The Kearney franchise in 1914 started in last place and stayed there for the entire season. With only 38 wins against more than 70 losses they were mired in last place for the entire year.
They were sixth in batting and last in fielding. The recipe for disaster was complete with an ineffective pitching staff. Forty two year old Harry Berte was their manager. He played in Kearney for three years after playing professional ball since 1901.
Roster:
Milt Drumm played 100 games at first. He led the team with a .330 average. He started his professional career in the MINK league in 1912, played in Waterloo in 1913 and Kearney in 1914.
Second base was handled by Ben Acock. He swung a light bat and managed a .217 average.
Shortstop was managed by Frank Woodruff. He was last in his class in fielding and averaged .231. His professional career started in Kearney in 1913 and 1914 was his last year in professional ball.
Harry Berte was manager for the Kapitalists. The Kentucky native had a cup of coffee with the Cardinals in 1903. He played in 45 games and Lowe played in 25 games in the infield.
The Kearney catcher for 1914 was A. Erixson with Frank Butler as his backup. Erixson averaged .181 in 99 games and Butler averaged .272 in 37 games.
Outfield:
Ramsey was a fixture in the garden and averaged .240.
Hugo Scheuron had a great year in 1913 averaging .373 in 111 games. He did not have as good a year in 1914 averaging .247 while in Kearney and .200 in Oshkosh in 1914.
Grover Matney averaged .275 and played more than 100 games in the outfield.
Dutch Wetzel was a 20 year old fielder from Columbus Indiana. He averaged .286 in 13 games. He played for the Browns in 1920 and 1921, wound up in Omaha in 1923 and 1928 and managed the Omaha team in 1934.
Hugo Scheuren averaged .247 in 88 games.
Pitchers:
Gus Bono was 6-3 in 12 games. The 19 year old from Doe Run Missouri played for Dallas in 1915 and had a cup of coffee with Washington in 1920.
Denton was 3-2
Starkey was 5-6
Roy Plympton was 9-14 in 31 games.
William Wright was 10-21. He played in Kearney from 1912-1914. When the NSL restarted he played for Hastings in 1923 and 1924.
Kingdon was 4-9
Adams was 2-5
Rolla "Lefty" Mapel was 2-5. He played for Kearney in 1911, 1913 and 1914. The Lee Summit Missouri native had a cup of coffee with the Browns in 1919.
Fink was 1-4
Rhoades was 0-2, Keiser was 0-2, McVay was 0-2 and Roberts was 0-3.