Chet Nichols

Right-handed pitcher Chet Nichols Sr. showed tremendous promise early in his baseball career. The undisputed star of his high school’s champion baseball team, Nichols went on to shine in semiprofessional and minor-league ball. As a major-leaguer, however, he struggled. Hampered by injuries, the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder appeared in only 44 games over six seasons, 1926-1928 and 1930-1932. During that period, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Phillies, he tallied one win, eight losses, and a 7.19 ERA. To put this in perspective, the average ERA of National League pitchers in those years varied between 3.82 (in 1926) and 3.99 (in 1928), except for 1930, when it spiked to 4.97. Accordingly, Nichols’ career ERA+ of 68 was well below average, compared to a ballpark-adjusted league average ERA+ of 100.

However, Nichols left a baseball legacy to the generations that succeeded him. He was the father of another big-league pitcher, Chester Raymond Nichols Jr., who hurled in the majors for nine seasons spaced over 14 years, from 1951 through 1964. His grandson, Steve Nichols, played high school and college ball, coached at the college level, and for over 20 years was a scout for various MLB clubs.1 

Chester Raymond Nichols Sr. was born on July 2, 1897, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the youngest of three children of Esther (née Sivewright) and Joseph Nichols, a piano tuner.2 Chet was playing ball at an early age. As a grammar school lad in Woonsocket, he was the pitcher on his school’s nine. However, his athletic skills were not limited to baseball; in his junior and senior years of high school, he was the nucleus of all of Woonsocket High’s athletic teams—football, basketball, track, and baseball—and took part in every one of the school’s athletic contests. In 1917, the Providence Evening Bulletin called him “probably the best all-around athlete turned out of any high school in this State for years.”3

But baseball was Chet’s first love, and it was in baseball that he made his name.4 He capped his junior year at Woonsocket High by pitching two consecutive shutouts for his varsity team. In the first, on June 12, 1916, he twirled a one-hitter against English High School of Providence, striking out nine and stealing two bases. The second came two days later when, on the way to defeating East Providence High, 5-0, he struck out 14 and held opposing batsmen to two hits. He further aided his team’s cause by hitting safely twice, stealing a base, and scoring a run.5 The following year, the “schoolboy marvel,” as one newspaper called him, pitched two no-hitters. In one of them, English High was again the victim, losing 9-0 to Nichols, who struck out nine while leading his team to its 14th straight victory.6 

When high school baseball was dormant, Chet kept sharp playing semipro ball. In 1916, between his junior and senior years, he signed with the Websters of North Attleboro, Massachusetts, then the reigning independent and semiprofessional champions of New England. But he wasn’t their pitcher; they used him in right field.7 In 1917, after graduating from high school, he pitched for the Saarts club of Attleboro, Massachusetts.8

Nichols enlisted in the United States Navy on July 22, 1918.9 After his discharge on March 15, 1919, he got back in the baseball groove playing with local clubs—teams such as the Woonsocket Crescents, for whom, on July 6, 1919, he added another no-hit shutout to his resume.10 Later that year, he had a stint with the Boston Braves’ farm team in Evansville, Indiana. Pitching “fine ball” for Evansville, Chet caught the eye of Braves general manager John Quinn. “The thing we like best about Nichols,” said Quinn, “is that he has been improving right along… [W]e’re well satisfied with his showing… in addition, the reports on Chet have been good in other respects.”11  

After returning to Rhode Island from Evansville, Nichols continued to draw attention playing with local teams.12 Regarded as “one of the best semi-pro pitchers in New England,” he attracted offers from both the New York Giants and the Detroit Tigers.13 However, he was lured to the central Massachusetts mill town of Ware, to pitch for the town’s semiprofessional ball club in 1921.14 Nichols would later explain that he could make more money playing for Ware than in the big leagues. One of the textile mills that dominated the town gave him a cushy day job, not involving any real work; he spent his time mainly sitting by and staring at the mill machinery. He pitched three nights a week, earning $10 per strikeout. Typically fanning batters at a clip exceeding five a game, he was able to rake in over well over $100 a week.15 Ware was also home to an enthusiastic baseball fan base, and its team, nicknamed the Wonders, was the region’s baseball powerhouse.16  Remarkably, that small town has produced seven players who went on to play in the major leagues.17

