Nebraska Minor League Baseball
Nebraska State League
Hastings Giants 1958

Hastings was 7th in the league in 1958. They were 24-39 for the year and 17 games out of first. Leo Schrall was the manager for the year.

The Giants played their games at Duncan Field. The field was a pitchers dream with its long distances to the outfield fences.

Duncan Baseball Field Hastings
Photo courtesy of Eliza Portrait Design
Photogaphy Studio
 

Roster:

First base for the Giants in 1958 was held down by Michael Mitchell . He played 41 games at first and 18 at third. He averaged .283 for the season.

Ruben Alexis played first during the games Mitchell played third. He averaged .211 for the season.

In the dirt at second was Duane Henson . He average .290 in 48 games.

Roberto Paul averaged .296 while playing in 22 games at third base.
John Dougherty played in 42 games. He was far below the Mendoza line with a .112 average.

Short stop saw Rene Altimirano holding down the position for 53 games. He averaged .227.

Behind the mask at catcher for the Giants was Philip Crews who averaged .254 in 48 games and Rod Phipps who played in 38 games and averaged .148.

Outfield:
Jose Tartabull was signed by the Giants in 1958 as an amateur free agent. The 19 year old from Cienfuegos Cuba was a regular in the outfield for Hastings in 1958 and averaged .295. He was traded in 1961 to the Kansas City Athletics. He made his major league debut with the Athletics in April of 1962. He played for 8 years in the major leagues with three different teams.

Rondal Gossmer was a regular in the garden and averaged .226.

John Stella had a hot bat in 30 games and averaged .320, while Wayne Helm struggled with a .145 average.

Jose Nicolas did not break the .200 average in 21 games and Antonio Quinones averaged .303 in 11 garden appearances.

Pitchers:
Jon "Sprat" Murray was Hastings leading pitcher in 1958. He managed a 3.22 ERA in 17 games and a 3-5 record. He was a standout at John Jay High School and that led to his signing by the Giants in 1958. He played minor league ball for four years then had a long career as a newspaper writer and editor.

Gerald Thomas had a winning 5-4 record in 11 games. Clifton Greene was 5-7 in 12 games, Norman J. Simmons was in 7 games and had a 1-3 record.

Carl Hubbel appeared in 11 games and was 0-1, Richard Nieberding was in 6 games with a 2-3 record, Joseph Mahoney was also in 6 games and had a 1-1 record, while Anthony Curatolo was 0-2 in his 6 appearances.

Ronald Stearns won one game in 4 appearances, Don Stoviak appeared in 9 games while Tim Lane was 1-2 in 4 games.

Duncan Field Hastings Nebraska
Photo courtesy of Eliza Portrait Design
Photogaphy Studio

 

Nebraska State League Standings 1958

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