Nebraska Minor League Baseball
Nebraska State League
Norfolk Elks 1935

 

The Nebraska State League was a four team league again in 1935. The Elks won the first half of the 1935 season. They played Sioux Falls in the playoffs and won four games to three. This made Norfolk the Nebraska State League Champions for 1935.

The league did a lot of switching of players in 1935. Many players were traded from one club to another as the season went on. It is difficult to determine with precision the games played for each team by certain players. In addition, the newspapers and Spalding guide seldom included first names. Thus, many players presented here only have last names listed.

Joe McDermott, a Moville Iowa farmer in the off season, who managed Norfolk from 32 through 34 left to manage Omaha in 1935. He would return in 1936 but for 1935, Pat Patterson was named manager.

Norfolk went on a tear during the last few weeks of the first half of the season winning 15 and losing only 4 during a 14 day period in July. Submarine pitcher Frank Wagner won 8 in a row during that period.

Kenneth "Bud" Cabble spent three weeks in late June and early July in Denver taking care of his sick wife. He returned to Norfolk and ran off a seven game winning stretch.

Norfolk won the first half of the season under Pat Patterson. They fell of during the second half of the season. They released Dick Esrey and picked up a pitcher named Fabian Ryan from Vail Iowa. They then moved Mike Semanism from pitcher to the outfield.

 

All Stars:

Kenneth Cabble was the leading left handed pitcher in the league and an all star selection in 1935. He pitched in 25 games and had a 13-8 record. He also had 159 strike outs for the year.

Frank Wagner was an all star right handed pitcher for 1935. He started 35 games, had a 16-12 record and 140 strike outs. The three pitchers, Cabble, Wagner and Arntzen led Norfolk to the championship in 1935.

Pat Patterson was the Elks manager in 1935. He received all but one vote in the all star voting for 1935.

Darol Shimer was named the all star shortstop in the league for 1935. He had a .309 average and was considered the best fielding short stop in the league.

Regulars
R. Jones was a regular at first base for the Elks in 1935. He maintained a .221 average in over 100 games.

Second base for 1935 was held down by Barnhart . He averaged .211.

The hot corner was split between a number of players in 1935. Dexter Savage finished the season strong at third and went 10 for 14 in the last four games of the season.

Outfield:
John Grilli was a regular in the left field garden in 1935 and he averaged .311 with the stick. The Ukiah California native spent two seasons with Keokuk in the Mississippi Valley League before coming to Norfolk.

Esrey averaged .303 while playing in center field in 1935.

Howard Swanson was a regular in right and averaged .300. He was one of the players whose contract was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of the season.

Putting on the mask for Norfolk in 1935 was manager Pat Patterson. He averaged .263 for the season.

Pitchers:
In addition to the two all star pitchers, Norfolk had the strike out leader on their roster in 1935.
Orie Arntzen struck out 184 batters to lead the league. He appeared in 31 games and had a 10-10 record. His contract was acquired by the Cardinals at the end of the season. The right handed Norfolk flinger from Beverly Illinois made it to the majors in 1943. At 33 years old he had 4 wins and 13 losses in 32 games for the Philadelphia Athletics. He had 66 strike outs in 164 innings pitched. In 1949 he was 40 years old and went 25-2 for Albany in the Eastern League and was named minor league player of the year. Orie stayed in the midwest for the rest of his life. He died in Cedar Rapids Iowa in 1970.

Semanison had a 5-3 record in 17 games.

Kenneth "Whitey" Miller pitched in 31 games and had a 7-10 record. His contract was acquired by the Cardinals at the end of the season. A St. Louis native he made his major league debut in 1944 with the New York Giants. He played in four games, pitched five innings and had a 0-1 record.

Ryan was in 8 games and had a 2-2 record.

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