In 1932 the Western League received some assistance from Major League baseball. Tulsa became a farm team for the Pirates, Denver for the Cardinals and Wichita was part of the Cubs organization.

The league continued the split season format for 1932. Tulsa won the first half of the season (46-22). Tulsa and Oklahoma City tied for the second half (52-26).

Oklahoma City beat Tulsa two games to one to break the second half tie, then Tulsa beat Oklahoma City four straight in the playoffs.

Omaha was once again the doormat for the league. No Omaha player was picked for the all star team.

The league underwent major changes in the off season as Oklahoma City and Tulsa were admitted to the Texas League. Denver and Pueblo were dropped from the league to cut down on travel expenses. The league went looking for new franchises to replace these four teams.

John Stoneham played for McCook in 1928 and 1929. He led the NSL in 1929 with an astounding .410 average. In 1932 he batted .352 with the Tulsa Oilers and was a Western League All Star.

Ray Schalk was a Western League All Star in 1932. The infielder averaged .342 for Oklahoma City and led the Western League in doubles. He played for the Fairbury Jeffersons in 1930 and was one of the many players picked up by Jack Holland from the NSL.

First base for Oklahoma City in 1932 was another former Nebraska State League player Herman Cholcher. Herman, originally from Deshler Nebraska, was a regular with the Lincoln Links in 1928, 1929 and 1930. He averaged .333 in 1930 which led to his promotion to the class "A" Oklahoma City team.

Jimmy Summers played for McCook in 1931. He was a regular for Oklahoma City in 1932 and averaged .268.

Harry Matuzak also played for McCook in 1931. In 1932 he was 17-14 for Oklahoma City and third in the Western League in strikeouts.

Herbert Hanson was a regular in the infield for Oklahoma City in 1932. Herbert was a regular with Fairbury in 1928-1930 and played for Grand Island in 1932 before being promoted to the Western League in 1932.

Glen Rickey pitched for Oklahoma City in 1932. He was a regular at York in 1931.

The list above just scratches the surface of the NSL players who were in the Western League in 1932. The Omaha franchise, led by owner Barney Burch did not pick up many of the better players in the NSL.

This was the last year for Barney Burch as owner of the Omaha franchise. The team wound up in a legal dispute over ownership and outstanding loans. The Sporting News (Nov 23, 1933) reported that at the end of the 1932 season the team was $19,191,36 in the hole. According to this article Burch went bankrupt in 1933. Included in his creditors was $10,000 to the Pittsburg Pirates.

Barney played a lot of players in 1932. Many of them were low cost players in an attempt to keep down costs. He played high school players and even the bat boy in one game.

Omaha Roster 1932
First base for the Omaha Packers/Burch Rods was Harned . He averaged .277 for the season.

In the dirt at second was Bouton . He played in 143 games and averaged .280.

Guarding the hot corner was Oberholzer He averaged .299.

Shortstop for the '32 season was Dean.

Behind the plate was Luckey The catcher averaged .298.

Outfield:

Edward William "Glass Arm Eddie" Brown was a regular in the garden and player manager for the Burch Rods. In 147 games he averaged .352. The Milligan Nebraska native, started his career with Superior in the Nebraska State League in 1913. He had a seven year major league career with three different teams, averaging .303 for his major league career.

Riley played in 73 games for the Rods.

Hall played in 59 games and averaged .337.

Dailey, Porter, Long, Cash, Shields, Wyckoff, Moore, Griffin all played in less than 20 games in the outfield for Omaha.

Pitchers:
Wyckoff appeared in 17 as a pitcher and had a 5-6 record. He played in 43 games total and averaged .306

Shields was 1-8 in 12 games for the Rods.

Jules Long played in 15 games and had a 3-8 record.

Dailey appeared in 28 games and had a 6-3 record.

Dumont was in 10 games and had a 3-2 record.

Cash was 3-5 in 10 appearances.

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