Norfolk Yankees

• Location: Norfolk, NE
• League: Western League 1940-1941
• Affiliation: New York Yankees 1940-1941
• Ballpark:

The most recent professional baseball club from Norfolk, NE, the Norfolk Yankees had been the Norfolk Elks before adopting the name of their major league affiliate in 1940. They had the best record in the Western League that year at 73-39, 16 1/2 games ahead of the Sioux Falls Canaries, and won their last 8 games, but fell in the playoffs 4 games to 2 to Sioux Falls. Norfolk dominated the All-Star team with 1B Fred Schenk, 2B William Baker, 3B Mike Portner, OF Russell Burns, C Harry Heslet and manager Doc Bennett.

Burns (.330) was fourth in the league in average, led in homers (17), was second in RBI (87), stole 25, led with 25 doubles, tied for the lead with 13 triples, 3rd with 65 walks, tied for 4th with 93 runs and led with 246 total bases. Schenk and Heslet tied for second with 9 homers. Schenk led in RBI (97), was tied for third in triples (12) and was fourth in total bases (205). Baker was third in steals (27) and hits (152) and tied for 4th in runs (93) and tied for third in doubles (25). Portner stole 24 and was fifth with 60 walks. Robert Dugy led in runs (112), was fifth in average (.323) and second in hits (154).

In '41, Norfolk again finished first at 64-44 and won their opening playoff match. Advancing to the finals against the Pueblo Rollers, they were trailing 3 games to 2 when heavy rains forced the rest of the match to be cancelled, giving Pueblo the title. All-Stars were manager Ray Powell, C Vern Hoscheit and OF Frank Bocek. Bocek hit .345, second in the WL, and led in RBI (92), doubles (25), triples (20) and total bases (226) while finishing second in runs (86) and hits (137). Babe Alford led the league with 10 home runs and tied for 4th with 10 triples.

The league dissolved due to World War II.

Source: The Western League by W.C. Madden and Patrick Stewart

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1940	73-39	1st	Doc Bennett	Lost League Finals
1941	64-44	1st	Ray Powell	Lost League Finals