Nichols was an immediate sensation. In his debut for the Ware club, he tossed a one-hit shutout against the team from Three Rivers, striking out eight and earning a 1-0 win before an excited crowd of 2,000 fans. Reporting on the game, the Springfield Republican enthused that Nichols “surpassed the reputation for ability which had preceded him.”18 He went on to have a superb 1921 season, pitching the majority of his team’s games and contributing greatly to its excellent 37-16 record— “one of the most successful seasons ever enjoyed by a town team.”19

During baseball’s offseasons, Nichols returned to grace the basketball courts. He was a star with various hoops teams in his home state of Rhode Island, and also traveled back to Ware to play with that town’s five.20

Nichols returned to the Wares to pitch in 1922. By mid-August he had won 28 of his 34 starts. They included a no-hit, nine-K shutout against the Sacred Hearts of his old hometown of Woonsocket; a one-hitter; and a pair of two-hitters. Rated as the top semipro pitcher in Massachusetts, Chet finished the season with a stellar 32-7-1 record.21 Behind him, the Ware team—which had acquired the nickname Alligators following the surprising discovery of a ‘gator in one of the town’s waterways22—became one of the strongest semiprofessional outfits in western New England.23

Chet Nichols was becoming a hot commodity. In early 1923 it was reported that he had received offers from a few minor-league clubs. However, his heart was securely in the grip of Ware’s Alligators, and he re-signed with the team to pitch the 1923 season, and again in 1924.24  

Chet’s years with the Ware team were filled with adulation and glory. But it was only a matter of time before the town’s hero would give in to the enticements coming his way and decide to move on. In March 1925 he signed with the Class A New Haven Eastern League club, the Profs.25 It took him a few months to acclimate himself to the more skilled Eastern circuit batters and players,26 but, characteristically, the irrepressible ballplayer persevered. He eventually found his stride, and began turning in the kind of stellar performances for which he had become famous.27 On September 14, 1925, he tossed a one-hit shutout against the Hillies of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; he was denied a perfect game only by a first-inning Hillies double and a third-inning walk.28 Six days later, on the final day of the 1925 Eastern League season, Nichols took the mound in relief in the sixth inning. With his team down by a run, Chet’s sensational pitching enabled the Profs to come back against the Hillies and win 5-4. It was his fourth victory that week, believed to be a league record.29 Nichols finished his first season in the minors with 15 wins and 20 losses over 43 games, and a 2.93 ERA.

Back with New Haven in 1926, Nichols continued to dazzle. In early June, following his seventh straight win, the Springfield newspaper enthused, “Like wine, Nichols seems to get better every day… and he is coming to be recognized as the leading twirler of the [Eastern League].”30

Several big-league clubs were angling to land Nichols, and in June 1926, the reigning world champion Pittsburgh Pirates succeeded in hooking him, paying New Haven somewhere around $20,000.31 At the time his record was 13-6, with a 2.37 ERA. Pittsburgh scout Bill Hinchman, who was responsible for hiring Chet, liked what he saw in the righty — “a good curve, a change of pace, a fair fast ball and excellent control. He is cool under fire and acts the part of the experienced pitcher.”32

The Bucs were anxious to use Nichols straight away, but when he reported to the club in mid-July, he was found to have tendons in his ankle “out of whack.”33 This delayed his major-league debut until July 30, when he took over in the seventh frame against the Philadelphia Phillies. He did well; pitching 1⅔ innings, he gave up no hits and no walks and struck out one. His next outing, however, on August 2 against the Phillies, was a struggle. Over his two innings in relief, Philly added two runs to the five that were already on the board.34 Two days later, at Boston against the Braves, he was worse. Working four innings of the first game of a doubleheader, he surrendered 11 hits for nine runs, five of them earned. Boston clobbered Pittsburgh pitching for 19 hits that afternoon, shutting out the Bucs 14-0.

Recognizing that Nichols, who by then had posted an 8.22 ERA, was not yet ready for the big stage, the Pirates returned him to New Haven in late August for the remainder of the 1926 season.35

Nichols spent the winter playing basketball.36 In January 1927, the Pittsburgh club recalled him from New Haven.37 His first outing of the season, on May 16, was troubled. Facing the Brooklyn Robins, he allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in two innings of relief. He was much better, however, in his next appearance, on May 27. Entering the game against the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals with one out in the top of the sixth, his team trailing 7-3, Chet succeeded in holding the Cards scoreless through the seventh, and thus contributed to Pittsburgh’s 10-inning, come-from-behind win, 8-7.38 This was a key victory in a season in which the Pirates would win the NL pennant by 1½ games over the second-place Cardinals.

