1953 McAlester Rockets Roster
Team Record: 83-56
Finished 4th in the SSL
Manager: Bill Cope (83-56)
Affiliation: New York Yankees
Location: McAlester, Oklahoma
Ballpark: Jefferson-Lee Stadium
Attendance: 40,485, Avg. 583
Playoffs - McAlester Rockets 3 games, Ardmore Cardinals 1
Finals - McAlester Rockets 4 games, Ada Herefords 1
The McAlester Rockets of the Sooner State League ended the 1953 season with a record of 83 wins and 56 losses, finishing fourth in the SSL.
The Rockets scored 801 runs and surrendered 774 runs. Russ Blankenship accounted for 35 RBI. Russ Snyder led all qualifying hitters on the roster by connecting at a .432 clip. Ronald Saatzer topped the team with 17 wins, while Bob Shipman recorded a 2.7 ERA, best among hurlers with significant time on the mound.
Russ Snyder played in Major League Baseball during his career, the only member of the McAlester Rockets to do so.
Bill Cope served as manager.Click on column headings to sort.
| Player | Bats | Throws | Birth Date | Height | Weight | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Ahan | ||||||
| Donald Anderson | ||||||
| Russ Blankenship | L | L | October 13, 1933 | 6'4" | 185 | Colonial Heights, VA US |
| Fred Calaicone | ||||||
| Claude Cleveland | R | 5'9" | 165 | |||
| Bill Cope | R | October 24, 1923 | 6'1" | 190 | Zanesville, OH US | |
| Len Costa | R | R | October 4, 1930 | 5'11" | 170 | San Francisco, CA US |
| Kenneth Davis | L | 5'11" | 178 | |||
| Bill Dietrich | R | R | November 19, 1934 | 6'2" | 195 | Philadelphia, PA US |
| Robert Faust | R | R | October 6, 1933 | 6'3" | 210 | Chicago, IL US |
| Lee Fry | ||||||
| Chuck Gageby | L | R | October 6, 1934 | 6'0" | 192 | |
| William Grilliot | R | 5'11" | 175 | |||
| Fred Hasselman | R | R | April 9, 1933 | 6'1" | 175 | |
| Charles Johnson | ||||||
| Harry Johnson | R | R | 5'11" | 175 | ||
| Charles Kasden | L | L | 5'11" | 160 | ||
| Alfred Kipper | L | R | 6'4" | 205 | ||
| Wilbur Kipper | ||||||
| Jack Koski | R | R | February 12, 1934 | 6'2" | 158 | Madera, CA US |
| Harold Means | ||||||
| Keith Mitchell | L | 6'2" | 205 | |||
| Howard Morganstern | ||||||
| Kenneth Roberts | ||||||
| Rudolph Rovai | L | L | October 18, 1934 | 6'2" | 190 | Sharp Park, CA US |
| Donald Saatzer | R | 6'1" | 200 | |||
| Ronald Saatzer | R | R | 6'1" | 195 | ||
| James Schrank | R | 5'10" | 165 | |||
| Bob Shipman | R | R | February 24, 1935 | 6'3" | 185 | |
| Donald Smith | ||||||
| Russ Snyder | L | R | June 22, 1934 | 6'1" | 190 | Oak, NE US |
| Teddy Sparks | March 6, 1929 | 192 | ||||
| Keith Steck | R | R | January 5, 1927 | 5'10" | 180 | Roy, UT US |
| Bill Tipton | September 25, 1933 | |||||
| Richard Turelli | R | R | 6'2" | 195 | ||
| Dean Wood | ||||||
| Carl Zellar | L | April 10, 1930 | 5'9" | 185 | ||
| Norbert Zimmerman | L | L | 6'0" | 175 |
Average attendance is based upon the number of actual home dates where known (most leagues from 1992 and later). Where the number of home dates is not known, the average is calculated using half the team's total games.
