WIL Baseball

WIL Official Statskeeper Bill Weiss

2011-08-18T05:59:00.001-07:00

Hi, all. I realise the baseball blogs have been left fallow for some time. I've been working on other projects and haven't been near here since last year. However, I got word that Bill Weiss, the man who kept the league stats for the Western International League, has passed away this week.

Bill was an efficient and knowledgable historical statistician. Until stats became corporatised, Bill was handling the Pacific Coast League stats and when I was covering the PCL team in Vancouver, we'd anxiously await Bill's league record book to see what new and obscure things we'd find. Rarely would he miss a new record.

Apparently, he still had bulging filing cabinets of official box scores and so on from the many leagues that used his services. I hope those records aren't chucked away and find a home with some baseball historical group.

This was on the SABR mailing list about Bill, so I'll pass it on.

*SABR Salutes Bill Weiss *

William J. Weiss was born June 2, *1925, *in Chicago. He inherited his
love of baseball from his father, who took the five-year-old to his first
game at Wrigley Field in 1930. The precocious youngster began reading *The
Sporting News *when he was six and collecting baseball books when he was
eight. He was fascinated by baseball stats and wanted to become a
statistician. He graduated from Hyde Park High in 1942, along, with future
SABR member George Hilton. Bill attended Central YMCA College in Chicago
for a year and one- half and was a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy for
three years. From 1941-47 he helped run an amateur team, the South Shore
Cobras. He was not a player, but served as official scorer, statistician,
business manager, booking agent, and occasional field manager. They won a
division championship in the Chicago Metro Senior League in 1946. Bob
Hemple, another future SABR member, was their top hitter.

Bill landed his first job in pro ball in 1948 and the man who hired him was
Howard Green, now chairman of the Dallas-Fort Worth SABR Chapter. Howard
was then half-owner and GM of the Abilene Blue Sox in the Class C West
Texas-New Mexico League and president of the Class *D *Longhorn League. Bill
was hired as Longhorn League statistician and box office manager at Blue Sox
Stadium. After the 1948 season, he headed West where lie was hired to do
the averages for the California and Far West Leagues and to work for Jerry
Donovan, President of both Leagues, in San Francisco. At the end of the
1949 season, the statistician for the Pacific Coast League retired and Bill
was retained by PCL President Clarence Rowland to do their stats. He set up
shop in San Mateo in 1950 and has been there ever since.

As the years passed he added other leagues as clients: Sunset in 1950,
Pioneer and Arizona-Texas in 1952; Longhorn in 1953, Western International
and West Texas-New Mexico in 1954, Northwest in 1955 and Western in 1956. He
was statistician for other circuits as well, including the American
Association 1969-70.

>From 1949 to 1987 Bill prepared, first for leagues, then for Major League
organizations, sketch books which contained biographical information and
career records for all players in the league or organization. They
eventually reached a total of 200 books. Following the 1988 season, the old
Rowe News Bureau was purchased by Peter Shipman and his associates and they
bought Bill’s business. He has been associated with Howe
SportsdataInternational ever since.

Since 1971 Bill has written during the season a weekly newsletter for the
California League. He also has been the League’s corporate secretary for
the last 20 years. He prepares the annual record books for the California,
Northwest, and Pioneer Leagues. As the PCL’s official historian, he assists
in the preparation of their record book. Since 1989, he has written the
“Baseball Anecdotes” column which appears regularly in *Baseball America. *For
the past seven years he has sold the “Program Notes” service to ball clubs.

One of his greatest pleasures was being president of the Peninsula Winter
League in the San Francisco area 1959-84. The league was organized by a
group of major league scouts and financed by several major league clubs. The
players were young organization members and free agents still in school. They
sent numerous players to the majors, including Joe Morgan and Willie
Stargell. Three PWL players are still in the majors: Ken Caminiti, Tom
Candiotti, and Mark Parent.

Bill has always felt close to the scouts, “the unsung heroes of the game,”
and has been secretary-treasurer of the Professional Baseball Scouts of
Northern California since the organization was founded in l 969. He also
served many years as the National Association’s representative on the
Scoring Rules Committee, along with such luminaries as Seymour Siwoff,
Jerome Holtzman, Jack Lang, and Red Foley.

He was one of the very early members of SABR, joining September 3, 1971 as
Member No. 34. After 25 years of attrition, he is now 15th in seniority. Bill
and his wife Faye have been married for 42 years. She has been his good
right hand (Bill is a southpaw) in the business, all these years. They have
no children but have enjoyed generations of black cocker spaniels.

Ernie Kershaw Turns 100

2009-10-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

It's great to see one of the Vancouver-area community newspapers do a feature piece on pitcher Ernie Kershaw who, as the article puts it, is one of the oldest former pro ball players around. He turned 100 this month.

You can read the story of the school-teaching pitcher HERE. He's a remarkable man. The photo is from the article on the North Shore Outlook.

70 years ago, Ernie joined the new Vancouver Capilanos and played in their first three years of existence, then came out of retirement at the end of the 1946 season.

Rod MacKay, Vancouver Capilanos

2009-08-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

I've received a note from Kit Krieger of SABR (more importantly, former clubhouse boy for the PCL's Vancouver Mounties):

Rod McKay, a former pitcher with the WIL Vancouver Capilanos, passed away on August 26th at the age of 78. McKay signed with the NY Giants organization in 1948 and ended his career with the Capilanos in 1954. His father-in-law, Johnny Nestman, was one of the great amateur players in Vancouver baseball history and played third-base against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other stars en route to Japan in 1934.

Click here for Rod's stats.

1952 is missing because SABR has him listed as Rod McKay for that year. Click here for that year.

Rod went to my dad's high school (King Edward in Vancouver) and was signed by the Giants at a try-out camp in 1949 at Olympia, Washington.

A Couple of Baseball Blogs

2009-08-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Ken McIntosh of SABR has been involved in a labour of love for some time .. working on a book about the home of the Vancouver Capilanos of the WIL.

Check it his well-designed blog HERE. Most of it involves the present-day Vancouver Canadians but he does talk about his book.

Oh, yes, there's another labour of love he's working on, like many others who delve into old Class 'C' leagues or teams which folded long ago but live on in the memories of those with greying hair who saw them play as a kid. Ken is tracking the story of the New Westminster Frasers of the Northwest League. They were an independent team for one season.

Readers of the WIL blogs will remember how an attempt was made at putting a WIL team in New Westminster, with the logic that a Vancouver-New Westminster-Victoria rivalry, similar to lacrosse and hockey, would result in huge attendance games. In hindsight, it would have been a bad idea. That kind of local rivalry was already becoming obsolete, as Vancouver was now considering itself a big league city, especially with the creation of the WIFU's B.C. Lions and the 1954 British Empire Games. The PCL arrived in 1956 to leave a small-town league in the dust (until 2000 anyway) and then the NHL arrived in 1970 to banish any thought the city was on a sporting par with New Westminster.

Anyway, here's Ken's blog about the Frasers. It's a shame they couldn't make a go of it, especially considering Vancouver was not in organised baseball at the time, but the '70s were kind of a lost decade for minor league ball and the Frasers were rife with financial problems.

Hurry Back Bob

2009-07-30T05:27:00.001-07:00

Sorry, folks. It looks like I’m not going to be getting to work on the 1937-42 seasons this summer after all due to a few other things suddenly cropping up. I haven’t been to a ball game, either.

I got a phone call a week or so ago with the news that veteran WIL baseball broadcaster Bob Robertson wouldn’t be calling games in the Northwest League this season because Jo isn’t in the best of health. She hasn’t travelled with Bob the last couple of years, at least north of the border, and I do hope she gets better very soon.

Bob is a genuine guy. He’s what you hear on the radio. Some may dismiss his “Be a sport always” tag line as old-fashioned and corny, but he's sincere every time he says it.

Fortunately, the Seattle Times did a little story on him, which I transcribe below. You can link to it HERE. The only thing Bob didn’t talk about is how he came to call the Wenatchee Chiefs games and why it was, through circumstances beyond his control, he didn’t get a major league play-by-play job in Seattle which, frankly, was rightly his.

Voices of the Game
Bob Robertson is a link to bygone era of broadcasters
Robertson, 80, has much more on his resume than 42 years with the Washington State Cougars.
By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter

Almost everyone is gone now — except Bob Robertson.

He is the enduring voice of a bygone generation of Northwest radio and television sports broadcasting giants. Most of his peers — Ted Bell, Pat Hayes, Rod Belcher, Clay Huntington, Bill O'Mara, Bill Schonely, Ray McMackin, Pete Gross, Wayne Cody, Keith Jackson and Leo Lassen — have died or retired.

Mariners voice Dave Niehaus also remains. And in many ways, Niehaus and Robertson are kindred spirits.

Robertson, whose carrot-colored hair has turned gray and thin now, took a much different path to his Hall of Fame, however. He's an icon to generations of sports fans, even though he spent most of his career outside the major markets.

You see his name and think: "That's the Cougars guy with the funny sign off who has been at Wazzu forever."

But there's so much more to the Washington State play-by-play man than his 42-year career with the Cougars.

To know him, you need to know he temporarily stopped broadcasting this summer — the first time in 61 years — to take care of his ill wife, Joanne.

You need to hear the story about the blind boy who would sit by his side during Clover Park High School boys basketball games and made him aware that his radio audience was also sightless.

You need to know he was the last man in radio to do re-creations — where written reports were phoned in to a studio and he would call Tacoma Tigers minor-league baseball games with sound effects and his imagination.

You need to know he worked part-time jobs as a referee for the first Sonics exhibition game in Seattle; an official for Fife High School football games when Jim Lambright was the coach; and a general manager of the Seattle Rangers, a minor-league football team in the 1960s.

You need to know he nearly became the voice of the Mariners, and in many ways he is a real-life Crash Davis, the character from "Bull Durham" who pines for one last shot at the big leagues.

