Charlie Hickman

Charles Taylor Hickman (March 4, 1876 – April 19, 1934) was an American professional baseball player and college baseball coach. He played all or part of 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a utility player for seven different franchises, including over 200 games each with the Cleveland Bronchos / Naps, Washington Senators, and New York Giants. After his professional career, he coached the West Virginia Mountaineers for four seasons.

Playing career Hickman was born in Taylortown, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh, and played one season of college baseball at West Virginia University in 1897. He began his professional career in the Interstate League, a minor league, in 1896–1897.

Boston Beaneaters Hickman's first major-league experience came with the Boston Beaneaters in 1897, when he appeared in two games as a pitcher. He made 19 additional appearances with Boston in both 1898 and 1899, mainly as a pitcher along with games as a first baseman and outfielder. In 40 total games with the Beaneaters, Hickman compiled a .339 batting average along with a 7–2 win–loss record as a pitcher.

New York Giants Hickman next played for the New York Giants, who purchased his contract in March 1900, appearing in 127 games in 1900 and 112 games in 1901. As a pitcher he went 3–5 in nine starts during 1901, after not pitching the prior season. He batted .297 in 239 total games with the Giants. Defensively, he was the team's primary third baseman in 1900, while in 1901 he made appearances at all positions except for catcher.

Career totals

Hickman played in 1,081 major-league games across 12 seasons and had a .295 average with 59 home runs and 614 runs batted in (RBIs). Gochnaur set the record as a shortstop for the 1903 Naps, when Hickman was the team's primary first baseman.

Hickman served as an umpire for one major-league game, occurring on April 29, 1907. With no regular umpires present, Hickman (with the Washington Senators) umpired at home and Chief Bender (of the Philadelphia Athletics) umpired at first base.

Coaching career Hickman coached the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team for four seasons, in 1913 and 1915–1917. His career record was 58–23–1.

Yearly record

Later life Hickman worked as a scout for the Cleveland baseball franchise for over a decade. He was a fan of movies, highlighted by a 1915 newspaper article during the silent film era; Marguerite Clark was his favorite actress. Hickman returned to Cleveland for an old-timers' game played on July 29, 1921, along with other former Cleveland players such as Neal Ball, Nap Lajoie, Cy Young, and Chief Zimmer.

Hickman died in Morgantown in 1934, apparently from a heart attack. His widow, Pearl née Taylor, died in 1965.

In 2017, Hickman was inducted to the Sports Hall of Fame at West Virginia University, which noted that he "remains the most prominent player with WVU ties to have played in the major leagues."