• Card series: Beginnings: 1880's
• City: Boston
• Team: Beaneaters
• League: National League

William Mitchell Nash (1865-1929) made one invaluable contribution to baseball: he scouted & recruited Napoleon Lajoie, bringing him to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1896. By that time, Nash had mostly played out his ML career as a steady-hitting 3rd baseman for the Boston Beaneaters. He compiled a respectable .275 lifetime average and, in 1895, was declared by Sporting Life magazine “the best fielding third baseman in the League.” Traded for future Hall of Famer Billy Hamilton to the Phillies, Nash was player-manager when he found Lajoie who was pounding the ball for the Fall River Indians in the New England League.

• Nash broke into the majors with his hometown Richmond Virginians of the old AA in 1884 before finding a home wih the NL Beaneaters
• Best year was 1887: .295 AVG with 84 RBI
• Bill James ranks Nash 49th amongst third basemen all-time
• Sporting Life touted his $7500 compensation in ’91 as money well-spent