Nebraska Minor League Baseball
Nebraska State League
Grand Island Athletics 1959

Roster:
First base for the Athletics in 1959 was handled by Bobby Coggins . The lefty batted .246 for the season.

Keystone sack work was accomplished by William Fontana . He too was a southpaw and hit .302 for the 59 season.

Paul Gammell was at third for most of the season and had a .200 average. Lee Jensen played the hot corner for 11 games and shortstop for 24 games and had a .218 average.

Short stop for 1959 was held down by Arnie Link . He did not reach the Mendoza line and averaged .172.

Behind the mask in 1959 was split between William Kingston who averaged .167, Nelson Pagan who averaged .214 and Jay Bucher who averaged .090.

Outfield:
Lefty Byron Hobbensiefken was a regular in the garden for Grand Island and averaged .321. Although Jack Aker only averaged .208 for the Athletics he did have 21 stolen bases to lead the club in 1959. Mike Maloney had 10 stolen bases and averaged .226. Dan Drake played in 32 games and averaged .167.

Pitchers:

Major League All Star
Jose Santiago was an amateur free agent signed by the Athletics in 1959. The nineteen year old from Juana Diaz P.R. was 3-6 in 1959 in 15 games. He made it to the majors in 1963 with Kansas City. He was named to the major league All Star team in 1968. He had a 34 and 29 record in his eight year career.

Southpaw Larry Danforth appeared in 12 games and had a 7-4 record.

Bert Griffin was another lefty hurler for Grand Island. He appeared in 6 games and had a 1-3 record.

Tony Filicchia was two years out of high school in 1959. A Watertown High School graduate and member of their Hall of Fame, he was originally signed by the Braves, then traded to the Athletics. in 1959 he led the A's with an 11-2 record with a 2.19 ERA. He pitched 11 complete games and was a member of the NSL all stars for 1959. He spent the 1960 season with the class "B" Idaho Falls team, then in the Florida State League in 1961.

Michael J. Roberts appeared in 10 games and had a 1-1 record. Jack Schwabl had a 1-3 record in 12 appearances.

Dario Segui was 3-3 in 11 games. He is the brother of Diego Segui. Diego had a long major league career with many teams. Dario never made it to the show.

Robert Villasenor appeared in 8 games and had a 3-4 record.

Nebraska State League Standings 1959

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