But it didn’t last. His next six outings varied between passable (10 hits and four runs—including the losing run—in 9⅓ innings against the Chicago Cubs on May 30) and forgettable (four relief innings, eight hits and five runs, including the losing run, against Brooklyn on June 12). That was enough for the Pirates; on August 8, they optioned Nichols back to New Haven for “further seasoning.”39 He made several quality appearances for the Profs up to season’s end. Appearing in 12 games (83 innings), he won six and lost four, and posted a commendable 2.60 ERA.40 This placed him 12th among 100 Eastern League pitchers who logged at least 16 innings that season. Then the Pirates shipped him to the Jersey City (New Jersey) Skeeters of the International League.

Nichols didn’t stay with the Skeeters long enough to have a cup of coffee. The New York Giants—believing that Pittsburgh hadn’t given him opportunities to make his best showing, and that he would “hit his real stride” under the Giants’ brilliant, no-nonsense manager, John McGraw—took a chance on the 30-year-old righty. In October 1927, they snagged him in the draft for 1928.41

In spring training, however, Nichols failed to make the grade, and the Giants decided to let him go. But to where? Pursuant to the agreement between the National League and Class AA minor-leagues, he should have been returned to the club from which he had been drafted, Jersey City. But there was a problem: The Skeeters no longer existed; the club had been purchased by a Montreal syndicate and emerged as a different International League franchise, the Montreal Royals. Asserting that they were the successors of the Jersey City club, the Royals laid claim to Nichols.

Complicating matters further, in January 1928, the owners of the former Skeeters purchased the St. Louis Cardinals’ IL affiliate in Syracuse, New York, and moved it down to Jersey City. That club disputed the validity of Montreal’s rights to Nichols and claimed him for itself.

Pending a resolution of the matter, Chet labored on the Giants’ pitching staff, with dreadful results. In a mere 2⅔ innings of relief over three games between May 5 and August 23, 1928, he managed to give up 11 hits and 13 runs, seven of them earned, for a 23.63 ERA. Following a ruling by IL president John C. Toole awarding Nichols to Montreal, Chet joined that club on August 29.42 From then to the end of the IL’s 1928 season, he appeared in six games for the Royals, winning one and losing three.

Nichols remained with the Montreal club in 1929. Over 29 games, of which he completed 16, he posted 13 victories­—including four shutouts—against 12 losses, and an ERA of 3.70.43

In the 1930 draft, Nichols was grabbed by the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils’ scout was optimistic; he liked Nichols’ control and believed that he would “make the grade.”44 But Chet failed to report to the club. Two months after training camp opened, Phillies manager Burt Shotton still had no idea where the hurler was.45 The club’s brass was not happy. Noting that the Phillies had offered Nichols a 50 percent increase over his 1929 salary, Shotton snarled, “I don’t know what’s on his mind, but he hasn’t got away with anything.”46

Finally, in early May, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis placed Nichols on the ineligible list for failure to sign his contract with the Phils. Chet eventually signed, whereupon he was reinstated by Landis.47

His debut with the Phillies, on June 1, 1930, against the Brooklyn Robins, was not what he would have hoped: four hits, including two homers, and three runs allowed in 4⅓ innings of relief. Following that disappointing beginning, he pitched in 15 more games for the Phillies in 1930, compiling a 1-2 win-loss record and a 6.79 ERA for the season. The win, on June 17 against Pittsburgh, would be the only one of his major-league career.

Nichols’ last mound appearance of the year came on July 29. The reason he didn’t pitch beyond July was likely the arm trouble he was experiencing.48 Nevertheless, over the rest of the season, manager Shotton was able to take advantage of Chet’s “brilliant running” by sending him in as a pinch-runner in the late innings of several games.49

Later in 1930, Nichols married. His bride was a Woonsocket girl, Marion Elizabeth Simmons.50 Marion gave birth to their only child, Chester Raymond Jr., on February 22, 1931, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Nichols father and son were close. The elder Chet groomed his boy to be a pitcher and taught him how to throw strikes. With his dad’s mentoring, Chet Jr. developed into a major-league hurler, and had a successful career.51 The lefty pitched four seasons each for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves (1951; 1954-56) and the Boston Red Sox (1960-63). His final season (1964) came with the Cincinnati Reds. In 1951 with the Braves, he polled second in voting for the NL Rookie of the Year award, behind the Giants’ great Willie Mays.

