Nebraska State League
Beatrice Blues 1932
The year 1932 was a great one for Beatrice baseball. A young man from Cisco Texas, Cotton Pippen was a rookie pitcher for the Blues. He started the second game of the season for Beatrice against the Lincoln Links. The night game at Athletic Park in Beatrice was Cotton's night. He struck out 13, scored 3 runs and touched off a perfect squeeze play as Beatrice won 12 to 3.
The paper the next day heralded Cotton as a hero, offering him the keys to the city and declaring him as sure mayor if he desired such a position.
Norfolk won both halves of the split season necessitating a unique playoff format. Beatrice played Lincoln in the first round of the playoffs to determine who would play Norfolk in the finals.
Beatrice won the first playoffs against Lincoln. Cotton Pippen won one of the games for Beatrice as he did not give up an earned run.
The finals were tense as Norfolk and Beatrice were evenly matched. Cotton pitched the third game of the series giving Beatrice a 2-1 margin after three games. Beatrice won 5-3 and Cotton did not give up an earned run. A loss in four put Beatrice at the brink of elimination. Game five saw Cotton in the box for the Blues. He pitched a two hitter. No Norfolk batter got past second base and Beatrice won the game 9-0.
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The front page full length headline in the Beatrice newspaper
proclaimed the news as the Blues planned on pitching Cotton in the seventh
game as well. It was his second game in two nights
and his third in a week. In front of 3,000 Blues fans he pitched Beatrice
to a 4-3 victory. He went 2 for 3 at the plate and did not give up an
earned run.
Cotton Pippen was the ironman of the playoffs and Beatrice was proclaimed the 1932 Nebraska League Champions. Club president Lou Goldstein and secretary P. O. Stachs completed a most successful year both in the standings and in the ledger books. Cotton returned to Beatrice in 1933. He only played in 14 games but won one of the playoff games of 1933. He also hit two homeruns in the victory over Norfolk. Beatrice won the playoffs for the second year in a row. |
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Roster:
First base saw five different players for the Blues during the season. Nelson played the position for 31 games and averaged .280.
Ed Riechlestarted the seson as manager he was replaced by Richard "Sonny" Brookhaus . Sonny played first base and averaged .339. He started the year in Grand Island and moved to Beatrice during the season.
Second base was handled by Jim Calhoun .293 average in over 100 games.
Short stop was handled by Howard Moore. He also played
some at third base and averaged .243 for the year. He returned to Beatrice
for the 1933 season after spending the winter at home in Parsons Kansas.
Also playing third was Clarence Dever. He also played in
the outfield and averaged .311.
Filling in at various infield positions was
Dick Atwell and he averaged .249 for the 49 games he was
in.
Catching for the Blues in 1932 was Charlie Mays . He caught 65 games and averaged .245 for the Blues.
Outfield:
A regular in left for the Blues was John Cross He
led the league with 100 runs scored. The Muskegon Michigan native
returned to Beatrice for the 1933 season.
Right field was handled by George Proost. He averaged
.300 in 107 games. He was a regular in 1933 also returning to his home
in St. Louis during the off season.
In the center field garden was Wilbert "Bill" Swinger. He
averaged
.324 in 105 games and led the league with 16 home runs. Bill, originally
from Chicago, worked during the off season at the local Swift plant.
Pitchers:
Roscoe Marshall pitched in 26 games and had an 8-13 record for the year.
Other pitchers included Gil Kersey and Harry Nance
Ed Reichle started the year as manager of the Blues, but was replaced by Sonny Brookhouse during the season.
Many other players were given try outs with the Blues during the year and played for a few games. Among these were Cotton Pippen's brother Britt Pippen tried out for a first base spot but was released after a short time.
The Blues played at Athletic Park. The field doubled as the schools football stadium. One of the problems with the field was that people did not have to pay admission to sit beyond the outfield fence and watch the game. Many people sat on the top of the Mechanic Arts building to watch the game and others sat on a shed west of the field.