And you need to know that he turned 80 in March. And he's in better shape than you are because he swims frequently, drinks a glass of Cabernet at dinner and eats a reasonably healthy diet. And he has three years left on his WSU contract.

And he has no intentions of retiring any time soon.

There are six decades of broadcast history to recap, so get comfortable.

Bellingham, circa 1948, is as good a place to start as any. Robertson spent much of his childhood in Canada, where his father, a professional baseball player with the Seattle Indians, was in the Canadian Air Force during World War II. Robertson graduated from Blaine High School and spent two years at Western Washington University before signing a contract to play center field for the Portland Beavers.

Before playing a game, he quit baseball and accepted the play-by-play job with the Wenatchee Chiefs, a minor-league baseball team.

"I don't think too much about it anymore, but for years I wondered if I made the right decision," Robertson said. "After I turned 30, I knew baseball was over for me."

Next stop is South Bend, Ind., 1955, where Notre Dame hired Robertson to anchor its fledgling school-run television station. Although he spent less than a year covering the Fighting Irish, it's one of the highlights of his career.

Next stop is Pullman, 1964, where Robertson began broadcasting football games for Washington State. It was a match made in Cougars heaven.

Next stop is Seattle, 1969, where Robertson began calling Huskies games for three years because his radio station, KVI, bought the broadcast rights to the crossstate rival.

The final stop is Pullman again, 1972, where Robertson returned to WSU. In addition to calling football games, he did play-by-play for men's basketball until 1994, when he was replaced by Bud Nameck.

Former WSU coach Kelvin Sampson supposedly wanted an announcer who lived near Pullman. Robertson has resided in the Tacoma area since 1950. Years later, Sampson phoned Robertson and told him he had nothing to do with his firing.

"It's not important now," said Robertson, who received the Chris Schenkel Award from the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004. "I'm just happy to still be working."

Between Bellingham and Pullman, Robertson has covered just about every sport — professional and amateur — in Washington and Oregon.

He's done it all, from table tennis to hydroplanes — roller derby, the Seattle and Tacoma Rainiers, boxing, rodeo, high schools, Seattle Totems hockey, Sounders and Portland Timbers soccer, professional wrestling, Seattle University men's basketball and Pacific Lutheran University men's and women's basketball.

He never broadcast a Seahawks game and never had any interest in calling NBA games, declining two NFL and two NBA jobs in the 1960s and early '70s.

But if there's any regret, it's a missed chance to call major-league baseball.

Robertson recites lines from "Bull Durham" when he talks about his three-game stint in 1992 as Mariners broadcaster.

"Yeah, I was in the show," Crash Davis said. "I was in the show for 21 days once — the 21 greatest days of my life."

Robertson was a finalist in 1977 when the expansion Mariners chose Niehaus as their play-by-play voice. For years, Robertson believed he might be considered for an analyst position with the team, but he never got the chance.

"I had my cup of coffee in the bigs," he said, laughing. "I had a great time. I'd still go [to the major leagues] right now if they asked, but at my age, they're not going to ask."

But Robertson doesn't want anybody to feel sorry for him.

While Joanne is recovering, he's preparing for his 43rd season with the Cougars in the fall and a return next year as the voice of the minor-league Spokane Indians, his summer job since 1999.

Robertson's recent sabbatical from the radio booth has made him eager to get behind the microphone again, calling games like he has for 61 years and ending each broadcast with his signature goodbye: "Always be a good sport, be a good sport all ways."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com

K Chorlton

2009-05-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

One of the great mysteries of the Western International League has been solved.

For many years, I’ve been hearing about K Chorlton. “K was his first name, just the letter K,” stated the Dean of Official Scorers, Pat Karl, who saw him play for several seasons at Capilano Stadium.

Due to other activities that keep me occupied through the end of June, the blog has been sitting idle. But I should pass on word of the passing, albeit two months ago, of Mr. Chorlton.

You’ve seen reported on this blog K was a star in high school ball in Seattle, and ended up spending much of his professional career trodding the 99 from the outfield at Cap Stadium to the one in the identical Sick Stadium in the Emerald City. In fact, he refused to report to the Rainiers in 1954 because he was getting paid more money to play Class A ball.

That fine writer and researcher, and B.C. ball fan, Tom Hawthorn, managed to convince Toronto’s National Newspaper, the Globe and Mail, to publish his obit of a long-forgotten Vancouver outfielder. As the Globe story is no longer on the newspaper’s web site, allow me to pass it on. It features Tom’s usual thorough research and answers the question of how K became K.

Run-in nixed chance at the big leagues
Fast-running player for the Seattle Rainiers argued with manager Rogers Hornsby
TOM HAWTHORN
Special to The Globe and Mail

April 1, 2009

VICTORIA -- The ballplayer showed a steady bat and good, if occasionally suspect, fielding, as well as terrific speed in the field and on the basepaths. But what many fans first noticed was his first name, K, which K Chorlton insisted be spelled without a period.

The 11th letter is not a big kahuna in the alphabet, though it does serve as shorthand for kilometres, or kindergarten, or the element potassium, or a unit of 1,024 bytes. In baseball, K signifies a strikeout, which makes it an excellent nickname for a pitcher.

K Chorlton was an outfielder.

Outfielders do not care to strike out. As it turns out, the moniker carried with it no baseball meaning.

In 1949, Mr. Chorlton turned professional with the Vancouver Capilanos. The team was managed by Bob Brown, a penny-pincher by nature and circumstance. An American who played football for Notre Dame, Mr. Brown had volunteered as a cavalryman for the Spanish-American War, listing cowpuncher as his occupation on the enlistment form.

At the time, the Capilanos played out of Athletic Park at Sixth and Hemlock, a wooden bandbox Mr. Brown built by his own hand in 1913. As he cleared a lot the size of a city block, he carried in his back pocket sticks of dynamite, which he used to remove stumps.

Mr. Chorlton’s career in Vancouver spanned the move to spanking-new Capilano Stadium midway through the 1951 season. (The old park was torn down to make way for a ramp at the south end of the Granville Street Bridge.)

With his speed, Mr. Chorlton often batted leadoff for Vancouver. He became a fan favourite.

“One of the prettiest local sights on a summer’s evening is that of Chorlton scudding around the basepaths out at the ballpark,” Eric Whitehead wrote in The Province. “Graceful as a young gazelle and about as speedy, Chorlton would rate a quick boost up the ladder if he could only develop the elusive knack of getting on the basepaths more often.”

Mr. Chorlton patrolled centre field for parts of four seasons with Vancouver. In 1950, he played for the Victoria Athletics, recording a sterling .333 average in 249 at-bats. He found Royal Athletic Park a comfortable home, knocking 10 doubles, six triples and four home runs.

K Chorlton first gained notice as a brilliant athlete at Roosevelt High in his Seattle birthplace. He led the basketball Roughriders to a state championship in his junior year of 1946 and the baseball team to a city title the same year.

He also played for the football team, but his father, a chiropractor, refused to allow him to take part in contact, so he handled punting duties. The kicking assignment didn't prevent him from scoring touchdowns on consecutive weeks, one following a bad snap, the other on a fake punt. When the Teddies track team challenged the baseball nine, he won both the 100- and 200-yard dashes.

In 2004, the Seattle Times named him the top Rider athlete of all time. He was inducted into the school's sports hall of fame the following year.

As a senior, Mr. Chorlton was selected to play in the second annual sandlot all-star game sponsored by Hearst newspapers at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, where he met the legendary Joe DiMaggio. The New York Yankees outfielder was recovering from a knee injury.

Mr. Chorlton recounted the meeting in a newspaper interview five years ago.

“I admire you so much,” the teenager told the star.

“I wish I had your legs,” Mr. DiMaggio replied.

One of the all-star coaches was Honus Wagner, while Babe Ruth was on hand as honorary chairman of the event. Mr. Chorlton's all-star team defeated a New York team 13-2. He hit a double, while teammate Bill (Moose) Skowron hit an inside-the-park homer. Mr. Skowron went on to enjoy a long career in the majors, mostly with the Yankees.

Mr. Chorlton was scouted by baseball’s Boston Braves, Detroit Tigers, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and Washington Senators. Instead, the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder accepted a scholarship from the University of Washington, where he played baseball and basketball for the Huskies. He was later named to the university’s All-Century Team in baseball.

He signed with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League for $10,000 in 1949. The Rainiers assigned him to Vancouver.

The Coast League was a Triple-A circuit, one notch below the majors. The clubs paid competitive salaries and more than one athlete preferred to remain on the coast before the majors expanded westward.

The Rainiers called him up several times. His speed made him valuable, but he never managed to get enough hits. His fate was sealed one game when he dropped a routine fly ball. This so incensed the manager, Rogers Hornsby, a Baseball Hall of Famer not known for kindness, that he added to Mr. Chorlton’s embarrassment by yanking him from the field immediately after the play.

Mr. Chorlton did not take the insult well. He swore and argued with the manager in the dugout. Mr. Hornsby did not brook insubordination and he knew how to carry a grudge. Whatever long shot Mr. Chorlton had at winning a roster spot on a big-league club was lost.

(The deliberate humiliation of a young player angered Seattle newspaper columnist Emmett Watson, who lambasted the manager in the next day's paper. Afterward, he was asked if his story angered the misanthropic Mr. Hornsby. “I don’t really know,” Mr. Watson said. “He treats me so bad when he’s in a good mood, I couldn’t tell the difference.”)

Mr. Chorlton spent his final two seasons in Vancouver, where he endured a sore arm and suffered a broken ankle. He retired after the 1954 campaign, which was his best ever in pro ball. He hit .349 for the Capilanos, while smacking 16 homers. Both were career highs.

Mr. Chorlton became a salesman and later a sales executive for a company selling fuel additives. He remained active in the Washington Athletic Club, where his Rainiers jersey is on display to this day.

After the death of his wife, Diane, he discovered romance again with Gloria Ehrig, a former college classmate.

