Grand Island was not very good in 1938. Opening day saw 800 fans in the stands as they defeated Beatrice 8-6. Things went downhill from there as they quickly dropped to last place. They started the year slow and did not make much improvement during the year. They wound up in next to last place and only placed one player on the Nebraska League All Star Team.
Ben Hassler managed the Cardinals in 1938. He played for Omaha in 1934 and 1935, Asheville in 1936 and Decatur in 1937. He moved to Springfield during the season.
Roster:
First base for the Cardinals in 1938 was held down by three different
players during the year.
Albert Petrick played 44 games at first, 46 games in the
outfield and led the team with a .345 average.
Stan Svaldsen was at first for 50 games and
averaged .258. Sonderman (Sanberman) played the
position for 37 games and averaged .212. None were in the top half of the
league in fielding.
Second base was also a revolving door for Grand Island in 1938. Bennie Hassler played the position for 73 games and averaged .321. Robert Hancks played in 29 games total in the infield and averaged an anemic .104. Adrian Thompson played in 10 games at second and had 12 errors.
Robert "Joe" Schmidt started the year at third for Grand Island. He played in 15 games, averaging .161. He then moved to Duluth in the Northern League for the remainder of the year. In 1940 he moved to Portsmouth in the Mid Atlantic league and 1941 he was in Mobile. The next three years were spent in the service. When he returned in 1946 he Anniston in the South Eastern League. After three years in Anniston he moved to Newnan in the Georgia Alabama league for two years. Fargo called in 1951, Keokuk in 1952, Mt. Vernon in 1953 and Paris in 1954 completed his minor league career. He led all minor league players with a .441 average in 1939.
After Schmidt left the hot corner saw Louis Coletta playing in 48 games and averaged .379. His play was such that the New York Times reported him being promoted to Asheville on July 12th of 1938.
Floyd Stickney held down the position for 15 games and averaged .291 while Woodrow Thompson averaged .269 in 19 games.
Short stop for the Cardinals was Robert Anderson . He played the position for 72 games and averaged .295.
Don Lowry played in 58 games for Grand Island and averaged .274.
Putting on the mask for Grand Island in 1938 was Tony Koenig . He put on the mask for 78 games and was second in fielding his position. He averaged .234. Jack Hoyt put on the mask for 33 games. He played in a total of 76 games and averaged .295.
Outfield:
Floyd Bond tended the garden for 106 games. He averaged
.277 for the season.
Don Launer played in the outfield for 58 games.
Jim Cookson averaged .311 in 64 games in the garden.
Walter Kujath tended the garden for 35 games and averaged .232.
Pitchers:
Alden Schnoor was 9-8 in 23 appearances.
Henry Polly pitched in 17 games and had an 11-5 record.
Frank Perko handled the rosin 18 times and managed a 12-5 record.
J. E. "Eddie" Baade was 2-6 in 15 appearances.
Theo Streets played in 17 games and had a 1-4 record.
Merling Zerfing was in 22 games for Grand Island and had a 7-11 record for the year.