|
|
Harry "Bob" Powers Image courtesy Dan Bretta |
|
Western League
Standings 1916 President: Frank Zehrung |
|||
| Standings | Wins----- | Losses--- | GB |
| Omaha Rourkes | 92 | 57 | -- |
| Lincoln Tigers | 87 | 63 | 5 ½ |
| Sioux City Indians | 79 | 71 | 13 ½ |
| Denver Bears | 78 | 75 | 16 |
| Des Moines Boosters | 75 | 75 | 17 ½ |
| Topeka Savages | 70 | 84 | 24 ½ |
| St. Joseph Drummers | 67 | 86 | 27 |
| Wichita Wolves/Colorado Springs Millionaires | 57 | 94 | 36 |
| RunsWalter Carlisle, Lincoln, 121 | |||
| Wins:Carl East, Lincoln, 24 | |||
| ERA:Otto Merz, Omaha, 2.45 | |||
 |
The league owners finally removed Norris O'Neill as president and Frank Zehrung, former Lincoln
mayor replaced him. O'Neill lived in Chicago and he was an absentee landlord during his
time as president. Wichita moved to Colorado Springs in September.
George Stone, a banker from Coleridge Nebraska, became majority owner of the Lincoln team in 1916. George was born in Lost Nation Iowa and played for Pa Rourke's Omaha team in 1902. He played for the St. Louis Browns from 1905-1910 and led the American League in batting average in 1906 with a .358 average. |
The year was a bitter one for Lincoln fans. They were happy with the winning record, second place finish and good attendance, but very unhappy with the fact that they finished second to the hated team from Omaha. They spent the month of May in first place. In June they slipped to second behind Omaha and stayed in second for the rest of the season.
Omaha played in the minor league championship but lost to Louisville 4 games to 1.
Roster:
Newt Hunter played 76 games at first for Lincoln in
1916. The 36 year old from Chillicothe Ohio played for Pittsburg in 1911.
He averaged .333.
Ralph Lattimore played in 129 games and averaged .248. He also played for Topeka during the season.
Harry Williams played 62 games at first for Lincoln in 1916. He was originally from Omaha. He played in Lincoln in 1914, 1915 and 1916. He played for the Yankees in 1913 and 1914.
Tony Smith (spelled Skith in some accounts) was at short for 80 games and averaged .274 while Thomas Stevenson held down the position for 31 games. Tony had three trips to the bigs, a short stay in 1907 with Washington, a longer stay with Brooklyn in 1910 and another 13 game stint with Brooklyn in 1911.
Irl Morse played in 133 games at the hot corner and averaged .271.
Catching duties for Lincoln in 1916 was handled by John Rohrer for 89 games and he averaged .222. The Hastings Nebraska native started with Cedar Rapids in 1909. He was in the Pacific Coast League from 1912-1915 and played in the Western League from 1916-1918. He then went back to the PCL for the 1919 and 1920 seasons.
Elmer Johnson averaged .338 in 103 total games. He played for Omaha in 1912 and and 1913. He had a cup of coffee with the New York Giants in 1914.
Outfield:
Thompson was in the garden for over 140 games in 1916 and averaged .284.
Walter Carlisle played 150 games in the outfield in 1916. He averaged .303 for the year. The switch hitter played three games for the Red Sox in 1908.
Harry Hinchman played for Lincoln and Sioux City during the season. He averaged .296 in 87 games.
Holmes averaged .263 in 15 games.
Ty Lober was in the garden for 149 games and averaged .313.
Pitchers:
Carl East was 24-14 for the year, leading the Western League in wins for 1916. He pitched in one game for the Browns in 1915 and played in 2 games as an outfielder for Washington in 1924.
John Halla was 23-13. The lefty from St. Louis had a brief stint with the Cleveland Naps in 1905.
Willet was 3-2
Harry Gardner was 17-14. The tall right hander pitched for Pittsburg for few games in 1911 and 1912.
Harry "Bob" Powers was 0-1 in 1916.
Howie Gregory was 14-13 and averaged .328 as a hitter. He was from Hannibal Missouri and played in 3 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1911. He played in the Pacific Coast league for parts of seven years and in the Western League for ten years, most of them at Wichita.
Harry Smith was back in Lincoln after starting his career in Fremont in 1910. He was 4-4 for the year.
Willet was 3-2 for the year. Yearl ws 1-0