K’s was not the only odd name in the Chorlton family. His father, James, who had played baseball briefly with the Tacoma Tigers, married a woman named Ffolliott. They gave her name to their daughter, who, as Fluff LeCoque, worked as a dancer for Liberace’s show on the Las Vegas Strip in 1947.

As it turns out, K’s parents named him after a cousin, who was christened Kermit, a name he despised. A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, Kermit began using a solo initial, a tag passed on to his young relative.

Over the years, newspapers referred to K as Jim Chorlton (mistaking him for his older brother) or Frank Chorlton. They always seemed to print the K with a period.

His given name was Byron, apt perhaps for a poet, less so for a ballplayer.

K Chorlton
Byron Chorlton was born on Oct. 26, 1928, in Seattle. He died of pneumonia on March 17, 2009, in Bellevue, Wash. He was 80. He leaves four children, 10 grandchildren and a sister. He was predeceased by his wife, Diane, and by a brother, James.

Oh, how did he get the name ‘Byron’, you ask?

Hmm. We’re still working on that one.

Lucky Lohrke

2009-05-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

The man who survived the most tragic event in the history of the Western International League has passed away this month. He survived through a freak situation that forever tagged him with the nickname “Lucky.”

Here are a couple of links to stories about the late Jack Lohrke. First, from The San Diego News Network and BetUs.com

There are a number of links on this web site to contemporary news reports of the horrible bus crash of 1946 which fate decreed Lohrke would avoid. One is here.

Since links are known to go dead, here is the first story by sports columnist Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton:

Hacksaw Hamilton: ‘Lucky’ learned life’s hard lessons
By Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton, SDNN
[May 7, 2009]

The best year of his life became the worst year of his life, and his life was never the same again.

Baseball history of years gone by has given us players with nicknames. “Pepper” Martin (Cardinals). Walter “Big Train” Johnson (Senators). “Vinegar Bend” Mizell (Pirates). And of course the Babe (Ruth), the Georgia Peach (Cobb), Sey Hey (Mays), Hammerin Hank (Aaron).

Jack Lohrke, a former San Diego Padre, had a nickname he never wanted, one that haunted him forever - “Lucky.”

They held a funeral service for him this week in San Jose after the longtime third baseman/outfielder passed away at the age of 85. But the memory of what he experienced, the year he starred in San Diego, had never gone away. Baseball is made up of so much history. In this case, it was sad history.

Jack Lohrke, on a fast track to the major leagues, was a slugging third baseman with the 1946 Padres in the high-powered Pacific Coast League. He spent half a season here and went on to a seven-year career as the starting third baseman with the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies.

His career stretched from 1942 to 1959, starting as an 18-year-old with the Padres prior to the war before getting to the Polo Grounds and Connie Mack Stadium. He went from riding buses to playing with the Giants in a World Series. His life experiences involved World War II combat and a baseball tragedy never forgotten.

The best statistical year of his life was the 1946 season that started in the lower minor leagues with Spokane in the Class B Western International League and ended with the PCL-Padres before his promotion to join the Giants. Lohrke hit .345 that mystical minor league season in Spokane. He hit .303 with eight homers with the Padres, called up by then-owner and baseball historian Bill Starr. Those were impressive stats. In that era, the Coast League was almost as good as the big leagues.

But his life was forever changed in a 15-minute span on the night of June 25, 1946. Lohrke was taken off the team bus by a Washington state highway officer. The Padres had called the owner of the Spokane Indians, telling him San Diego was purchasing Lohrke’s contract, and he was to report immediately. The call came hours after Lohrke had hit a 380-foot home run off a scoreboard clock.

The Indians were in the middle of a road trip. They had played a 16-inning game that day. They were headed from Salem, Oregon through the Cascades en route to their next stop on their trip. They stopped in Central Washington, near Ellensburg to have dinner that night. It was there the State Patrol got the message to Lohrke. He was to catch a ride to Spokane and then on to San Diego.

He got to his next destination. His teammates never did. He never forgot that night. The sports world wouldn’t let him either.

The Spokane Indians, a team made up of kids and grizzled World War II combat veterans, who all had hopes of playing in the big leagues, boarded that bus. Fifteen minutes later nine were dead, seven others injured. Lives snuffed out, careers shattered, families left without fathers, Indians players left without teammates. A clubhouse of empty lockers.

On a drizzly night, as the bus drove up winding roads in the mountains, a car came left of center. The bus swerved to avoid the car, hit the guardrail on the two-lane highway, and plunged 350 feet down an embankment, rolling over, catching fire. Bodies were ejected. Players were crushed. Flames engulfed one and all. It was the worst crash involving a sports team of that era.

Jack Lohrke’s roommate, San Diego native outfielder Freddy Martinez, was on the bus and perished. He had a team high .353 batting average and might have been the next player headed to the Padres to play in his hometown. Spokane’s bright young manager, 25-year old Mel Cole died. Their top pitcher, 22-game winner Bob Kinnaman, on loan from Casey Stengel’s Oakland Oaks, was killed too.

As word of the horrific tragedy spread, baseball reached out to put its arms around the franchise. Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey assigned players from his vast network of farm teams to help Spokane finish out the season. The Indians later became a vital farm team in the Dodgers Blue system. The entire league donated one day’s gate receipts to the families of Lohrke’s dead teammates, $118,000.

Eleven days later, with only two pitchers left from that staff, Spokane went back on the field and went 22-52 in a saddened season of meaningless games.

Days later Jack Lohrke made it to San Diego, but had the emotionally draining chore of driving two of his teammates widows with him here, before he joined the Padres. His best minor league season ever would be shrouded in the sadness of what happened to his friends and what could have happened to him.

Lohrke played well with the Padres, but did not do well off the field. Hounded by the nightmare of faces he remembered, he struggled. The media tagged him with the “Lucky” nickname.

He had seen a lot in life. In 1944, with the Army, he was part of the second tier that landed at Normandy. Soldiers on either side of him were hit by sniper fire, killed instantly. He survived. Lucky.

Months later, trapped in the forest in the Battle of the Bulge, under enormous fire by German artillery, his fox hole took a hit. Soldiers on both sides died. He did not. Lucky.

In 1945, awaiting exit orders from the Army, he was to fly from Fort Dix in New Jersey to California to be discharged. He was bumped from the flight by a higher officer. The plane crashed in Kansas en route, killing all twenty soldiers on board. Lucky.

And now this in 1946, on a mountain road in Central Washington. To honor his fallen friends, Lohrke wore a red warmup shirt beneath his Padres uniform for the rest of that 300-hitting season. It had been in the equipment bag he had taken from the bus as it pulled away that night. A month after the conclusion of that campaign, he was drafted by the New York Giants, becoming their starting third sacker.

I interviewed Jack Lohrke years ago while doing sports talk radio in Phoenix. I wish I had not. It was a hard interview. I felt uncomfortable asking him about that night, his Spokane teammates, and how he soldiered on. We talked about the 1951 Giants, and how he was in the on-deck circle when Bobby Thompson hit the “Shot Heard Round the World” versus the Dodgers.

Jack Lohrke stopped doing interviews in 1995, after a book was written about the tragedy surrounding his life, wishing to be left alone with his memories and thoughts. The nickname had many connotations. Lucky to be alive. Not so lucky to have to remember what he lived through and what he experienced from 1944 to 1946. The Baseball Encyclopedia lists him with that name.

Nicknames were part of baseball lore then. Harry “The Cat” Breecheen, Harvey “The Kitten” Haddix, Joe “Ducky” Medwick. I thought of what his nickname meant, and how sad the real meaning of “Lucky” Jack Lohrke was.

And here is the other story by another fine writer.

The Legend of Jack "Lucky" Lohrke
by Ian James
[May 13, 2009]

Jack Lohrke passed away earlier this month, and that name probably means nothing to the average baseball fan. He was a mediocre major league infielder in the 1940s and 1950s with a lifetime batting average was .242, and he hit 22 home runs and drew 111 walks in 914 official at-bats. The legacy that Lohrke left and the tragic circumstances which he got his nickname “lucky”, is what made Lohrke a ledgend.

Lohrke died Wednesday at a San Jose, Calif., hospital two days after having a stroke at his home. Discovered as a teenager in the early 1940s on the semipro fields of Los Angeles , Lohrke spent seven seasons with the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies after serving in World War II.

But as the story goes, he’s lucky to have made it out of WWII. By the time he was 22, it is said that he escaped death at least six times. Fighting as a member of the 35th Infantry Division, he stormed the beach on D-Day in the invasion at Normandy and was involved in the Battle of the Bulge. On four occasions, solders on both sides of him were killed in combat, and Lucky emerged unscathed.

Lohrke was always quick to insist throughout his life that his brushes with death were no big deal, but history told another tale.

Upon his discharge from the Army in 1945, he was bumped from a military transport plane at the last minute to make room for someone more important. That plane crashed 45 minutes later, killing all on board.

It was truly a matter of fate that Lucky Lohrke was still alive, but this was just the beginning. In 1946 he was playing for the Spokane Indians of the Western International League. They had just played 16 innings against a team from Salem, Oregon, capping off a seven-game series and were on the road to Bremerton for the next series.

Jack Lohrke became "Lucky" Lohrke as a result of a phone message that was waiting for Indians manager Mel Cole when the team arrived at pit stop for dinner. It had been left by San Diego Padres owner Bill Starr instructing Lohrke to report to the AAA affiliate in San Diego as soon as possible.

The other players finished up their meal, said some goodbyes and boarded the bus bound for Bremerton. Lohrke, then 22, bummed a ride back to Spokane not knowing the catastrophe that he had avoided.

Jack Lohrke made it to San Diego; the bus bound for Bremerton did not make it to its destination. On a winding part of the highway, the bus lost control and catapulted the loaded vehicle over the edge of a 300-foot cliff, killing 9 men aboard including his two roommates.

