Wednesday, May 15, 1946

                 W  L  Pct GB
Salem ......... 15  5 .750 —
Spokane ....... 12  9 .571 3½
Yakima ........ 11  9 .550 4
Tacoma ........ 10  9 .526 4½
Wenatchee ..... 11 10 .524 4½
Bremerton ...... 8 11 .421 6½
Vancouver ...... 8 13 .381 7½
Victoria ....... 6 15 .286 9½

SALEM — Paul Soderburg hurled the Salem Senators to a 6 to 1 victory over Yakima Wednesday night in the second game of their Western International league series here.
The big right hander, who had a leave of absence last to be home for the birth of a son, limited the Stars to five hits in registering his first mound triumph of the season.
The Senators iced the game in the opening inning when Al Kubiak led off with a single and Duane Crawford, replacing injured Frank Lucchesi, banged out a homer over the right field wall. Lucchesi suffered a fractured ankle in a slide to third last night.
Yakima's lone run came in the fourth inning and the Stars made five errors to help the Senators recoup after Tuesday night's shut-out.
Yakima ........... 000 100 000—1 5 5
Salem ............ 300 010 20x—6 7 0
McHugh, Bohnen (7) and Gibb, McConnell (7); Soderburg and Salmon.

VICTORIA [Colonist, May 16]—Still in the throes of a bad slump, Victoria Athletics dropped their seventh straight Western International Baseball League fixture last night at Royal Athletic Park, when they went down to an 8-1 defeat at the hands of the Spokane Indians.
The victory was the third in a row for the visitors over the A’s, and gave them a 3-0 lead in the current seven-game series.
Indians punched out an even dozen base knocks from the offerings of Al Raimondi and Frank Bruno, Victoria hurlers, and bunched their hits for telling markers in the third, seventh and ninth innings.
Athletics, beset with pitching trouble all season, displayed a weakness at the plate last night and were only able to poke out five scattered base hits from the slants of Pete Barisoff, Indians’ hurler.
Bob Cherry, A’s leftfielder, scored the only run for the locals when he hoisted the ball over the centre-field fence for [a] home run in the second inning.
Bob Patterson, Indians outfielder, clouted a two-run homer in the third, and tossed in three singles for a perfect night at the plate.
Al Raimondi opened on the hillock for the Athletics and stayed around until the seventh inning, despite an injury to his throwing arm early in the game. He was taken out for a pinch-hitter and Frank Bruno completed the hurling chores.
Athletics and Indians will meet again this evening at Royal Athletic Park in the fourth game of the seven-game series. Joe Blankenship will parade to the mound for the A’s, while Gus Hallbourg will be Manager Mel Cole’s selection for the Indians’ pitching chores. Game time will be 8 o’clock.
Pete Hughes, former Western International League home-run champion, who has yet to start with the Athletics, may take his place in the line-up this evening. The circuit clout hitter was injured at the start of the season, but is reported to be just about ready for regular outfield duty.
[WILfan notes: Al Steele and Koenigs each had a pair of hits for Victoria … Levi McCormack brought in three late-inning runs for Spokane. Vic Picetti brought in the first of three in the seventh with a single. Marty Martinez’ single in the ninth scored the last one.]
Spokane .............. 002 000 303—8 12 0
Victoria ............... 010 000 000—1  6 4
Barisoff and Clifford; A. Raimondi, Bruno (8) and Myers.

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, May 16]—Last night’s ball game was the one you’re allowed to chalk up to the law of averages.
Well and truly beaten by Vancouver Capilanos in their first two starts here, Wenatchee Chiefs erupted for 18 hits and a 14-4 win over our boys at Capilano Stadium.
Despite the wildness of starting chucker Doug Ford, it was still a ball game until the fifth inning, when the big righthander gave up his five and sixth walks, and two singles, and headed to the showers. Then lanky Bob Snyder came in, with the bases loaded, to be greeted by Ed Barr, who parked his second pitch over the wall for four runs. After that, it was just a matter of playing out the string.
SNYDER HIT HARD
Ford, who lived up to his early-season notices last week, reverted to his Vancouver form as he suffered his fifth setback without a win. Although he has a blazing fast ball, the University of Washington hurler seems afraid to let it go in the Fifth Avenue park. He appears to be aiming the ball, and his aim is bad.
Snyder, who was right in the middle of that weird Yakima home run uprising, was completely unnerved by Barr’s four-bagger, and was hit hard thereafter.
Little Ed Greene, who did the flinging for the winners, showed a lot of stuff, and had the locals breaking their backs on his curve ball. He struck out nine as he kept the situation well in hand.
* * *
CUFF NOTES—Writing a “local boy makes good” story is Reg Clarkson, the ex-Varsity athlete who is filling up the centre field hole admirably … Reg. who is hitting .306, made no less than four sensational catches last night, rapped out a triple and had another hard drive pulled down … Man to watch on the Wenatchee crew is shortstop Fred Harrington, who has stood out so far in the series … He picked up three blows, stole three sacks, and continued to look smart around the short patch … Either Hunk Anderson or Ronnie Bryant will pitch for the locals tonight, with Ray Orteig slated to make his mound debut Friday or Saturday.
[WILfan note: Doug Ford packed his back after last night's loss, his fifth of the year. Rumour is he will be returned to the Seattle Rainiers to be placed in a slower league, possibly with Boise in the Pioneer League. He gave up six walks and six hits in the four innings he worked, and tossed a wild pitch … Sndyer was rocked for 12 hits but walked only three … Al Kretchmar singled in Vancouver’s first run in the third, Spurgeon doubled one in the fourth, Sid Van Sinderen singled in another in the fifth and hitless Watts Gulan brought in the final one in the eighth.]
Wenatchee ......... 021 060 230—14 18 3
Vancouver .......... 001 110 010— 4  9 2
Greene and E. Fitzgerald; Ford, Snyder (5) and Spurgeon.

