Jim Hickman

Note: This page links to All-Star outfielder Jim Hickman. For the former major league outfielder who played from 1915 to 1919, click here.

James Lucius Hickman
(Gentleman Jim)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 205 lb.
• School University of Memphis, University of Mississippi
• High School Ripley High School
• Debut April 14, 1962
• Final Game July 14, 1974
• Born May 10, 1937 in Henning, TN USA
• Died June 25, 2016 in Jackson, TN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

" 'Hick' was a good player . . . he had some tremendous years. . . He ran real good for a big guy. He was one of those unique guys, a right-handed hitter, a good fastball, low-ball hitter. … He didn’t hardly miss the fastball." - comments by Hall of Famer Billy Williams about Jim Hickman [1]

Jim Hickman overcame the misfortune of being selected from the St. Louis Cardinals in the expansion draft to play as a rookie for the New York Mets in their inaugural season when they lost 120 games in 1962.

After five years of horrid Mets teams, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for one season, 1967, and then spent most of the rest of his career with the Chicago Cubs. He was part of the famous 1969 Cubs team that supposedly "choked". He had 21 home runs with the Cubs that year, and the following year, in 1970, he had a career year as he hit 32 home runs with 115 RBI, 93 walks and a .315 batting average. He was eighth in the MVP voting and made the All-Star team. He won the Comeback Player of the Year award that year as he hat hit .237 in 1969 with a .326 OBP, twenty points below league average. The famous collision at home plate between Pete Rose and Ray Fosse at the 1970 All-Star Game when Jim hit a game-winning single in the bottom of the 12th inning to drive in Rose.

He appeared in 1421 games in his major league career. He played many games at all the outfield positions as well as first base and a bit of third. Not normally thought of as a speedy player, Hickman played 365 major league games in center field, nearly as many as in right and many more than in left. He also pitched the final two innings of a game for the Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants, entering when the Dodgers trailed only 6-1 and allowing just one earned run in two innings.

One of the ten most similar players is an interesting comparison: Vince DiMaggio, although Hickman never had the speed or baserunning skills of DiMaggio.

In 1999, Hickman was a coach for the Clinton Lumber Kings.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (1970)
• 1970 NL Comeback Player of the Year Award
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1969 & 1970)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1970)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1970)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1970)

Related Sites

• Jim Hickman at the SABR Bio Project