Lohrke had stated that none of his close calls at war had the emotional impact of the bus crash that took eight of his teammates and the driver. The trip from Spokane to San Diego was made all the more difficult as he was accompanied by the young widows of two of his fallen friends.

Lohrke went on to a respectable seven-year major league career and lived a long and prosperous life. His baseball career was highlighted by a career high of 11 home runs as a Giant rookie in 1947. Two of those were history making as he hit the Giants' 182nd home run of the season, which tied the 1936 New York Yankees’ team record, and then hit the 183rd.

Lucky retired from baseball in 1958, and worked in security for the Lockheed Missile and Space Co. in Sunnyvale, Calif. In addition to Marie, whom he married in 1948, Lohrke is survived by six children; 10 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

He mentioned in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 1994 that he never thought much of his nickname, “I’ll tell you this: Nobody outside of baseball calls me Lucky Lohrke these days, the name is Jack. Jack Lohrke.”

We at the WIL Blog extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Lohrke’s family. He was a fine player for Spokane and, by all accounts, a fine human being.

Looking for WIL stats?

2009-05-15T07:23:00.001-07:00

I get e-mails periodically about people who played in the Western International League and direct them to the SABR Minor League database.

Since the URL has changed, I'll post it here.

Check out THIS site .. a work still in progress, we might add .. if you're interested in available numbers from old minor leagues and their players.

SABR's always looking for extra information, especially about birth dates and locations, so if you see a blank spot that you can fill in, don't hestitate to contact the people at SABR handling the database.

Volpi Makes the Trains Run on Time

2009-02-16T01:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still here, but tied up with other commitments until June. So you won't see a lot of action on the WIL blogs. Sorry. But I've been meaning to post this.

In between the demise of the first Western International League in 1922 and its revival in 1937, there were extremely active semi-pro circuits in the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver had its own; an "A" and a "B" league (and another one below that). Occasionally, the Vancouver teams would play exhibition matches against clubs from Bellingham.

Some of these players later ended up with the Vancouver clubs in the WIL. Ernie Kershaw is one (he is still with us). Another was catcher Frank Volpi.

Frank was property of the Oakland Oaks, and spent parts of three seasons with the PCL club in Emoryville. Jim Price, noted Spokane baseball historian, pointed out to me the Oaks had a deal with Bob Brown, the de-facto head of the Senior League in Vancouver, to send young players here for a bit of seasoning, there being no minor league in the northwest at the time. Dario Lodigiani was one; he won a batting championship. Volpi and Henry Martinez were sent to Vancouver in 1936 to play for Brown's Athletics.

In doing some research for Jim, I came across this piece in the Vancouver Sun of September 4, 1936. Evidently, the horrors of Fascism weren't known at the time. A few years later, I can't see Volpi—or too many other Italian-Americans—comparing themselves with pride to Benito Mussolini. But Volpi does it in this story.

Frank bounced around the WIL, including a stint back at Brown's Athletic Park in 1939, which was also the last year he would appear in the Coast League or any classification above 'B'. He died on February 9, 1997 in San Jose, the place of his birth in 1913.

As a side-note, the “Wilkie” referred to in the story is Aldon Wilkie, who spent a couple of years in the Senior League after arriving from Saskatchewan before going on to a major league career, and concluding his baseball life in the WIL.

Volpi Has His Say
* * *
Athletic Boss Tells Why
* * *
Team to Clean Up
Francis Volpi, Athletic manager, toyed with a large piece of hickory, took a last took at it and decided it was ready for the campaign against the very winnish Arrows.
“They think Arrows will beat us in the finals eh,” he chortled with a faint trace of an Italian accent. “That’s a laugh. This is a season for Italian generals ... look at Mussolini, they said he couldn’t beat the Ethiopians.”
Mr. Volpi wouldn’t be related to old Muss or wouldn’t think he had the same winning characteristics, would he?
“Well, we both give signals with a right hand, didn’t we? Of course Mussolini holds his hand out in the open and I gotta hide ‘em with my glove, but it’s just the same thing. And we are both Italian aren’t we and we both eat spaghetti.”
He knew of course that Arrows uncorked a barrage of exploding hits every game now and might blast a lot of holes in Athletics.
“Sure they have, but anybody can hit if you put the old apple where they like it. I been studying the blue prints. I’ll make those chuckers of ours throw the ball where Arrows can’t touch it. They all got a weakness and I figure I know ‘em all just like Mussolini knew how to climb into Ethiopia ... me and Muss.”
FRANKIE KNOWS
Now Hall and Miron, Clarke, too, are hitting the cover off the ball. They don’t seem to be short on anything.
“Yah! Well Hall can’t hit a change of pace if you tease him with a fast ball. Miron is all right if you don’t get ‘em too close to his chin and as for Clarke he can’t hit fast pitching. Just wait for those twisters.”
All right then, they won’t hit, but Athletics can’t win without any runs and Wilkie and Olsen have developed a strange habit of throwing ‘em by all batters lately.
ROSS SHOULD HELP
“Nuts on those guys. The only way for us to keep from hitting is to put our hands in our pickets. Our power is all on the right side of the dish now we got Ross Edy. We’re liable to kill somebody out there. They’ll have to get bicycles for their outfielders.”
Arnold & Quigley got some good hitters but they didn’t need to put their digits in their jeens to go hitless.
“No wonder, they wouldn’t hustle. Boy, we’re full of spinach. We’ll eat those guys.”
Perhaps he could say right quick how many games it would take to beat Arrows in this final playoff. He could.
“Four straight. Pate has gotta get back to school and Martinez and I want to go back to Oakland Club. We’re in a hurry.”
And that’s that. Francis “Mussolini” Volpi has it all figured out. It’s a cinch.
It starts tonight at 8 o’clock, the first game of the final playoff ... Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Come ovah! Come ovah! The show starts right away.

WIL 1939 Season Opens

2008-09-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

It’s going to be some time before I get to the pre-war Western International League game-by-game page, so below you’ll find the opening day highlights. I’ll add a Hal Straight sidebar soon; Hal was a lefthanded pitcher in Bob Brown’s senior league in the, I think, late ’20s before his stellar newspaper career.

Some 1939 WIL background: Brown took over the Maple Leafs franchise from the Jones family (at the request of the league, said Bob), moved it to Athletic Park, and named it the Capilanos. The Vancouver Archives has some fine public domain photos from the 1939 season, including this one on the right. You can really see the unbelievable slope of the field. I think that’s the old Granville Bridge in the background (someone reading, I’m sure, can confirm that). If I had a 1939 programme, I might be able to tell you (please avoid going into a circa 1939 radio routine now) who’s on first, but Wayne McCue played 103 games for the Caps there that season.

This one gives you an idea of the short right field distance. Note the large, tacky owl on the Owl Drugs sign.

Since the ’39 season ended more than a few days ago, it’s not spoiling anything to tell you Wenatchee won the championship, seven games ahead of Tacoma. Bill Skelley of the Chiefs won the batting title, hitting .366, Morrie Abbott of the Tigers smashed 37 homers, while Yakima’s Hub Kittle was the only 20-game winner.

Knowledgable major league fans will notice a couple of familiar names in the story below. Yes, that is Floyd "Almost Tossed a No-Hitter" Bevens, in his second year with Wenatchee (he finally made the Yankees in 1944). And Vancouver’s Rigney is none other than Bill Rigney, who ended up in a Bellingham uniform before the season was out, long before his fine playing career with the New York Giants and his managing tenure around the majors.

The last 1939 photo below is of Bob Brown (the Archives caption simply calls him "man". And they’re supposed to be keepers of history! Tsk). He’s in the office that was destroyed by the 1945 Athletic Park fire. The Archives has a number of other well-preserved baseball shots; my favourite is the Vancouver Beavers carrying the Northwestern League pennant with one of the old beehive burners along False Creek benignly and continously spewing their blackish product of progress into a dismay spring sky.

W.I. League Ready for Big Ball Opening.
- - -
Brown Cuts Team Down; Plays Wenatchee Tomorrow
[Vancouver Sun, Saturday, April 22, 1939]
SEATTLE, April 22—The hustling, popular Western International Baseball League opens its third season tomorrow and president F.H. Knickerbocker expects the year to be the league’s best so far.
Two of the six clubs have new owners and different names. The increased player limit—16—is new. The opening week has been changed around to give fans in all cities a quick look at every team in the league, and to top it off, there’s even a new umpire to differ with—Cecil Morgan, formerly of the Arizona-Texas League.
One of the “new clubs” is Spokane, named Indians instead of Hawks, tied up with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League and owners of Twin Falls of the new Pioneer League.
Spokane finished in next to last place last year, but new owner William P. Ulrich looks for a different story this season. He is counting on two ex-Seattle players, McCormack and Serventi.
VANCOUVER ON OWN
Vancouver is the other new club, with its name changed from Maple Leafs to Capilanos and veteran baseball man Bob Brown now the owner. Despite its independence of big league teams, Vancouver’s outlook is promising.
Tacoma Tigers, who won the first pennant but finished in last place last year, have vowed to make a strong showing this season.
Yakima’s Pippins, who won in the regular playing season last year only to lose the flag to Bellingham’s Chinooks in the play-offs, have virtually the same pennant-contending team on hand.
The Wenatchee Chiefs, connected with the New York Yankees, have a hustling team of youngsters who are expected to go far.
Bellingham is tied up with Hollywood of the Coast League.
The opening schedule finds Bellingham at Spokane, Tacoma at Yakima and Vancouver at Wenatchee. On Monday, Bellingham jumps to Yakima, Tacoma goes to Wenatchee and Vancouver to Spokane.
HERE NEXT THURSDAY
April 25 and 26, Bellingham will be at Wenatchee, Tacoma at Spokane and Vancouver at Yakima. On April 27, the line-up will be Wenatchee at Bellingham, Spokane at Tacoma and Yakima at Vancouver. April 29, Wenatchee will be at Tacoma, Yakima at Bellingham and Spokane at Vancouver. The 30th will find Yakima at Wenatchee and Vancouver at Tacoma.
May 2-5 will find the teams settling down for their first full-week stands: Bellingham and Spokane, Wenatchee at Yakima and Tacoma at Vancouver.
Merle Pedegani was released from the Capilano roster yesterday when Frank Volpi reported for catching duty. Pedegani was playing the outfield in practise games while Ralph Samhammer was behind the plate. But Volpi arrived from Oakland and was given the catching duties, moving Samhammer to the outfield and displacing Pedegani.
Pedegani has been released outright to the Class D Boise Club of the Pioneer league.
Don Osborne, leading Vancouver pitcher last year, has been given the starting assignment for the opening game in Wenatchee Sunday.