At the Phillies’ 1931 spring training camp in Winter Haven, Florida, Chet Sr.’s arm trouble—said to be a muscle injury—persisted. In early March, after a few days of workouts, he returned home for a spell.52 He didn’t pitch in a regular season game until July 14. That game, plus two more, both in July, constituted the totality of his work in a Phillies uniform in 1931. At the beginning of August, the Phillies shipped him to the St. Paul (Minnesota) Saints of the Class AA American Association.53   

Nichols did well with St. Paul. Appearing in 12 games, he won five, lost one, and posted a 4.87 ERA. His efforts helped secure the AA pennant for the Saints, who went on to face the IL’s Rochester Red Wings in the Little World Series. Rochester won the series, five games to three;54 Nichols made but a brief appearance to close the final game of the set.55

In mid-September 1931, the Phillies recalled Nichols from St. Paul in preparation for the following season.56 His performance in spring training 1932 did not impress the Phils. They pondered sending him back to the minors57 but ended up using him in 11 regular-season games, mainly in short relief. His last appearance as a major-league ballplayer came against the Giants on May 29. In only two-thirds of an inning, he managed to give up four runs on two hits and two walks.

In mid-June Nichols was “hit in the leg and painfully injured” during batting practice, whereupon the Phillies optioned him to the AA club in Columbus, Ohio.58 He appeared in no games for Columbus, leaving no trace in the record books of even having been a member of that team.

In early 1933, the Phillies gave the 35-year-old Nichols another chance to make the team and brought him to spring training.59 It didn’t work out; he was released in early March.60 Not long afterward, he signed on with the Taunton, Massachusetts, club in the New England League, and was named the team’s captain. He remained with Taunton for the remainder of the 1933 season.61

The ex-big-leaguer spent the ensuing years in Rhode Island. He remained involved in the local sports scene, pitching for amateur baseball clubs and coaching local basketball teams.62 He also took the mound in old-timers’ games.63 To pay the bills, he took a job in a textile mill in Pawtucket, remaining in that line of work for over two decades.64

In his leisure time, Nichols enjoyed playing cards, watching the ponies race at Lincoln Downs in Rhode Island (he didn’t bet, his grandson hastened to add … well, maybe he’d go for a $2 ticket every now and then), and talking baseball. But above all, he loved spending time with his family. When Chet Jr. was away with his ballclub on road trips, Nichols the elder would happily come to help care for his grandchildren—Chet Jr.’s daughter and son.

Nichols has been described as a modest man of few words, humble in bearing, but with perseverance and competitiveness that enabled him to perform at the pinnacle of his sport. Although mild-mannered in general, Nichols could, says his grandson, exude gruffness on the pitcher’s mound when facing opposing batters. His stick-to-itiveness enabled him to endure his injuries and setbacks with equanimity, and get back, undeterred, to pursuing his career. A lover of poetry, one of Nichols’ favorite bards was Edgar A. Guest, among whose works was a poem titled “Don’t Quit.”65 Nichols’ grandson, the former MLB scout Steve Nichols, further illustrates the point. One day, while on the job at the textile mill in Pawtucket, Chet Sr.’s pitching hand got caught in the machinery and he lost two fingers. But he still found a way to show up on the local sandlots and toss batting practice.

On July 11, 1982, a few days after his 85th birthday, Chet Nichols passed away in Pawtucket. He is buried at the Union Cemetery in North Smithfield, Rhode Island.66 Shortly after Nichols’ passing, the Providence Journal honored him with a flattering retrospective of his career. The piece included previous reminiscences of a Rhode Island sports legend, the late Frank Keaney (1886-1967), who had coached Nichols’ high school baseball, basketball, and football teams. Keaney lauded his star protégé as “the best all around-athlete he ever coached,” praising not only Nichols’ “extraordinary ability” but also his humility and dedication.

“All the publicity never changed the size of his cap,” Keaney observed. “He wasn’t a goldarned prima donna. … Throw the bases on a prairie and [he] was ready to pitch.”67

Acknowledgments

In preparing this biography, the author interviewed Nichols’ granddaughter, Debra Abraham (on November 13, 2023), and grandson, Steve Nichols (on November 14, 2023), and is grateful to each of them for their insights and reminiscences.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Rick Zucker and checked for accuracy by members of SABR’s fact-checking team.

