Kid Nance

American baseball player (1876–1958)

William Gideon Nance (August 2, 1876 – May 28, 1958) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played with the Louisville Colonels of the National League from 1897 to 1898, and then for the Detroit Tigers of the American League in 1901. He was nicknamed "Kid" or "Doc".

Born as William G. Cooper in Fort Worth, Texas, Nance began his professional baseball career at the age of 18 when he played for two different clubs in the Class B minor league baseball Texas Southern League during the 1895 season. Nance opened 1895 with the Fort Worth Panthers but he left the team shortly thereafter to join the Sherman Orphans, which began playing this season. In 1896, the Texas Southern League became the Class C Texas Association and Nance rejoined the Panthers. Nevertheless, by August the team folded and he ended the season with the Galveston Sandcrabs. As a result, he has the distinction of being the first person from Fort Worth to play in the major leagues. For the remainder of 1905 and the entire 1906 season, he joined the Toledo Mud Hens, also of the American Association. In 1907, he split his playing time between the Trenton Tigers of the Tri State League before joining the Sioux City Packers of the new Western League. The move did not improve the team's place in the standings, finishing the season in fifth place, and Nance had moved on to play with the Austin Senators and Waco Navigators of the Texas League, and the Oklahoma City Boosters of the Western Association. It was noted that he was a local fan favorite due to his hard work and aggressiveness. In 1925, Nance worked as general manager of the Smokers and, when he was introduced to future Hall of Fame catcher, Al López, he gave him a tryout. After watching the 17 year old catcher play, Nance signed López a contract worth $150 a month in salary. On the inside, López was excited with the deal, according to a newspaper article.

Nance died on May 28, 1958, at the age of 81 in a rest home in Fort Worth. He was interred at Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park.