Chiefs Find Capilano Chuckers Osborne and Malman Easy Picking
- - -
Vancouver Only Get Four Blows; High Wind Spoils Opening; Ross Edy Looks Good, Hal O’Banion Works Smart Game for Wenatchee.
- - -
By HAL STRAIGHT
Vancouver Sun Sports Editor
[April 24, 1939]
WENATCHEE.—They are calling Vancouver Capilanos the “Mystery Team” around the Western International belt and as far as last night was concerned in their opening game you can make that a murder mystery.
There was a howling wind, the eerie atmosphere, and the villainous laughs of the Wenatchee Chiefs as they murdered two Vancouver pitchers with 12 smashing blows—righthander Don Osborne and lefthander [Joe] Malman. The wind spoiled the opening here, only 1500 turning out.
Vancouver started out on top, scoring two runs in the second inning. At that time ace Don Osborne was going well, his curve ball breaking as sharp as the Cariboo road (we’re in the mood for roads at present) and his fast ball hopping on a following wind. Then suddenly Osborne was fresh out of curve balls and the Chiefs had a basehit pow-wow.
DOUBTFUL ALIBI
Osborne alibi’d after the game that the wind spoiled his curve, to which Johnny Kerr didn’t pay much notice, as Bevens of Wenatchee only allowed four hits and he had the same wind. That’s one thing the eager townfolk here can’t fix for their beloved ball team ... I’m sure they can’t.
Bill Bevens, however, wasn’t the most accurate pitcher and got off his course seven times on the stormy baseball sea, that many men getting free dockage at first base.
Incidentally, Hal O’Banion, former of Vancouver Athletics, caught for the Chiefs and looked very good. His throwing arm has improved, he has a quick shift and works his pitcher very smartly.
Wenatchee tied the ball game in the third, scoring a deuce, then Vancouver went out in front in the fourth inning, Ross Edy scoring a run, driven in by Frank Volpi, another Vancouver Athletic catcher.
Then the Chiefs came right back with three runs, added a single in the next inning—the sixth—and got two more in the seventh. Rigney, who got two of Vancouver’s hits, didn’t have any dust on those gold-rimmed spectacles he wears, and hit a homer to complete Vancouver’s scoring. He got another hit earlier.
Skelley and Bonnetti hit home runs for the Chiefs.
Ross Edy looked like he’s been playing pro ball all his life. He went away back into the north winds and caused the apple blossoms to blow into the wide open Wenatchee mouths as he pulled down a tough fly.
Paul McGinnes was in uniform, but the Seattle-owned slicker didn’t play. Johnny Kerr was on second instead ... in fact, now they have McGinnes they do not know what to do with him, which is a lot of ball players to have hanging around doing nothing.
VOLPI LOOKS GOOD
Frank Volpi is just twice the catcher he used to be in Vancouver. And he’s a hitter, too ... Wenatchee has a team of giants and look very, very formidable ... McCue and Stewart, his siege guns, failed to fire, but Bob claims that won’t happen very often ... Cailtaux, third baseman, looked like the neatest defensive player on the club ... accurate flipper ... covers plenty of ground, charges the ball...
Today, Vancouver moves to Spokane, but not with this writer. I give up ... Thursday they will be in Vancouver to open up so I suppose it is raining up there.
Vancouver ..... 020 020 100—5 4 1
Wenatchee .... 002 031 20x—8 12 0
Osborne, Malman (7) and Volpi; Bevens and O’Banion.

YAKIMA, April 23 [TSN]—Two big innings, in which they scored six of their runs, gave Tacoma a 7-2 victory over Yakima, 1938 league champions, in the season’s curtain-raiser, played before 3,500 fans. Pitcher Bob Cole, who went the route for the Tigers, handcuffed the Pippins with five hits. Tacoma unloosed a four-run barrage against Hurler Johnny Lewis in the third stanza, featured by a homer by Morrie Abbott with Harriman and Colbern aboard. Yakima tallied once in the last of the third, and there was no more scoring until the eighth, when the Bengals drove Lewis to cover with a two-run blast. The Pippins threatened in the seventh, when Jacobs and Fernandez singled in succession, but Cole forced Peterson to hit into a double play to snuff out the uprising.
Tacoma ...... 004 000 021—7 11 2
Yakima ....... 001 000 010—2 5 2
Cole and Clifford; Lewis and Lorenz.

SPOKANE, April 23 [TSN]—A pass to Ken Manning, followed by singles by Manager Bernie deViveiros and Al Marchi, after two were out in the ninth inning, gave Spokane a 10 to 9 decision over Bellingham, in the season’s inaugural, before 6,591 fans at Ferris Field. The game was a see-saw battle from start to finish, with each club collecting 14 safe hits. Trailing 6 to 5, going into the last half of the seventh inning, the Tribe went into the lead, when Outfielder Levi McCormack poled a 342-foot home run over the left field barrier, scoring Dwight Aden ahead of him. Bellingham tied the count with a run in the eighth, the result of two safeties and an error, but the Indians came back in the home half with a pair of runs on singles by Marchi, Windsor and Hornig and Byram’s walk. The Chinooks again evened the score in the first of the ninth on two bingles, a base on balls and a walk, producing two markers, with Spokane putting over the winning in the final half.
Bellingham ..... 100 001 412—9 16 2
Spokane ........ 001 400 221—10 16 1
McGahan, Olson (4), Shutte (9) and Rush, Lassell; Jonas, Windsor (7) and Clawitter.

Victoria's Royal Athletic Park

2008-09-14T03:06:00.001-07:00

Here's a photo from the BC Provincial Archives collection of a game at Royal Athletic Park in 1946. And to look at those empty seats and realise this was one of the better drawing seasons, around 103,000 fans.

The Athletics drew about 148,000 in 1948, the best in their brief history. When the Tyees suddenly folded near the end of the 1954 season, the attendance number was a mere 28,000. The CJVI announcer is an inset. I have no idea who it might be; I don't believe Bill Stephenson had arrived there at that point.

Pat Karl, the official scorer at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver, used to go to see the Athletics play when he was a kid and explains there was a dogleg in right field. I don't know if you can see it in the photo.

What's New For 1946 and 1947

2008-09-12T02:07:00.000-07:00

Before getting to anything else, George Nicholas’ grandson sent a nice e-mail. When George wasn’t making suits, he was pitching, and for four seasons did it for the Vancouver Capilanos (62 wins). He also spent time with the Tacoma Tigers and in the PCL with San Diego. I mentioned to Jeffrey that this year, the fence along the barbeque area on the 1st base side at Nat Bailey (né Capilano) Stadium has highlights of the team’s history since 1951 when the stadium opened. Next to a large “1951” is a large blown up picture (it takes up the whole high fence) of a swarthy pitcher. It’s George Nicholas. I thought it was to commemorate George’s no-hitter for Vancouver—except he tossed that in 1950 in Athletic Park. So, I don’t know why they picked George. To be honest, I never did get a close look at the wall so I don’t know what the caption under his name says. There’s also a large photo of four of the players on the ’54 pennant winner in the last WIL season.

If Jeffrey sends any pictures I’ll put them up.

As for the site...

It’s September which means I’m tied up with fraternal groups. So work will be minimal here. Sorry.

I’ve added a few things. You’ll see columns from the three Vancouver papers on this page for 1946. On the 1947 site, I’ve added the WIL-related columns from the Vancouver Sun. Keith Matthews had been handed a Saturday baseball column when he came over from the News-Herald to cover the Caps. Alf Cottrell still wrote about the team on occasion. And Don Carlson, a former ball player (likely semi-pro), took over as sports editor and he contributed a piece. You’ll find stuff on umpires and the flap when Lee Mohr quite the club when Seattle stiffed him on a call-up. And, since I haven’t mentioned it before, 1954 is finished except for the year-end stats.

So, here’s what I’ll be working on over the next few months.
• Finishing daily standings for 1946. [done]
• Removing 1946 game material from here and placing it on the 1946 site.
• Adding Ken McConnell’s 1947 columns on baseball from the Vancouver Province (there were maybe eight of them, including one answering the question “Where did infield prospect Lavis York get to?”). [done]
• Formatting the 1953 and 1954 year-end batting and pitching stats and putting them up.
• Stories and linescores on the start of the 1939 [done] and 1938 seasons.
• A short note on (and cartoon of) the first WIL broadcaster in Vancouver.

And since I’ve been linking to WIL pictures from several public libraries, here’s one from spring training 1954. It’s of Salem manager Hugh Luby with Al Lightner, sports editor of the Oregon Statesman. They’re in Napa, California. Luby had a fine career with both the Oakland Oaks and San Francisco Seals, and followed the well-worn trail blazed by many old PCL players to the Western International League. Despite calls by the sports editor of the Tri-City Herald to make him the first president of the Northwest League in 1955, he remained as manager (and sometime G.M.) of the Salem Senators for six seasons in both the WIL and NWL. He died in Eugene on 4th May 1986 at 72.

Some WIL Fan Net Picks

2008-09-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

Over 20 years ago, when I was researching every game played by the Pacific Coast League’s Vancouver Mounties and major events in baseball history in Vancouver, the only option I had was to sit in the main branch of the Vancouver Library and go through reels of newspaper microfilm and hand-write some notes. I still have those notes in a shoebox. Some day I may actually find time to do something with them.

