Highlighted Year: Charlie Hickman, 1902

First Baseman/Outfielder, Boston Americans/Cleveland Blues

 Age:  26

1^st season in American League

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’9”    Weight: 180 

Prior to 1902:

Born in Pennsylvania and raised near Morgantown, West Virgina, Hickman learned baseball from his carpenter father. Educated in nearby public schools, he went on to West Virginia University where he played baseball in addition to studying law. Originally a catcher in college, he began pitching as well. In 1896 he joined the New Castle Salamanders of the Class C Interstate League where he pitched and played in the outfield. In 1897 he was a full-time pitcher for New Castle and was signed by the NL’s Boston Beaneaters (now Atlanta Braves) in July. Little used in Boston, he played in the Eastern League and occasionally with Boston in 1898 and 1899 until his arm gave out, essentially ending his pitching career. In 1900 Hickman was purchased by the New York Giants who installed him at third base, where he proved to be a defensive liability, committing 86 errors in 120 games. His bat was productive as he hit .313 with 19 doubles, 17 triples, 9 home runs, 91 RBIs, a .359 on-base percentage, and a .482 slugging percentage. Along the way he put together a 27-game hitting streak. He was tried at multiple positions in 1901, seeing most of his action in the outfield, and batted .278 with 20 doubles, 6 triples, 4 home runs, 62 RBIs, a .315 OBP, and a .387 slugging percentage. Hickman also made nine pitching starts and produced a 6-0 record with a 4.48 ERA for the seventh-place Giants. He jumped to the American League’s Boston Americans in 1902 where he played in left field until sold to Cleveland in early June. The Blues installed him at first base, where his defense remained deficient, although his bat proved formidable.

1902 Season Summary

Appeared in 130 games (Boston – 28 / Cleveland – 102)

1B – 98, LF – 27, 2B – 3, P – 1, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 564 (BOS – 115/ CLEV – 449)

At Bats – 534 [10] (BOS – 108/ CLEV – 426)

Runs – 74 (BOS – 13/ CLEV – 61)

Hits – 193 [1] (BOS – 32/ CLEV – 161)

Doubles – 36 [6] (BOS – 5/ CLEV – 31)

Triples – 13 [5] (BOS – 2/ CLEV – 11)

Home Runs – 11 [2, tied with Buck Freeman & Bill Bradley] (BOS – 3/ CLEV – 8)

RBI – 110 [2] (BOS – 16/ CLEV – 94)

Bases on Balls – 15 (BOS – 3/ CLEV – 12)

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 15 (BOS – 6/ CLEV – 9)

Stolen Bases – 9 (BOS – 1/ CLEV – 8)

Caught Stealing – N/A

Average - .361 [3] (BOS – .296/ CLEV – .378)

OBP - .387 [9, tied with Sammy Strang] (BOS – .339/ CLEV – .399)

Slugging Pct. - .539 [3] (BOS – .463/ CLEV – .559)

Total Bases – 288 [1] (BOS – 50/ CLEV – 238)

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 7 [8, tied with four others] (BOS – 4/ CLEV – 3)

Sac Hits – 8 (CLEV)

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading hits were +2 ahead of runner-up Lave Cross

League-leading total bases were +5 ahead of runners-up Bill Bradley & Buck Freeman

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 21, 3B – 6, HR - 5, RBI - 56, AVG - .328, OBP – .370, SLG – .516

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Most hits, game – 5 (in 5 AB) vs. Bos. Americans 6/6

Longest hitting streak – 25 games

HR at home – 6

HR on road – 5

Most home runs, game – 1 on eleven occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 6 vs. Washington 6/21

Pinch-hitting – N/A

Pitching

G – 1, GS – 1, CG – 1, Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 8, H – 11, R – 8, ER – 7, HR – 0, BB – 5, SO – 1, ERA – 7.88, HB – 1, BLK – 0, WP – 0 

Fielding (1B)