Sources

Except as otherwise indicated in the Notes, pitching and game statistics have been taken from Baseball-reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Photo Credit

Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican, September 3, 1922.

Notes

1 Interview of Steve Nichols, November 14, 2023.

2 Births Registered in the City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, for the Year Ending December 31, 1897; United States World War II Draft Registration Card, Chester Raymond Nichols; 1900 United States Census, Woonsocket, Providence County, Rhode Island, E.D. 169, Sheet 13A; Marriages Registered in the Town of Blackstone, Massachusetts, in the Year Ending December 31, 1887. (All of the foregoing sources accessed from www.ancestry.com.)

3 “Woonsocket Will Lose Several of Star Performers,” Providence (Rhode Island) Evening Bulletin, June 12, 1917: sec 3, 6.

4 “Woonsocket Will Lose Several of Star Performers.”

5 “Woonsocket Wins 6–0 Contest from English Boys,” Providence Bulletin, June 13, 1916: sec. 2, 3; “Nichols, Woonsocket Star Hurler, Pitches 2-Hit Contest,” Providence Bulletin, June 15, 1916: sec. 3, 7.

6 “Chet Nichols Hurls Another No-Hit Game,” Pawtucket (Rhode Island) Times, June 14, 1917: 6.

7 “Fast Independent Teams Will Cross Bats To-Morrow,” Providence Bulletin, September 15, 1916: sec. 4, 6; “Queen Quality Had Plenty of Quality,” Pawtucket Times, September 18, 1916: 12.

8 “Connolly’s Team Ready,” Boston Herald, June 29, 1917: 7.

9 United States, Department of Veterans Affairs, Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File (accessed from www.ancestry.com).

10 “Woonsocket 7, Groton Iron Works 0,” Providence Bulletin, July 7, 1919: sec. 2, 5.

11 Joe McHenry, “Braves’ Quinn High on Nichols, Montag,” Providence Bulletin, August 24, 1919: 34.

12 Playing for Revere Rubber Company in the Providence Amateur League: “Red Hot Race for Pennant on Tap in Amateur League,” Providence Bulletin, September 12, 1919: sec. 4, 6. Playing for Emmet Athletic Club in the Intercity League: “Fine Card of Games in Intercity League,” Providence Bulletin, July 9, 1920: 7. Playing for Ashland Independents: “Ashland Wins Deciding Game of Series with Plainfield,” Norwich [CT] Bulletin, September 20, 1920: 3.

13 “Roy Rock’s All Stars at Ashland Park Sunday,” Norwich Bulletin, October 14, 1920: 3.

14 “Big Opening-Day Plans for Ware,” Springfield Republican, May 2, 1921: 2.

15 Steve Nichols interview.

16 “Ware is Proud of its Wonders,” Springfield Republican, October 16, 1921: 2B.

17 They were Candy Cummings, Pat McCauley, Nap Shea, Joe Giard, Johnny Grabowski, Pat Shea, and Billy Jo Robidoux, Stephen Robert Katz, Ware’s Boys of Summer: The Stories of Seven Major League Baseball Players from One Small Central Massachusetts Town, Indianapolis, Indiana: Dog Ear Publishing (2017).

18 “Ware Shuts Out Three Rivers 1-0,” Springfield Republican, May 15, 1921: 3B.

19 “Ware is Proud of its Wonders,” and “Ware Winds Up Season in Tie,” Springfield Republican, October 17, 1921: 8.

20 “Pawtucket Tigers to Play South Kingstown Quintet,” Providence Bulletin, December 21, 1920: sec. 3, 6; “Basketball Challenge,” Providence Bulletin, December 2, 1921: sec. 4, 9; “Ware’s Hoop Season Will Open Monday,” Springfield Republican, December 21, 1921: 10; “Ware Wins Over Warren by 20–18,” Springfield Republican, December 27, 1921: 8; “Basketball Stars Clash To-Night on Pawtucket Floor,” Providence Bulletin, January 5, 1922: sec. 3, 7; “Rockland A.C. Five Challenges,” Providence Bulletin, January 20, 1922: sec. 4, 9; “Ware Makes Bow in Inter League,” Springfield Republican, January 27, 1922: 4.

