The manager of the Braves was Bill Steinecke . Bill had a four game major league career with Pittsburg in 1931. He played for the barnstorming City of David team in the 30's. He was a scout for the Braves during the late 50's in addition to managing at McCook. He managed the Braves to the league championship in its last year in 1959.
The Braves wound up tied for sixth place in 1957. They were first in fielding, fifth in pitching and fourth in hitting in 1957.
Roster:
Don Severson was the leading hitter on the squad for
1957. He played in 29 games at first base and averaged .314. He was
signed as a catcher by the Braves in June of 1957. The 22 year old from
Tomah Wisconsin was living in Milwaukee and playing for the Allen-Bradley
Industrial baseball team. He was named and NSL all star.
Infield positions saw a lot of players switching positions from game to game. Paul Schulze was a regular in the infield and averaged .214 for the season. Roger Farrar from Maywood Nebraska, played in 54 games and averaged .200. He was named an NSL all star for his defensive ability at short. Doug Clayton averaged .231 while splitting his time between second third and short. Ray Carlsen played mostly at third and averaged .213. Robert Fleer played 30 games at short stop and averaged .313. Ray Kavinsky averaged .235.
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Merritt Ranew was a 19 year old lefty from Albany Georgia. He put on the catcher's mask for 55 games and averaged .253. An NSL all star, he made it to the majors with the Houston Colt 45's in 1962 and had a 5 year major league career. He was attacked by Santiago Rosario in 1966. Rosario struck Ranew with a bat in a PCL game in Vancuver. |
Outfield:
Theodore Norbert was a regular in the outfield garden in
1957 for McCook. He averaged .309 in 55 games. He also played some games
at first for the Braves.
Lorne Johnson was a port side swinger who averaged .277 for the season.
Another left handed outfielder for 1957 was Orie Wolf .
He played in 46 games and averaged .267.
Ken Roesler was a lefty who averaged .271 in 22 games.
Pitchers:
James King was one of the star pitchers in the
league in 1957. The port side flinger had a 5-3 record in 17 games. He
had 124 strike outs and a 2.38 ERA.
Peter Fisher was 4-4 in 21 games. From Vermont he was named an
NSL all star.
Alfonso Frioni was 3-2 in 8 games.
Paul Poole was in 21 contests and had a 6-4 record,
while Ed Kuczynski 0-1 in 14 appearances.
Bernard Poupore was 2-2 in 14 games,
Richard Ramont was 3-3 in 10 games and John Wilcox
was 2-6 in 15 games.