In 1937 the Beatrice Blues continued their working agreement with Brooklyn in the National League. The league was one of two very good teams (Mitchell and Sioux Falls) and four others. Beatrice was the best of the others.
Lee Riley took over as manager of the Blues for 1937. He stayed with the Blues for the 1938 season. Born in Princeton Nebraska, Lee played in the minors for the better part of 22 years. He had a four game major league experience with Philadelphia in 1945. Lee led the NSL in hitting for both the 1937 and 1938 seasons. He is the father of Pat Riley, former NBA player and well known coach. The team wound up in third place 27 games behind Sioux Falls.
Roster:
Lee Riley held down first base for the 1937 season. He led the league in batting average with a .372 average.
In the dirt at second base was Darrell Ginslinger. He was the best fielder at second for those who played in over 100 games and averaged .246 wiht the wagon tongue.
The hot corner saw Harold Freeman. He averaged .280 as a stalwart on the team..
Short stop in 1937 was split with Fred Coffee holding down the fort for 56 games and averaging .266. Ted Haas who was generally a pitcher played the spot for 36 games.
Herbert Hedley played 76 games in left field and averaged .233.
The center garden was tended by Pid Purdy in 1937 for 50 games. He started for Beatrice in early July and averaged .363 for the Blues.
Bud Long played 81 games in the outfield, 114 games overall and averaged .294.
Mike Pociasck returned to the Beatrice garden for 44 games and averaged .340.
Behind the mask was Douglas Hyatt. He averaged .216.
Twenty one year old George Staller averaged .354 in 36 games. The Pennsylvania born slugger had a 21 game major league career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943. He played in the minors through the 1958 season.
Pitchers:
Wesley Wehrli had a 13-13 record in 31 games.
Harold Wells was 6-4 in 21 appearances.
DeMartini pitched in 11 games and was 3-5.
Ted Haas played in the infield when he wasn't pitching. He pitched in 22 games and had a 4-5 record. He averaged .312 with the bat.
Carol Martin was 4-5 in 15 games.
Glen Moulder started his professional career in Beatrice in 1937. The 19 year old from Cleveland Oklahoma had a 1-0 record for Beatrice. He was 11-10 with Beatrice in 1938. He made it to the show in 1946 and played in 1 game for Brooklyn. He had a cup of coffee with the Browns in 1947 and with the White Sox in 1948. He finished with Charleston in 1952.
Bernard Deforge was 8-10 in 28 appearances.