According to Bill James and Rob Neyer, Nolan threw an unusually fast (for his day) underhand fastball and a combination of curveballs.

[1] Nolan started his professional baseball career with the Indianapolis Blues of the League Alliance in 1877.

[7] Nolan and his teammates John Clapp and Jim McCormick missed the team's September 20 game in Worcester, Massachusetts, because their return from a side trip to New York City was delayed by a train wreck; they were each fined $100.

(The other nine were Lew Brown‚ Ed Caskin, Bill Crowley‚ Buttercup Dickerson‚ Mike Dorgan‚ John Fox‚ Emil Gross‚ Sadie Houck‚ and Lip Pike.

He played professionally for the next several years, including stints with the Wilmington Quicksteps and Philadelphia Quakers, until his baseball career ended in 1886.