21 “Nichols Twirls No-Hit No-Run Game for Ware,” Springfield Republican, July 10, 1922: 9; “Chet Nichols is Big Hero at Ware,” Springfield Republican, August 6, 1922: 3B; “Ware Fans Backing Nichols to Win,” Norwich Bulletin, August 16, 1922: 3; “Kaceys Hopeful of Victory Over Ware in Second Game Sunday,” Norwich Bulletin, August 19, 1922: 3; “Four Stars of Ware Team, One of the Strongest Semipro Outfits in Western New England,” Springfield Republican, September 3, 1922: 10; “Bowler Signs Chet Nichols,” Springfield Republican, April 4, 1923: 6.

22 The story, which captivated Ware’s citizenry for months, is told in Katz, Ware’s Boys of Summer, 15-17.

23 “Four Stars of Ware Team”; “Ware Decides to End Season,” Springfield Republican, October 14, 1922: 10.

24 “Bowler Signs Chet Nichols”; “Two New Catchers,” Worcester (Massachusetts) Evening Gazette, March 27, 1924: 13.

25 “Chet Nichols, Former Ware Moundsman, Signs with New Haven Club,” Springfield Republican, March 29, 1925: 11.

26 F.J. Collins, “Doughan’s Double Sends New Haven to Defeat,” Springfield Republican, May 3, 1925: sports sec., 1; “Division at New Haven Costs Hampdens Lead,” Springfield Republican, June 8, 1925: 8; “Three in Ninth Win for New Haven over Hillies,” Springfield Republican, June 21, 1925: sports sec., 1.

27 “Nichols Wins Mound Battle over Mayberry,” Springfield Republican, August 4, 1925: 10.

28 “Chet Nichols Blanks Hillies with Only One Safe Knock,” Springfield Republican, September 15, 1925: 12.

29 “New Haven Comes from Behind to Defeat Hillies,” Springfield Republican, September 21, 1925: 8.

30 “Chet Nichols Wins His Seventh Straight Game,” Springfield Republican, June 9, 1926: 18.

31 “Sold to World Champs,” Springfield Republican, June 26, 1926: 14; Victor N. Wall, “Eastern Didn’t Make Much Money, but Had a Lot of Fun,” The Sporting News, January 6, 1927: 7. The latter source puts the price paid for Nichols at “something like $15,000”; a figure of $25,000 was mentioned in “Nichols Claimed by Both Jerseys and Royals,” Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), April 13, 1928: 17. 

32 “More Pitchers for the Buccos,” Mount Carmel (Pennsylvania) Daily News, July 6, 1926: 4. The quoted words are the newspaper’s, apparently paraphrasing Hinchman’s report.

33 “Nichols Has Bad Ankle,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 18, 1926: 4C.

34 “Phillies Punish Pirate Pitchers,” Springfield Republican, August 3, 1926: 15.

35 “Boston Braves and Bucs Split,” New Castle (Pennsylvania) News, August 5, 1926: 16; “New Haven Makes Final Bow Today,” Springfield Republican, August 27, 1926: 20.

36 “Emmet Guards’ Game Postponed a Night,” Worcester Gazette, January 17, 1927: 21; “Caseys Win from Millville, 24–13,” Boston Herald, February 14, 1927: 15.

37 “Pittsburgh Pirates have Fine Outlook,” Worcester Gazette, January 22, 1927: 11.

38 “Pirates Conquer Cards in Tenth as Joe Bush Singles,” Springfield Republican, May 28, 1927: 17.

39 “Chet Nichols Sent Back to New Haven,” Springfield Republican, August 9, 1927: 12.

40 “Hillies Divide Double Header with New Haven,” Springfield Republican, August 15, 1927: 8; Walter Graham, “Fortune Bests Nichols in Fine Mound Tussle,” Springfield Republican, September 15, 1927: 9; “Hillies Close Season with Win Over Profs,” Springfield Republican, September 19, 1927: 8.

41 “Chet Nichols is Nabbed in Draft by John M’Graw,” Springfield Republican, October 5, 1927: 14; “Eastern League Directors will Meet Here Today,” Springfield Republican, February 1, 1928: 18.

42 “Frank Donnelly Now Youngest Magnate in Game with Franchise,” Jersey Journal, January 17, 1928: 13; “Nichols Claimed by Both Jerseys and Royals,” Jersey Journal, April 13, 1928: 17; “Jerseys Purchase Three Waterbury Players,” Jersey Journal, July 16, 1928: 13; “Horne Blows in Eighth to Drop Another,” Jersey Journal, August 29, 1928: 15; “Toole’s Scalp,” Jersey Journal, September 21, 1928: 15; “President of League Non-Committal on Politics Being Played Now to Oust Him,” Jersey Journal, September 22, 1928: 13.

