The buzz in Hastings in early 1923 was concerning the hiring of a new manager for the Cubs. A number of candidates were rumored to be in the running. The Hastings Daily Tribune ran numerous stories on various alternative candidates.
Leonard Bennett was announced as the new manager of the Cubs to the delight of the fans. Larry had a long and storied career in baseball in Nebraska. Bennett played for Ottumwa Iowa in 1904 and 1905 and Hartford Connecticut in 1906 and 1907. He came to McCook in 1908 and was in Lincoln in 1909. According to the Hastings paper he managed in Quincy in the III league in 1910 but the Fremont paper and Spalding Guide indicate that he was in Fremont in the first NSL from 1910-1913. He managed Hastings in 1913 until the league folded in 1915. He then reportedly went to Wichita for the remainder of the 1915 season.
The club was able to secure an opening game and a coveted July 4th game but the schedule put them on the road for the Labor Day contests. The league dropped the split season experiment of 1922.
Games were played at "Westside Park". Hastings allowed the ladies free admission but charged them 20 cents for a seat in the grandstand. Men were charged 35 cents for admission to the bleachers and an additional 20 cents to get into the grandstand.
Opening day had the traditional parade from the Clarke Hotel, down 2nd Street to the ball park. Led by high school band and an auto parade the crowd of over 2,500 packed the park for the first game. Mayor Ingraham threw out the first pitch.
Roster:
Adolph "Tommy" Tomes was a regular in the garden for
Hastings in both 1922 and 1923. He played in 131 games and had a .307
average. He started with Hastings in 1924 and moved to Salina after the
Tri-State league failed.
Shaw played in 108 games in 1923. He played for Grand Island, Fairbury, Beatrice and Hastings in the NSL. He averaged .303.
Hogan 105 games .299
Gus Noack played in 104 games and averaged .272. He returned to Hastings in 1924 and played for Salina in 1926 and Corpus Christi in 1927.
Chester Epley was a 20 year old from Ft. Smith Arkansas. The infielder played in 118 games and averaged .270 for the season. He moved up to class "C" ball with Fort Smith in 1924 and played through the 1927 season.
Al Cassell played for both Hastings and Lincoln. He played in 81 games and averaged .269.
Bill Willett played catcher for the Cubs in 1923. The 22 year old Nebraska boy played in 80 games and averaged .242. He also had an 806 record as a pitcher.
Eugene Kunz played in 68 games and averaged .236.
Leslie Beck was a Chicago native who played in 40 games and averaged .227. He also had a 10-14 record as a pitcher.
Harry Cheek was 44 years old and the Kansas City born catcher was in his last year of organized ball. He started in 1902 with Nevada in the Missouri Valley League and had a cup of coffee in 1910 with Philadelphia (NL). He played in Albany, Sacramento, Vancouver and Webb City.
Frank Echtermeyer played in 92 games and averaged .203.
Pitchers:
Louie Koupal was a starboard side pitcher from Tabor
South Dakota. The 22 year old pitched in 30 games and had a 12-13 record.
He had 132 k's for the year. His contract was picked up by Barney Burch
and played in Omaha in 1924. He was sold by Burch to Pittsburg. He made
his debut in April and played in the majors for six years for four
different teams.
Bud Tinning was a 17 year old from Pilger Nebraska. He had a 1-2 record in 4 games. In 1925 he was picked up by Omaha in the Western League and pitched in Omaha for four years. He made it to the show in 1932 playing for the Cubs. He was with the Cubs in 1932-1934 and St. Louis in 1935. He played in organized ball through the 1939 season.
Clyde Kettenbell was 13-7 in 25 games. The 23 year old port side flinger played for Sioux City, Waterloo and Peoria in 1924.
William Wright played in 22 games and had a 14-8 record. He played for Kearney from 1912-1914.
Watles Naegeli , was a 23 year old from Minneapolis who played in the Iron Range League in 1922. He pitched in 25 games in 1923 and had a 12-12 record pitching for both Hastings and Grand Island during the year.
Treon was in 13 games and had a 6-6 record.
Harry Smith was in 11 games and had a 5-6 record.
Hein had a 1-5 record in 7 appearances.
Swick was 0-1.