TACOMA—John Pintar pitched Bremerton to a win over Tacoma, 9 to 1, squaring the series at one win each.
Pintar held Tacoma to seven hits, three of them coming in the eighth inning when Tacoma scored its lone run.
Bremerton scored in the first inning and was never headed as Pintar pitched steady ball, spacring four Tacoma hits over as many innings except in the eighth.
Seventeen-year-old Richie Colombo, of Tacoma, was charged with his first defeat of the season. He worked the first five inings, withdrawing when his arm developed soreness.
Bremerton ......... 100 130 211—9 13 1
Tacoma ............ 000 000 010—1  7 3
Pintar and Volpi; Colombo, Kasepchuk (3), Jimmink (5), Dupris (9) and Kemper.

Southpaw Hurler To Report Today
[Victoria Colonist, May 16, 1946]
First of three players sought by the management of the Victoria Athletics to bolster their line-up, Dick Connor [Conover], southpaw hurler, will join the team today, Manager Laurel Harney announced last night.
Conover, a former member of the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, is due to reach the city this afternoon from Seattle. In addition to his Coast League experience, Conover has played in the Western International Baseball League.

ON THE SUNBEAM
By ALF COTTRELL, Sports Editor
[Vancouver Sun, May 16, 1946]
Elders Foul Wheels of Progress

I don’t know a thing bar what I read in the papers, but it would seem our chummy little district on the east side of Little Mountain is being accused of fouling up the wheels of progress these fine May days.
Some of the neighbors appear to have made a large uproar the moment they heard that recreation was going to raise its ugly head in our midst.
The prevailing idea that we folks are all against the proposed new sports stadium on Riley Park is very surprising to yours truly. In fact I can’t quite hold still for it. Most of my neighbors just aren’t like that.
As a general rule we spend our spare time, well, like most of the law-abiding citizens in this outstanding city, emptying the ashes, going down to the neighbourhood theatre or telling each other lies over the back fence.
I understand that the kids up around this way are going around with no less than 13 petitions—petitions asking that the City Council back the sports stadium for Riley Park. Those youngsters are in the groove, in my book. They have a better idea of what is good for them than some of their elders. And they’ll be there in fighting when they consider the case at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
The Riley Park plan, as is generally admitted, will benefit the whole city. The new stadium, besides affording Vancouver a respectable home for baseball for the first time, is slated to house football, track meets, high school sport and junior recreation of all kinds.
Petition Lacks Large Majority
The deal is for the Parks Board to buy the current Capilano Stadium, a $45,000 property, for $25,000. Until such time as a new bridge will be built there, the Parks Board will turn the Fifth and Hemlock property into a playground for the folks in the Fairview area.
The company will turn the $25,000 back to the Parks Board. It will be used in constructing a community sports and recreation club at Hillcrest Park. That park is also right in our little district.
Meanwhile on Riley Park, which will still be owned by the city, the compay will build a modern grandstand and a park with low fences and plenty of parking space on land that is now exclusively used as a breeding farm for strong, big-chested, thoroughbred mosquitos.
The Park Board guarantees that the stadium will be a beauty spot. That is good enough for me, along with their pictures of roses around the fence, and tall, well-mannered trees waving in the offing.
The thing I started out to argue against was the idea that we are against it. I know too many good sport lovers in this district to believe that the recent holler is a consensus of opinion.
Kids Have the Right Outlook
Some honest folks believe that harm will be done to property values, They should hear ex-Alderman Harry Degraves tell about the Hastings East district’s community sport and recreation centre.
Out there they built a community hall and general sport project alongside a block that was a mess of bushes and garbage dumps. The city owned it, and was stuck with it. Since the community sport project was built the city has sold the property and the best homes in the Hastings East area have been built on it.
I admit that I am slightly prejudiced. Maybe I am plenty prejudiced, in fact. However, I feel that I can’t be too far out if I am on the same side as the kids.
From a broader viewpoint, well, it would seem to me that if a new stadium on the most suitable site in Vancouver is a good thing for Vancouver as a whole, it can’t be such a bad thing for the area in which it is built. As one of the neighbors said last night,” If people can’t act for the good of the whole, then a hole this is going to be.”