Reid Nichols

He recorded a 30-game hitting streak, one short of the league record set in 1948.

Playing 134 games, he ranked among the Carolina League leaders with a .293 batting average (fifth), 25 doubles (tied with Michael Barnes and Jeffrey Gossett for third behind Greg Walker's 27 and Michael Barnes's 26), and 12 home runs (tied with Craig Brooks for fourth, behind Gary Pellant's 18 and Gossett's and Mike Fitzgerald's 13).

He stole 66 bases, second only to Bob Dernier's 77.

Nichols led the league with 107 runs scored and 156 hits.

He finished second to Dernier in Carolina League Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting.

Thomas Reid Nichols (born August 5, 1958) is an American former outfielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Thomas Reid Nichols was born on August 5, 1958, in Ocala, Florida, to Leon and Judy Nichols.

Leon supported the family by servicing outboard motors.

Reid did not watch professional baseball growing up, but at the age of 11, he tried out and made a local Little League Baseball team which played at Grant Field, later the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Nichols made the league's All-Star team.

At Forest High School, he starred on the school's baseball team and was teammates with Scot Brantley, who would later reach the National Football League (NFL) as a linebacker.

Nichols's coach, Mike McGrath, arranged for Nichols and Brantley to try out for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

McGrath also informed George Digby, a scout for the Boston Red Sox, that Nichols was an exciting prospect.

The Red Sox selected him in the 12th round (286th overall) of the 1976 MLB draft, and he debuted with them in 1980.

Under Digby's recommendation, the Red Sox selected Nichols in the 12th round (286th overall) of the 1976 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft.

Though he had committed to play college baseball for the Auburn Tigers, he decided to take the opportunity to play professionally.

Since he was only 17, his father signed his Red Sox contract for him.

Nichols began his professional career in 1976 with the Elmira Pioneers of the New York–Penn League, which despite being a rookie-level team boasted several future major leaguers.

In 23 games (53 at bats), he batted .340 with eight runs scored, 18 hits, no home runs, nine runs batted in (RBI), and two stolen bases.

With a 50–20 record, Elmira won the league pennant.

In 1977 and 1978, Nichols played for the Single-A Winter Haven Red Sox of the Florida State League.

He batted .264 with 41 runs scored, 102 hits, two home runs, 34 RBI, and 13 stolen bases in 116 games (387 at bats) the first year.

In 1978, he batted .247 with 52 runs scored, 102 hits, five home runs, 34 RBI, and 15 stolen bases.

Nichols considered Winter Haven a difficult experience: many of his competitors had played college baseball, while he was only 18 years old.

With the Single-A Winston-Salem Red Sox of the Carolina League in 1979, Nichols had his finest season yet.

He played for the Boston Red Sox (1980–1985), Chicago White Sox (1985–1986), and Montreal Expos (1987).

Listed at 6 ft and 195 lb, he batted and threw right-handed.

After his playing career ended, he served as a coach and minor league coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, and Milwaukee Brewers.

Though he did not watch professional baseball growing up, Nichols started playing Little League Baseball at age 11 and drew interest from the Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers when he graduated high school.

Because of his strong performance with Winston-Salem, Nichols was invited to spring training with Boston in 1980.

He batted .400 in the preseason but was assigned to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League, where he would spend most of the season.

It was not always an easy year.

"I was batting .188 and I wasn’t having any fun,” he recalled. “I went out and bought some cowboy boots and cowboy hat and I showed up to the stadium wearing it and decided it was time to have fun playing baseball again, and after that I improved."

In 134 games for Pawtucket, he batted .276 with four home runs and 42 RBI.

Though never an everyday starter, he batted a career-high .302 in 1982 and played a career-high 100 games in 1983.

In 1985, he was traded to the White Sox, remaining with them through the 1986 season.

Nichols played for the Expos in 1987, spent part of 1988 in the Texas Rangers organization, and joined the Chicago Cubs for 1989 spring training before retiring.

After a brief stint captaining fishing tours, Nichols became a coach for the Orioles, working alongside Doug Melvin in Baltimore.

When Melvin became the general manager of the Rangers and later the Brewers, he brought Nichols with him to those organizations.

Nichols instituted a program to teach Ranger prospects financial literacy and etiquette, and with the Brewers, he helped the team develop such prospects as Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Rickie Weeks.