Talk:George Nicol (baseball)/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Secret (talk · contribs) 01:07, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Sorry for the earlier abandoned review. Decent article, especially for a player who only played three seasons. Here's some comments

• "Possessing the rare combination of batting right-handed and throwing left-handed, he served primarily as a right fielder when he did not pitch." Can you give a reason why that is a "rare combination", there's quite a few players who done it over the years.

• According to this source, batting right and throwing left is rather rare. And this ref also explains the rarity. Would you like me to add these refs to the article? —Bloom6132 (talk) 02:20, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• Never mind. Added the second source to the article. —Bloom6132 (talk) 21:49, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

• "after starting in the independent minor league." Well wasn't every minor league at the time "independent", reword.

• Done. Removed "independent." —Bloom6132 (talk) 20:14, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• "...played baseball at a semi-professional club in nearby Mount Sterling. Grammar
  • Note the word at should be for, tense issues. Secret ^account 03:41, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

• Done. —Bloom6132 (talk) 05:06, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

• "There, he rose to fame as a left-handed pitcher.... Rose to fame? Explain further.

• Done. Although I wasn't able to find the reason why he rose to fame, I think it's safe to say in the article that the rarity of southpaws (especially back in the dead-ball era) probably made him more famous. —Bloom6132 (talk) 23:18, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

• "His death was treated as suspicious, as a post-mortem examination found him to have four broken ribs that led to his death." Any further details?

• Unfortunately, that's all that's given in the sources used (and I think I've combed through every possible free source on Google News archives). —Bloom6132 (talk) 02:20, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• The atmosphere he came up to play for the Browns should be explained in more detail, as it was in disarray with the Player's League and the downfall of the American Association and so forth.

• Done. —Bloom6132 (talk) 01:43, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

• "another impressive performance" sports slang, reword

• Done. Replaced "impressive" with "solid". —Bloom6132 (talk) 20:14, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• "with the Davenport Pilgrims, an independent minor league baseball team" - again see above with "independent"

• Done. Removed "independent." —Bloom6132 (talk) 20:14, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• Nicol's tenure with the Pilgrims was successful one, albeit brief. How is that considered "brief" even though he started 23 games with them, brief is more like one or two games, remove.

• Any tenure with a team that lasts less than a season is brief. —Bloom6132 (talk) 21:49, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

• "and received just $300 for their ace" sentence don't make sense, that means Nicol had to pay the Pilgrims $300?

• Reworded. Specified that the $300 paid was from the Colts; it's the baseball equivalent of a transfer fee. —Bloom6132 (talk) 20:14, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• 5 or five, make sure how you state it per WP:MOS

• Done. Made it "5" all across the board for consistency. —Bloom6132 (talk) 01:08, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

• "Hugh Nicol (who was not related to him) to call him "the best in the League." His manager calling his player "the best" is common and not really relevant unless it was opposing managers, top players in the league, and so forth. Remove

• Done. —Bloom6132 (talk) 02:27, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• "The league, however, was struggling financially" The league or the team, I don't see how the league struggling would lead to his release.

• The league, as stated in the SABR source. I might be wrong, but I think the league was responsible for distributing profits made to all the teams. They can't afford to pay his salary if they are struggling financially. It's kinda like being made redundant by a bankrupt organization. —Bloom6132 (talk) 02:27, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• "At the start of 1893, Nicol signed for the Los Angeles Angels of the California League." - Grammar

• Done. Replaced "for" → "with". —Bloom6132 (talk) 02:27, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

• "while his control and strikeout ability diminished, evident with his 39 walks issued against a mere 13 strikeouts" Didn't he had control issues by then? Reword

• Done. Reworded as "continued to diminish." —Bloom6132 (talk) 00:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

• "However, he was instantly outrighted to the Detroit Tigers" is it the same Detroit Tigers of the future American League or a different team?

• Same, as demonstrated by the wikilink. —Bloom6132 (talk) 02:27, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Sources look fine, no close paraphrasing concerns, can you find any picture of Nicol, they 99% in Public Domain being published before 1923.

The only available pic of Nicol is from Baseball Reference. It's a rather low-quality image, coupled with the fact that it is 90 × 135. Therefore, I think it's better just to leave the image out. —Bloom6132 (talk) 00:18, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

 On hold for now Secret ^account 01:07, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, but my internet hasn't been working all day, and I'll be leaving for a weekend-long trip where I will not be able to get any internet access. Could you please extend the week-long deadline to respond to all GAR comments? Thank you for your understanding. —Bloom6132 (talk) 23:30, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

Everything now appears addressed. I'll take a quick read through myself and wrap up the review if Secret wants, since he seems busy currently. (Noticed the computer issues on his talk, so if they're resolved now then disregard this) Wizardman 19:04, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

• Sorry for the huge delay dam admin tools. I took a quick read though it, everything is addressed considering the difficulty in finding sources for this article. I may try to find a picture for Nicol later on using some of my sources, but much later on. Secret ^account 03:25, 26 March 2013 (UTC)