Images Courtesy of: Dan Bretta

1961 was the last year for Lincoln in Minor League Baseball until the end of the century. The III league contracted to six teams as Green Bay and Sioux CIty dropped out of the league. Lincoln wound up in third place in the league with a 68-62 record. Five of the six teams had winning records as the Des Moines franchise was terrible with a 37-93 record. George Noga managed the Chiefs in 1961. The Chiefs were 5th in batting with a .254 average, 5th in fielding and third in team pitching ERA.

Courtesy Dan Bretta

Roster:
First base for Lincoln was held down by Gary Johnson . The lefty played in 109 games and averaged .289.

Second base was split between three people. Don Biasotti played in 50 games and averaged .265. Bruce Andrew was in 59 games and averaged .265, while Al Bullock was in 55 games and averaged .211.

Third sack was held down by Dayton Osburn . He was in 129 games and averaged .297.

In the dirt at short was Oscar Flores . He was in 71 games and averaged .271. The position was shared by Dan Adams who played in 49 games and averaged .280.

Putting on the mask for Lincoln in 1961 was Marvin Schrader . He averaged .260 in 89 games. Charles Lindstrom averaged .197 in 51 games.

Outfield:
William DiCrosta was a stalward in the outfield in 1961. He averaged .276.

Fred Loesekam started his professional career with the Holdrege Nebraska White Sox in the Class "D" Nebraska State League. In 1960 he was an all star with the Idaho Falls Russets and in 1961 he was promoted to class "B" ball in Lincoln. He played in 120 games and averaged .301 for the Chiefs.

Paul Higgs was a regular for the Chiefs in the garden. He averaged .204 for the season.

Don Gordon appeared in 60 games and had a .208 average while Eugene Duffy averaged .219 in 30 games.

	Pitchers: Robert Locker was signed by the White Sox in 1960. In 1961 the 21 year old led the III league with 215 strike outs. In 33 appearances he led the Chiefs with a 15-12 record. The righty from George Iowa was in the military in 1962 and 1963 then reported to Indianapolis for 1964. He made it to the parent White Sox in 1965 and pitched in the major leagues throgh the 1975 season.
Image courtesy Dan Bretta

Florian "Fritz" Ackley was signed by the White Sox in 1954. The 24 year old from Hayward Wisconsin pitched in 26 games for the Chiefs and had a 2-6 record. He made it to the show in 1963 for a cup of coffee and again in 1964. He died in 2002 in Duluth Minnesota.

Dennis Higgins was a tall right hander from Jefferson City Missouri. He was signed by the White Sox in 1958. He appeared in 39 games for the Chiefs and had a 9-8 record. He made it to the Chicago White Sox in 1966. He appeared in 42 games in 1966 and had a seven year major league career.

Jose Lizondro pitched in 29 games and had a 12-7 record. Stover "Smokey" McIlwain made his major league debut as a 17 year old phenom in 1957 with the White Sox. He also appeared in one game in 1958. He was in 26 games with the Chiefs in 1961 and had an 8-11 record. Born in the beautiful city of Savannah Georgia, his lifetime major league career consisted of 5 total innings of work. C. James "Blackie" Derrington appeared in 25 games and had a 7-5 record. The 6'3" lefty made his major league debut at 16 years of age in 1956. He also appeared in 20 games for the Sox in 1957.

Image Courtesy Dan Bretta

Robert Hamet appeared in 14 games and had a 5-4 record and William Hooker had no decisions in 15 games. Richard Kimball had a 4-5 record, Roland Passaro was 4-1 and S. Scott Seger was 1-3 for the Chiefs.

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