43 John B. Foster, ed., Spalding’s Official Base Ball Guide, New York: American Sports Publishing (1930): 178.

44 “Five Former Eastern Leaguers Conscripted,” Springfield Republican, October 20, 1929: 3B.

45 Walter E. Hapgood, “Only Four of ’29 Box Staff with Montreal,” Daytona Beach (Florida) News-Journal, February 5, 1930: 6; “Training Camp Notes,” Rockford (Illinois) Register-Gazette, March 1, 1930: 12; “Phillies’ Pilot Can’t Locate Chet Nichols,” Springfield Republican, April 5, 1930: 17.

46 “Chet Nichols Brings Down Phillies’ Wrath,” Providence Bulletin, April 9, 1930: 31.

47 “Roush Placed on Ineligible List,” Los Angeles Evening Express,” May 8, 1930: 19; “Landis Reinstates Pitcher Chet Nichols,” Providence Bulletin, May 28, 1930: 37.

48 “From the Training Camps,” Boston Herald, March 6, 1931: 35.

49 “Sport Chatter,” Fitchburg (Massachusetts) Sentinel, August 7, 1930: 8.

50 “Marriage Intentions Filed by ‘Chet’ Nichols,” Worcester Gazette, August 5, 1930: 12. The exact date of the marriage has not been ascertained.

51 Interviews of Debra Abraham and Steve Nichols.

52 “From the Training Camps,” and “Training Camp Briefs,” Denver Post, March 6, 1931: 39; J.D. McGlone, “Braves Return to Wigwam for Three Week Stretch,” Providence Bulletin, May 2, 1931: 10.

53 “Chet Nichols Sold,” Worcester Gazette, August 3, 1931: 16.

54 J.D. McGlone, “Braves Sure to Terminate Disastrous Slump Tomorrow,” Providence Bulletin, September 26, 1931: 11.

55 “Rochester Takes AA Title Series,” Hazleton (Pennsylvania) Standard-Sentinel, October 10, 1931: 13.

56 “Phillies Recall Pitcher Nichols,” Milwaukee Journal, September 15, 1931: sports sec., 2.

57 Frank Dunham, “Jerseys Get Three Pitchers from Phillies,” Jersey Journal, March 30, 1932: 9.

58 “Nichols is Released,” Schenectady (New York) Gazette, June 16, 1932: 18; Frank M. Colley, “Bill Lee to Face Colonels on Saturday,” Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 22, 1932: 20.

59 “Caught on the Fly,” The Sporting News, January 26, 1933: 2; “Roster of Philadelphia Phillies for 1933,” The Sporting News, February 9, 1933: 3.

60 “Training Camp Notes,” The Sporting News, March 9, 1933: 5.

61 “Taunton Wins 3 to 0,” Worcester Gazette, May 26, 1933: 11; “Chiefs to Invade Taunton Tonight,” Worcester Gazette, July 11, 1933: 12.

62 “Pawtucket Fives Clash in Church League Contests,” Providence Bulletin, February 24, 1934: 7; George A. Dodge, “Independent Nines Play Tomorrow,” Providence Bulletin, June 30, 1934: 9; George A. Dodge, “Circling the Bases,” Providence Bulletin, August 6, 1934: 25; “Portuguese Nine Plays Woonsocket on Sunday,” Providence Bulletin, April 30, 1935: 27; “Sunsets to Meet Broadway Nine,” Providence Bulletin, July 20, 1935: 7; “Lorraine Meets Pascoag Nine,” Providence Bulletin, September 3, 1937: 7.

63 “Former Big Leaguers Will Play on July 8,” Worcester Gazette, June 4, 1934: 3; “Gabby Hartnett Umpires Tonight,” Worcester Gazette, August 24, 1939: 12.

64 Pawtucket and Central Falls, Rhode Island, Directory for the Year Commencing August 1, 1937, Boston: R.L. Polk & Co. (1937): 501; World War II Draft Registration Card; Pawtucket and Central Falls Directory for the Year 1960: 581. 

65 Debra Abraham interview; Dick Reynolds, “Chet Nichols Sr. Remembered as Great All Around Athlete,” Providence Journal, July 18, 1982. https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/152E080B70AC7300.

66 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45552205/chester-raymond-nichols.

67 Reynolds, “Chet Nichols Sr. Remembered.”