Nebraska Minor League Baseball
Nebraska State League
1957

Nebraska State League
Standings 1957
President: Mike Hollinger
Standings Win-- Loss-- GB--- Attendance Manager
Grand Island A's (KC) 33 22 - 26,982 Art Mazmanian
Holdrege White Sox (CHI) 33 23 1/2 21,581 Frank Parenti
Lexington Red Sox (BOS) 33 23 1/2 24,218 Jack Kaiser
Kearney Yankees (NYY) 30 26 31/2 23,349 Randy Gumpert
Hastings Giants (NYG) 29 26 4 21,863 Leo Schrall
McCook Braves (MIL) 27 29 61/2 25,844 Bill Steinecke
Superior Senators (WAS) 27 29 61/2 19,796 Charles Ray Baker
North Platte Indians (CLE) 11 45 221/2 21,207 Rudy York

BA: James Wasem, Holdrege, .366
Runs: Don Bonomini, Holdrege, 58
Hits: Jackie Creed, Lexington, 71
RBIs: Milt Campo, Kearney, 59
HRs: Milt Campo, Kearney, 17
Wins: Wayne Coughtry, Lexington, 11
SOs: Leonardo Fergunson, Kearney, 149
ERA: Leonardo Fergunson, Kearney, 1.68

The Nebraska State League in 1957 was owned by Major League Baseball and was a rookie league with very specific rules for who could play in the league.

The league was over their first year startup issues and every town had an established infrastructure in place to take care of their teams. From ticket sales to grounds maintenance, lighting to concessions every town was ready for the 1957 season. Once again the towns were expected to sell 500 season ticket books and the towns were successful in fulfilling that goal for the year. McCook sold the most ticket books with 692, Lexington 663, Grand Island 649, Holdrege 618, Kearney 616, North Platte 578, Hastings 558 and Superior sold 539. The first $5,000 in sales went to the parent club and after that ticket sales were split 75/25 with the parent club taking the bigger share.

Attendance dropped a little in 1957. After a first year with attendance in the 226,000 range it dropped to 185,700 in 1957 (Baseball Digest April 1958).

For 1957 the manager Art Mazmanian led the Grand Island A's to the top of the league. Grand Island also led the league in attendance. The race was quite exciting as both Holdrege and Lexington pushed the A's to the end and finished only 1/2 game behind.

Lou Klimchock was signed by the Athletics as an amateur free agent in 1957. The 17 year old from Hostetter Pennsylvania played 39 games at second base for the A's. He averaged .273 for the season and had 21 stolen bases. In 1958 he played for Pocatella in the Pioneer League and led the league with a .398 average. He also led the Pioneer league in runs and hits. He was promoted to the major leagues at the end of the season and made his his major league debut in September with the A's. He played for 12 seasons with five different teams. He is the current president of the Arizona Chapter of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.


Major League All Star
James Lee "Kitty" Kaat was signed as an amateur free agent in 1957. The eighteen year old from Zeeland Michigan was assigned to Superior for the 1957 season. The port side flinger pitched in 14 games and had a 5-6 record. He made his major league debut in 1959 with the Washington Senators and played in the majors through 1983. He was an all star selection in 1962, 1966 and 1975.

The Kearney Yankees had two infielders who made it to the major leagues. George Banks was an 18 year old from South Carolina. He made it to the show in 1962 with the Twins and had a five year major league career.

Phil Linz was another young amateur free agent signed by the Yanks who played for Kearney in 1957. He played for Auburn in 1958 and had a breakout year with Modesto in 1959. He batted .321 with Greensboro in 1960 and played in Richmond and Amarillo in 1961. He made it to New York in 1962 and had a seven year major league career.

Grand Island A's 1957 Holdrege White Sox 1957
Lexington Red Sox 1957 Kearney Yankees
Hastings Giants 1957 McCook Braves 1957
Superior Senators 1957 North Platte Indians 1957

Nebraska Minor League Baseball Home