while batting .292. That earned him a promotion in 1960 but he struggled at the plate, batting just .186 with 55 strikeouts in 133 plate appearances. After a brief return to the Orioles in 1962, Nicholson was dealt to the White Sox where he was the club's opening day left fielder in 1963 and 1964. He hit 22 home runs in 1963, but led the league with 175 strikeouts. Nicholson's most memorable moment came on May 6, 1964, when he hit a home run that completely left Comiskey Park. The home run was estimated to have been hit 573 feet!
Dealt to Houston following the 1965 season, Nicholson was the Astros' opening day left fielder in 1966. He last appeared in the majors with the Braves in 1967 and then spent two full seasons with the Braves and Royals Triple-A teams in 1968 and 1969. For his big league career, Nicholson batted .212 over 538 games with 61 home runs and 179 RBIs.
When Dave Nicholson stepped to the plate, there was usually only one of two outcomes - a towering home run or a strikeout. Nicholson had a career year in 1959 playing in the Orioles' minor league system, launching 35 home runs and collecting 115 RBIs while batting .292. That earned him a promotion in 1960 but he struggled at the plate, batting just .186 with 55 strikeouts in 133 plate appearances. After a brief return to the Orioles in 1962, Nicholson was dealt to the White Sox where he was the club's opening day left fielder in 1963 and 1964. He hit 22 home runs in 1963, but led the league with 175 strikeouts. Nicholson's most memorable moment came on May 6, 1964, when he hit a home run that completely left Comiskey Park. The home run was estimated to have been hit 573 feet!
Dealt to Houston following the 1965 season, Nicholson was the Astros' opening day left fielder in 1966. He last appeared in the majors with the Braves in 1967 and then spent two full seasons with the Braves and Royals Triple-A teams in 1968 and 1969. For his big league career, Nicholson batted .212 over 538 games with 61 home runs and 179 RBIs.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #270
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -16
1969 Season
On October 18, 1968, the Royals purchased Nicholson from the Braves and he had spent the entire prior season playing in Richmond. At 29 years old, he'd not make the Royals out of spring training, and he'd never suit up for the team. Nicholson appeared in 75 games for the Omaha Royals, batting .240 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs in his final professional season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #182
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1961-1967, 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 38 in the Beckett online database as of 3/23/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #270
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
This is it! After coming home with a brown bag full of 193 commons and semi-stars from last March's Philly Show, and starting on posts about each one of those cards last April, I've finally made my way through the entire pile with this Nicholson card. I'm hoping to keep the momentum going, as I added another 145 commons when we attended the Philly Show this past December. The two paragraphs below can finally be retired after appearing in every post throughout the 12 months.
In mid-March last year, over a year ago, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the last of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me a little over $2.
The Card / Royals Team Set / Accuracy Index -16
I think Nicholson is wearing an Astros uniform here as the Braves uniform had piping around the neck in 1967. As mentioned below, he'd never play for the Royals. The back of the card celebrates his power skills, although Nicholson was never able to repeat the home run success he had found in the minor leagues.
Accuracy Index: Nicholson joins a handful of players so far with a -16. He's hatless (-3) and wearing an old team's uniform (-5), and didn't play for the Royals in 1969 (-2) or ever (-6).
1969 Season
On October 18, 1968, the Royals purchased Nicholson from the Braves and he had spent the entire prior season playing in Richmond. At 29 years old, he'd not make the Royals out of spring training, and he'd never suit up for the team. Nicholson appeared in 75 games for the Omaha Royals, batting .240 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs in his final professional season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #182
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1961-1967, 1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 38 in the Beckett online database as of 3/23/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#297 Deron Johnson - Philadelphia Phillies / #299 Mark Belanger - Baltimore Orioles
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