Today, those microfilm reels are still there, though some are now scraped up and unreadable. One newspaper that I viewed in hard copy is now on reels and difficult to read thanks to the way the microfilm was shot.

However, today we also have the web and it’s amazing the places you can go to find things of interest to fans of the Western International League fans, and those of other minor baseball leagues of former times.

In an earlier post, I referred to digitised archival photos. But I want to tell you about a couple of other places:

• SABR has a huge project, still underway, to create a minor league player database. Records of some of the bye-gone days are incomplete. But it’s an admirable thing to try to accomplish as the records simply haven’t been accessible to most of us. However, if you go HERE you can peer into the database. As I say, it’s still under construction. Eventually, ball fans will wonder how anyone got along without that information. I’m so appreciative to the people who are working on this.

• Some of the information on this site and even some of the pictures come from a free on-line newspaper archive. THIS SITE IS DOWN AGAIN. I'LL POST THE URL AGAIN WHEN IT'S UP.

• Finally, something I stumbled on today by accident is a great Project Retrosheet database. It has scans of The Sporting News’ minor league umpire index cards. You see Amby Moran’s to the right (I learned from this card that Amby lived about seven or so blocks from me; probably in a rooming house in those days). Click HERE for the alphabetical listings. This arcanity may not be as popular as the minor league player historical database but it certainly is useful to researchers and I’m glad someone took the time to do this.

I’m sure there are more nooks and crannies of the web with some more useful research gems for fans of old minor leagues, but those are just a few I thought you might like to know about.

Tacoma 1937 Opener in Pictures

2008-09-04T03:31:00.000-07:00

It’s always a treat running into Western International League photos on-line, especially now that some public libraries have had the common sense to digitise their image collections and put them out there for the world to see.

The Tacoma Public Library is no exception, and amongst its baseball pictures are a number of the Tacoma Tigers of the WIL. There are several of Opening Day, 1937. I’m going to link to two of them here and you can go HERE to search under baseball for more.

The caption reads the "Stadium in background is filled with capacity crowd of around 4,000 spectators." It also informs us Tacoma split the double header with Vancouuver, but lost the four game series 3-1. The park is at 1302 South Sprague. Oh, you can click on both of these to enlarge them.

The caption says "On May 2, 1937, Abner Bergersen, Tacoma commissioner of public works, presented a gold watch to Tacoma Tigers player-manager Eddie Taylor for hitting the first home run by a Tiger for the 1937 season. Besides managing the team, Taylor was also the teams regular 2nd baseman. After the presentation, the Tigers went on to split a double header against Vancouver in front of 4,000 cheering fans. They won the first game 3 to 1, but lost the second 10 to 5."

For those who aren’t aware, the Vancouver team was not the Capilanos until 1939. That’s when Bob Brown took over the franchise and managed it for Sick’s Capilano Brewery. From 1937 to 1939, the team was called the Maple Leafs and played in Con Jones Park (for many years known as Callister Park, across from the PNE on Renfrew). The Leafs had financial troubles; Brown’s Senior League amateur baseball apparently drew better than pro ball. I’m not sure how crazy I am about the Leafs’ uniform design. There’s no indication which Vancouver players are in the picture.

There’s another photo of Taylor leading off the game with a double.

Clancy and Jim in the Hall of Fame

2008-08-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

54 years have passed since Bill Brenner wanted lead-footed Dick Greco out of the Capilanos’ outfield, and since John Ducey last ran a pro ball club. 54 years since jealous and self-indulgent club owners killed the Western International League to get rid of some unwanted kids in their baseball tree fort. Yet after all this time, the dear old WIL was still remembered as nine of us became the initial inductees of the Vancouver Canadians Hall of Fame media section.

There’s some irony in that the Canadians are in the Northwest League—formed, partly, because Vancouver was one of those unwanted kids (by the Americans) in that WIL tree fort 54 years ago.

Jim Robson, the Voice of the Vancouver Mounties, was one of the inductees, and talked about his first game at the old Athletic Park. He came over from North Vancouver by ferry and streetcar. The Capilanos were taking on the Bremerton Bluejackets and Jim recalled the game went 12 innings. He talked about the short distance to the right field screen and how the field had huge bumps in it because it had been constructed on reclaimed land using sawdust from the Giroday Sawmill at the bottom of the hill along False Creek. Jim was something like 11 at the time.

But the real WIL connection was in the form of 87-year-old Clancy Loranger, who covered the Capilanos from their revival at the end of the war through their demise, and then became the Dean of Pacific Coast League Writers (years ago, he was given a lifetime pass to all P.C.L. games), covering the Mounties’ move from Oakland in 1956 to their departure in 1969, and then advising Harry Ornest (a) not to try to bring P.C.L. ball back to Vancouver because (b) he’d lose everything; (a) Harry did, and (b) Harry didn’t. Clancy hung around the ball yard for a couple of seasons of the P.C.L. Canadians after before finally retiring.

What a treat it was to have him at the ceremony and to talk to him again. (Clancy is right of centre in the tan jacket)

Clancy asked if any of the stuff I’ve compiled on the WIL will be put into a book; Jim Robson has apparently been sending some of it to him. Alas, I doubt it will happen. Clancy then brought up the 1947 Capilanos championship and how they were stuck in a Yakima hotel waiting for word whether Vancouver had won. Clancy remembered two things about the hotel—that they had old-fashioned bathtubs “on stilts” (apparently, they were the old kind with legs on them) and that they served the best breakfast in the WIL.

He seemed pleased I had found some stories he had written for the long-dead Vancouver News-Herald (at the time of the championship in question, he had been promoted to sports editor), and those written for the same paper by the late Keith Matthews, with whom Clancy said he spent many a spring training.

And, no, he hasn’t slowed down too much with age, though his voice shakes a bit. He stayed for a couple of innings of Vancouver’s win and upon viewing a Greco-like crush of a fastball for extra bases, Clancy remarked “The fences used to be farther out.” He was right. They were brought in a bit more last year (and were farther still in the days of the Caps and Mounties).

I thought I had posted Clancy’s contemporary stories about championship day on the 1947 site. I hadn’t so I’ve done so now. But to save you some time hunting them down, you will find them below. The first two were written on either side of a picture of Bob Brown. A third, by an anonymous staff writer—Dan Ekman perhaps—is included as well. This is about the best tribute I can pay to a fine writer and columnist, and a fine gentleman. I’m humbled to even be considered to be in the same Hall as people of the calibre and character of Clancy Loranger and Jim Robson because I’m not in their league.

Oh, by an odd coincidence, the Barney Potts mentioned below was later (and very briefly) the morning man at CKWX. He replaced an individual who went full-time into sports. A fellow named Jim Robson.

Rainmaker Is Hero As Capilanos Clinch 1947 Willy Loop Pennant
Hectic Last Days Were Apt Climax To confusing But Amusing Season
By CLANCY LORANGER
News-Herald Sports Editor
[September 8, 1947]
YAKIMA.—And so, kiddies, our heroes drove off the big, bad Indians and lifted the mortgage on the W.I.L. pennant. The fingernail-biting finish of the race was a fitting climax to a season which had the so-called experts running around in circles, and the casual fan somewhat confused by it all. The latter, picking up his paper one day, would find the Caps in the midst of a robust rally that threatened to pitch them into first place any day. A week of so later the Brownies would be floundering in the second division, and having trouble with teams like Wenatchee.
The Vancouverites made two false starts in pursuit of the bunting before they finally did get settled down to the serious business of winning more than the next club.
After dropping the first four games of the season, Brenner and Co., getting fine pitching and some surprising hitting from rookies like Buddy Hjelmaa and Len Tran, set out on a nine-game victory streak that put ‘em right up there with the leaders.
ENTER BREMERTON
Then their pitching collapsed and after breaking even for the early part of May, they ran into their Bremerton nemesis. The Bluejackets took three in a row at Vancouver, then contributed five straight losses at the Navy Yard city to an eight-game Vancouver losing streak.
A couple of deals got them straightened out early in June. Lefty Carl Gunnarson was picked up from Salem in a trade for Hunk Anderson and Pete Jonas was signed (for half the ball park, ‘twas said). That got the hurling corps in shape again, and our boys were away once more; they won 18 of the next 27 games.
Then the Caps went to Bremerton again—and lost seven straight. Victoria added two more losses, and the club hit the skids—but before the squad dropped completely out of the league bottom, a couple more deals were made—and these moves got the Brennermen on the victory road for keeps. Probably the smarted piece of business was the trade of Jimmy Estrada, who wasn’t doing us much good, for Bill Reese.
ADDITIONS HELPED
Bill Wright, who never did round into shape, was let go, and Reese took over at first base. Reese had long been known as a capable man at the gateway, but you have to watch him day by day to really appreciate him. Reese “made” the infield, and shortly thereafter another man arrived to do the same for the outfield, and to add a needed note of authority in the batting order.
He was Paul Carpenter, a ball player’s ball player,” without whose light-footed antics in left field and timely swatting in the cleanup spot, the Caps couldn’t have reached the top.
Wish new vigor at the dish, a superior defense, and brilliant pitching from Jim Hedgecock, Bob Snyder and Bob Hall, aided and abetted by Carl Gunnarson and, occasionally, Sandy Robertson and Ron Bryant, Vancouver started their final drive on July 25 with a double triumph in Salem.
ONSLAUGHT STARTED
From there in, not even Bremerton was safe, as the winning streak piled up. A five-game string was topped by a nine-tilt victory whirl, and the boys bettered even that one with 12 triumphs in a row. The record at one stage was 23 wins against four losses, and you don’t stay in the second division with that kind play.
It was a pleasant and profitable season for a lot of Capilano individuals, especially, of course, Bill Brenner, whose scalp was being called for both privately and publicly before the last big uprising.
Bill had a good year as a player, too, despite a bad knee injury, and his presence in the lineup almost nightly the last few weeks contributed no little to his team’s success.
BOYS GOT ROLLING
And a number of fellows who had trouble getting started last year after stints in the armed forces, gents like Jim Hedgecock, Frank Mullens, Bob Snyder and Charley Mead hit their true strides this summer.
The happiest surprises of the season, of course, were the infield kids, Buddy Hjelmaa and Len Tran. Ticketed as spare infielders, the duo established themselves early as regulars and earned their spots all the way.
Of the others, Lee Mohr was inclined to be an individualist, but you can\t overlook his value as a lead-off man or his healthy batting average; and Bob Stumpf, though he hardly lived up to his billing as a big league prospect, made a competent understudy for Brenner.
All in all, it was an interesting, albeint nerve-wracking, season, and any time, you’re passing a rest home, why, drop in.

