This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/25/2015.
Charles “Kid” Nichols played 17 seasons in the Majors for the Boston Beaneaters (1890–1901), the St. Louis Cardinals (player/manager 1904–1905) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1905–1906). His 361 wins rank 7th on the all-time list and he was the youngest pitcher to join the 300-Win Club. In his rookie season, Nichols recorded a 27–19 win-loss record, a 2.23 ERA and 222 strikeouts, beginning a string of ten consecutive seasons with 20 wins or more. Nichols also had a major league record seven 30-win seasons in this time (1891–1894, 1896–1898) with a career high of 35 in 1892. Amazingly, in his 17 seasons, Nichols had never been replaced in a game by a relief pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949. This exceedingly rare “Spalding” manufactured “ASSOCIATION BALL” baseball has been signed by Charles “Kid” Nichols on the sweet spot. The baseball dates to the early 1890s during Nichols’ playing days with the Boston Beaneaters. The “Spalding” stamp is the one of the earliest examples of the original hand-drawn design. The signature is done in black fountain ink and in our opinion, rates a near 7. The ball, which is over 115 years old, is in EX condition with tight up-and-down stitching and a grouping a three small holes in one of the panels which does not affect displayability. This is the earliest known example of a Nichols signed baseball. Accompanied by a Full LOA from JSA as well as provenance from the extended Nichols family as well as newspaper clippings from the family scrapbook.