Chances – 1166

Put Outs – 1079

Assists – 47

Errors – 40

DP – 63

Pct. - .966

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The Americans (aka Pilgrims) went 77-60 to finish third in the AL, 6.5 games behind the pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics while leading the league in fewest walks drawn (275). The Americans, led by the pitching of Cy Young and Bill Dinneen, and the hitting of outfielders BuckFreeman and Patsy Dougherty plus player/manager Jimmy Collins, rose into contention during a 16-10 May, sharing first place from May 28-30. Staying among the leaders through June, a 6-game July losing streak put them 6.5 games back but was immediately followed by an 8-game winning streak which moved them back into a close second place. Holding steady through August, the club fell behind the surging Athletics, as well as the St. Louis Browns, in September.

The Blues went 69-67 to finish fifth in the AL, 14 games behind the pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics, while leading the league in hits (1401), batting (.289), and total bases (1884). The Blues got off to a slow start and were in the AL cellar by the end of May at 11-23. Boosted by the in-season arrivals of Hickman and second baseman Nap Lajoie, the well-balanced club turned things around and went 58-44 the rest of the way to move up to fifth.

Aftermath of 1902:

The genial and popular player known as “Cheerful Charlie”, as well as “Piano Legs”, hit with formidable strength as he batted .295 in 1903 with 31 doubles, 11 triples, 12 home runs, 97 RBIs, a .325 OBP, and a .466 slugging percentage. He committed another 40 errors at first base as his defense continued to be problematic. Tried at second base in 1904, Hickman continued to face criticism for his defensive lapses from manager Bill Armour, until he was traded to Detroit in August, much to the disappointment of the Cleveland fans. For the year he hit .274 with 28 doubles, 16 triples, 6 home runs, 67 RBIs, a .312 OBP, and a .437 slugging percentage. Hitting poorly for the Tigers in 1905, Hickman was dealt to the Washington Senators in July, who moved him back to second base (he had been shifted to right field by the Tigers). Hitting only .212 with Detroit, his bat came alive in Washington, and for the season, he batted .277 with 37 doubles, 12 triples, 4 home runs, 66 RBIs, a .311 OBP, and a .405 slugging percentage. Defense remained a problem, particularly in one late-September game in which Hickman committed five errors at second base. On a more pleasant personal note, in Washington he also renewed a friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt that began during an exhibition trip to Cuba in 1898 to support the troops during the Spanish-American War. Also, while in Washington, he operated a sporting goods store and took classes at George Washington University. In 1906 he was placed in Washington’s right field and hit .284 with 25 doubles, 5 triples, 9 home runs, 57 RBIs, a .311 OBP, and a .421 slugging percentage. Bothered by a knee injury in 1907, Hickman was sold to the Chicago White Sox on August 1 where he was utilized primarily as a pinch-hitter. For the year he batted .276 in 81 games with a .342 OBP. Returning to Cleveland by trade in the offseason, he hit .234 in 1908 with nine extra-base hits and a .271 OBP until he was dealt to the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association in early August. In 47 games with Toledo, Hickman batted .409. He stayed on with Toledo until 1911, continuing to hit well, but was let go because, at age 35, he could cover minimal ground defensively. He finished the 1911 season with Milwaukee, also of the American Association, thus ending his playing career. For his major league career, Hickman batted .295 with 1176 hits that included 217 doubles, 91 triples, and 59 home runs. He scored 478 runs and compiled 614 RBIs, 72 stolen bases, a .331 OBP, and a .440 slugging percentage. With Cleveland he batted .309 with 458 hits, 175 runs scored, 90 doubles, 33 triples, 26 home runs, 252 RBIs, 33 stolen bases, a .337 OBP, and a .467 slugging percentage. A good hitter and poor fielder, Hickman had difficulty establishing himself for long with any club and would likely have benefited if the Designated Hitter rule existed during his career. Following his baseball playing career, Hickman returned to Morgantown, West Virginia where he scouted for Cleveland and coached baseball at West Virginia University. He later became mayor of Morgantown and sheriff of Monongalia County. Encountering a decline in his health he died in 1934 at age 58. 

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.