Spokes Lose Last Chance As Rain Kayoes Double Bill With Victoria
By CLANCY LORANGER
News-Herald Sports Editor
[September 8, 1947]
YAKIMA.—Vancouver Capilanos fought the battle in the Commercial Hotel lobby here Saturday night and emerged with the 1947 Western International League pennant.
Yakima, which has eight inches of rain yearly, came close to its quota Saturday, and washed out the Brownies’ scheduled game with this city’s Stars. And when the rainmaker, definitely on our side, did the same for the Spokane-Victoria doubleheader at the Bremerton-Salem game, the Caps backed into the Willy championship.
With the tension gone today, the Brownies went through the motions in their last two games in a carnival atmosphere that saw everybody, including Larry Manier, get into the act. Relief hurler Manier functioned at first base as the Caps won the first game, 9-5, and then bowed, 6-2 in the second. But nobody cared.
FIRST SINCE 1942
The championship, first for Vancouver since 1942, was actually their second in t[unreadable] years of play, for the WIL ceased operations during the period, 1943-45. It was the first, too, for Manager Bill Brenner, serving first full year as manager.
The 25-year-old backstop took over the club in the last month of the ’46 campaign, and had that time hitting the fastest pace in the league at the finish.
Saturday’s struggle, while it lasted, was the tougher on the winners than a game would have been. When they learned the contest here had been cancelled, they settled down (if you can pacing up and down settling down) to sweat it out.
Finally came word that the games in Victoria were off, and the boys breathed a little easier for even if the Caps had lost both Sunday games, they’d still have finished [unreadable] percentage points up on Spokane.
But Bremerton still had a mathematical chance of catching the Brownies, so the ads had to worry again. Finally, however, about 7 p.m., the message was flashed from Salem that their game had bowed to the weatherman, too. The Caps were in!
SPOKANE FOILED
At least, they were in for a few hours. Then Bob Abel, president of the W.I.., wired General Manager Bob Brown of the Caps that Spokane had proposed coming to the Inland Empire Sunday with Victoria and playing the games there.
Brown, who, a few hours before, had predicted that Spokane might try something like that, was furious. It was against baseball law, he said—a game starts on a certain day, and finishes on a certain day, regardless—and Abel had no right to even suggest going along with Spokane’s idea. Ruby Robert dispatched a hot telegram to Abel to that effect.
But once again fate—dear fate—stepped in and made things easier for us. Reg Patterson, business manager of the Victoria Athletics, announced that he was unable to get plane reservations to Spokane—and that was that. The Caps were in—definitely.

Victory Rally To Greet Brenner’s Boys Tonight
[Vancouver News-Herald, Sept. 8, 1947]
Hold onto those long-distance cheers for the Capilanos, baseball fans, because you’re going to be able to deliver them in person. Yep, Bill Brenner and almost all of his pennant-winners will be back in town tonight, and you’re invited to get in on the royal welcome which awaits them.
At 7:45 tonight, the doors of the Veterans’ Memorial Centre, 636 Burrard, will be tossed open, and from that hour forward, the welkin will get a tremendous beating at the hands of the gathered horde.
A big program has been whipped up to greet our conquering heroes, most important item of which is the presentation of bonuses from the Capilano baseball club.
And the baseball writers are even now working up a few presentations of their own, the nature of which we can’t divulge until they happen. To make sure there won’t be a dull moment, Barney Potts, his orchestra and entertainers, will be on hand to further the fun.
General manager Bob Brown reported last night from Yakima that all but one or two of the pennant winners will return for the salute. And Bob forwarded an invitation to all you baseball fans to be on hand at 7:45 when Peard Sutherland opens the celebration.

P.S.: One of the reasons this site (and its accompanying pages in the tree to the right) exists because of another inductee. Pat Karl, these days, is the official scorer for the Canadians and we used to cover baseball and hockey together in the early ‘80s before he retired from radio. Pat used to spend his boyhood summers visiting his aunt in Victoria and going to WIL games at Royal Athletic Park. Pat’s aunt was a member of the Athletics Booster Club and Pat tells how she used to invite much-travelled WIL pitcher John Marshall over for dinner (after he had been traded from Victoria). I hoped that by posting stories about Victoria games and the rest of the W.I.L., it would bring back some pleasant memories for him.

The Hall of Fame

2008-08-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

Every baseball player, if he’s any kind of a baseball player at all, dreams of going into the Hall of Fame. When you’re an aging, unjockish baseball reporter, the best you can dream of is a free hot dog (that’s hot) and beer (if it’s free, temperature is irrelevant) as you’re covering a game. Let’s face it. You’re not going into the Hall of Fame.

Much to my amazement, I am going into the Hall of Fame.

No, not that one. But I received the stunning news that I am being inducted into the Vancouver Canadians Baseball Hall of Fame media section. I wouldn’t have dreamt of it because this Hall of Fame doesn’t have a media section. Or, at least it doesn’t until Friday when the first group of us goes in.

There is a Western International League connection here, as among the inductees is the gentleman whose picture (from the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame site) you see—Clancy Loranger. Clancy covered the Vancouver Capilanos from July 1945, when the W.I.L. re-formed, through to the bitter end, then covered the Vancouver Mounties of the P.C.L. until, well, the bitter end of them. We can only presume Clancy’s presense at these two demises is purely coincidental.

Clancy actually had a bearing on the record book. He was the official scorer at Cap Stadium for a time, including a tense game on August 13, 1962. Gerry Arrigo was throwing a great one for the Mounties against Tacoma; he eventually struck out 11 and Kd six in a row at one point. More importantly, he was tossing a no-hitter. In the sixth, Frank Reveira lined one into left field. Joe Christian got under the ball, caught it, took two steps and dropped it. Clancy ruled it a hit. Mounties manager Jack McKeon (yes, that one) immediately signaled to the press box that it should be an error. Afterwards, Tacoma manager Red Davis said it was an error. Even Christian thought it was an error—he sprinted for the ball, he said, but should have made the play.

But a hit it remained. The only hit of the game.

Clancy ignored the besiegement and stuck to his ground, that ground between two covers also known as the Rule Book. A footnote to Rule 10.05, to be specific, which told scorers to give hitters the benefit of the doubt and score a hit when exceptionally good fielding of the ball fails to result in a put out.

So, Arrigo never got a no-hitter. And neither did a single Mounties pitcher during the entire life of the franchise.

Clancy covered the return of the P.C.L. in 1978 and took in a couple of spring trainings and regular seasons before retiring.

Two of the other all-time greats have been named to the Hall as well. If you’re of my vintage, you grew up listening to Jim Robson call the Mounties on CKWX (which he did from 1957 to 1969). Then there’s Greg Douglas, an innocent cub sports reporter for the Vancouver Sun in 1966, who witnessed Merritt Ranew being bashed on the skull with a not-so-innocent swing by on-deck hitter Santiago Rosario—one of the most infamous incidents in P.C.L. history.

Greg and I work together at the same spot and I see him once in awhile. The retired Robson still pops by his old press box at the former Cap Stadium maybe once a year to say hello. But I haven’t seen Clancy for a couple of decades and I hope they’re able to induce the Dean of the P.C.L. Writers (and likely one of the last few W.I.L. writers still around) to make an appearance at this week’s ceremony. At least he won’t have to worry about hits and errors. The guy who does now, Pat Karl, is being inducted, too.

1946 Material Added; 1954 Delayed

2008-08-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

The work on the 1954 Western International League pages has come to a temporary stop again. There’s a web-site where I get the Tri-City material and it’s down for another weekend (it was up for 3 1/2 days last week). So, I’m working a bit on 1946 material on this page which will eventually be transfered to its own page. You can now go back and find:

• All but a couple of Clancy Loranger’s stories on the Capilanos games for the Vancouver News-Herald, and all of his columns dealing with the Caps,
• All of Alf Cottrell’s On the Sunbeam columns which dealt mainly with baseball,
• Daily standings through July 3.

Alf’s columns—there are eight or so—range from the light to the serious. He has one on Bob Snyder, another Clarkson has written for him, yet another deals with the horrific Spokane bus crash. And there’s one on the NIMBYs of 62 years ago upset at having a baseball park anywhere near their homes. Some things never change.

The columns are always interesting, and eventually, I’ll get around to posting Ken McConnell’s columns from the Province. What’s really cool is the sports cartoons I stumble upon. The Sun and Province always had great cartoonists going back before World War One. This one on your right (click on it to enlarge) accompanies McConnell’s piece I’ve posted from May 20, 1946. The cartoonist by this time is someone named Ray Tracy. This one uses some clever drawing tricks; to avoid trying to do a good caricature of Vancouver’s manager, he has him hidden. Brown is done from a profile shot of an old photo. Tommy Turner ran the Capilano Brewery at the time. The tattered W.I.L. pennant (from 1942) is a nice touch. My guess this cartoon’s supposed to deal with the Caps’ puny offence under Johnson, who finally had enough and walked away from the job in mid-season.

The standings, of course, have been a pain to do as it turned out there were a couple of late games not picked up by the newspapers so I didn’t know they existed. I think there’s still one W.I.L. game for which I cannot find a score. That’s in addition to the papers getting them wrong.

While adding the standings, I corrected some misspelled names in the linescores. But there are two names I’ve just left from the AP linescore; I can find no record of the players though I think I know who they’re supposed to be and made a note for that appropriate date.

I’m also going to flesh out a few of the Victoria game stories where there’s just a sentence. Sid Thomas had columns in the Colonist involving the Athletics, but I don’t think I’ll post any. All I’ve seen so far is constant spin (after a litany of the bad play of the previous evening) that management was doing all it could to make the team win. Unfortunately, he has no player profiles or funny stories or anything like that.

In the meantime, the 1954 page remains on hold as of August 23rd due to the availability problem mentioned above.

1954 WIL Season On-line

2008-08-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

The first half of the soap opera that was the 1954 Western International League season can now be re-lived on the 1954 site (conveniently in the link tree to your right).

The second half is in draft form but I won’t be adding to the site until I can access some additional material and, right now, my source is down for repairs. I don’t know for how long.

Len Tran’s son Mark sent me this yellowed clipping from the Vancouver Sun. For at least one season, and maybe two, Jack DeLong composed a bunch of these rhymes about Capilanos players; if the microfilms at the local library weren’t so chewed up and were readable, I would have posted a bunch of them for ‘52.. The game in question was July 11, 1952 (click on the doggerel to enlarge). Lansdowne, by the way, was a race track of the day; my grandmother used to go there and said it was the best of the three local tracks. The site is now a large mall which bears its name.

1954 was the last year of professional baseball for both the popular Trans.

There are people stopping by this site after doing a web search on a specific player. Within the last week, some searches were done on Bob Moniz, Danny Holden and Virgil Giovannoni, among others. If you’re doing a search, please drop me a note and say hello, especially if you’re a former player or the offspring of one.

The Vancouver contingent of the Northwest SABR Chapter will be meeting on Saturday the 23rd at Capilano Stadium (now Nat Bailey Stadium) from 1-3pm. I’m hoping a few of the former Western International League players will be able to come again.

Emmett Ashford’s Quote of the Day

2008-08-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

This little item finished out Dick Beddoes’ From Our Tower column in the Vancouver Sun of September 11, 1954.

Emmett Ashford, the only Negro umpire in organized baseball, and a graduate of the Western International League (Class of ’53), is now considered the toast of the Coast League. Now the rumor is out that he may pass to the majors next year. Asked by Emmett (Seattle P.I.) Watson how white ball players had responded to a colored arbiter, Ashford said:
“A good job done can change people’s minds about a lot of things. The better job I do, therein lies the good I can do my people. A good man’s example is better than all the soap-boxes ever made.”

1954 Site Underway

2008-07-27T02:15:00.000-07:00

Well, if you head over to the 1954 page, you’ll notice it’s finally starting to get some content. There'll be four categories of material you’ll eventually see:

• Pre-season, beginning in September 1953.
• Spring Training (April 1954).
• Regular season.
• Post season and League folding.

So far, I’ve finished the pre-season and spring training game stories and roster moves, and have started on the regular season. The most interesting pre-season stuff (and there isn’t much) is the WIL meetings (where Bob Brown was summarily dumped) and Colonist sport editor Jim Tang’s All-Victoria WIL team. As the Tyees folded in the ’54 season, I don’t think he would have made any changes. And there’s lots on the Calgary soap opera.

Research for this blog involves, mainly, going through reels of a minimum of two newspapers at the library, as well as a couple of on-line sources, followed by transcribing of stories and columns. It takes time.

And what happened in that final year for the WIL?

Some of the season highlights you’ll read:
• Vain attempts to save the Spokane and Calgary franchises, which folded in June.
• Victoria finally succumbing to years of financial problems and little interest in baseball and packing it in at the start of August.
• Vancouver winning the crown over Lewiston.
• The league imploding almost immediately after the championship series.

Oh, and I may find some unexpected odd stuff.

There’ll be the day-by-day game highlights of the regular season, or at least (I hope) a linescore for each game, depending on what I can find.

After that’s done, I may take a breather, but I’d like to restructure some of the yearly sites and then start on 1937-1942, though it looks like most games will be limited to a score only due to an unfortunate lack of available source material.

Some Pictures From the Vancouver Capilanos

2008-07-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

First, my apologies for not doing much with the blog lately (specifically, the 1953 season). I explained the situation in the post below and am overwhelmed doing other things. In fact, it was only last Thursday I had a chance to take in a game for the first time this season at Nat Bailey Stadium. And, unfortunately, my time to work on this will be limited for the forseeable future, notwithstanding the fact my old laptop I need to transcribe information is finally frapping out.

I've got the rest of the 1953 season in draft mode to put on that page. The problem is the standings have to be done for each game and the AP wire of the day royally screwed them up so I have to manually calculate them. And I want to flesh out some game stories and dig up a few missing linescores. That all takes time.

However, during the away-time I've received a couple of e-mails from Mark Tran. Mark's dad is Len Tran and his uncle is Ray. As WIL fans know, the Tran brothers were fixtures in the Vancouver Capilanos infield for several years and were probably the finest keystone combination in the city's history (though Lenn Sakata and Ed Romero had a good year in 1979). Mark has graciously sent me some photos which I'd like to share with you.

This picture is of the 1947 Capilanos at Vancouver's Athletic Park, autographed by none-other than Mr. Baseball, Bob Brown. If you can't see the names, Len is at the bottom right and Ray is next to him. The team had some great players and won the pennant by percentage points and raindrops.

A spring training picture from 1947 in Sunnyside, Washington. Len is on the left, and fellow Washington State boy Buddy Hjelmaa is on the right. Buddy played on several clubs in the league. Whether he's still with us, I don't know. Mark points out his dad had a spike wound under his nose.
The Vancouver Library has this and other 1948 spring training shots in its photo collection, but none specify who is in the picture. They were taken by Art Jones. They're in the public domain, so perhaps I should post some.

Here are the 1948 Caps at Athletic Park. At least, I'll take the photo's word for it. But the background and topography don't look like Vancouver, even of the 1940s. There would be houses on three sides of the park and the north view would overlook downtown with the mountains in the background.
Len mentioned to Mark that the field went down hill (it was built on the hill coming up from False Creek). One of the columns in a Tri-City paper I've posted refers to this as well.

The one on the right's pretty self-explanatory. And 14¢! The current Vancouver Canadians programme goes for $5. Albeit, you get an article written by me. Hmm. Come to think of it, I got paid less than 14¢ for it. And you also get a nice piece from Kit Krieger on opening night at Cap Stadium in 1951 (with a box score that came from a certain blog), which also mentioned the Tran brothers.

Mark didn't supply this picture of the programme from the following year—I think I got it off eBay or something—but I don't think I've put it up, so here it is. The programmes certainly aren't as elaborate as what you find today, but there are shots of all the players and the previous year's stats; the basic stuff every baseball fan would want. Oh, and quaint ads for small local stores.

I'd like to thank Mark for taking the time to send these to me. If he decides to send anything else to share with you, I'll certainly put them up. Perhaps he can get his dad to send a note about how he was signed by the Seattle Rainiers and his musings of life in the Western International League (including his departure from Vancouver to Tri-City).

During the dead posting time, a nice e-mail came in from Jim Wert's son. Jim played first base with both Vancouver and Victoria in the WIL. Judging by various newspaper pieces I've put on the year-to-year blogs, he was much in demand.

Peace and Quiet in WIL-Land

2008-05-13T03:22:00.001-07:00

You can see the blog has been quiet for almost two months and work has come to an abrupt halt on the 1953 game stories. It's certainly not for lack of interest.

About the time of the entry below, the Secretary of an organisation to which I belong was taken to hospital. He is having heart and breathing problems. He is now at home, but recovery is very slow due to his age. So I have assumed his duties as Secretary at his request until he's better. Which, I'm hoping, is by the summer.

I am also Secretary of three other groups and this, combined with a full-time job, has eaten up my spare time.

As well, one of my sources to obtain additional information was out of commission for about a month. So that didn't help.

Anyway, the gist of it is there probably won't be a lot of activity here until the groups I'm involved with take their summer hiatus and I can get back working on this again.

However, I've still been getting some nice notes via e-mail. One was from a newspaper in the Bremerton area which wants to use material here about the Bluejackets. It seems there isn't a lot of information about the old pro ball team there and now they can check out every game ever played here. And I was surprised to receive a kind word from legendary (and he really is) sportscaster and writer J. Michael Kenyon, now living in Oregon. I remember him being at KVI in Seattle (I think that was after he was at the P.I.) and if you want to know anything about old-time wrestlers, he's probably the guy to ask.

People have asked me about pictures. I'm afraid I don't have a picture or card collections (something tells me WIL bubble-gum cards wouldn't have been a huge seller) or anything; I'm sorry I don't as it would add a lot. It's a shame photos from newspaper archives in former WIL cities aren't digitised and available for viewing.

The WIL That Was Forgotten

2008-03-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

When everyone thinks of the Western International League (and I know you all do constantly), they think of the league that was around from 1937 to 1954, interrupted for a few years because of the war.

There was a Western International League before that. It operated only in 1922. I've always thought of it as a new name for the Pacific Coast International League of 1921 which, more or less, was the old Northwestern League. But it appears the first WIL was something different. It appears to have been an attempt to merge the PCI League with the Western Canada League, which had attained B status by 1921. The WCL had clubs in various cities in the prairie provinces, including Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon.

I came across this wire story from 1922:

TACOMA, March 14—The Western International Baseball League will have only four clubs this year, Russell J. Nelson, business manager of the Tacoma Tigers, said today on his return from a league meeting in Calgary. Saskatoon and Regina were unable to enter the league under satisfactory conditions, and it was decided to perfect an organization with teams in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Tacoma, Mr. Nelson said.
A tentative four-club schedule is now in the making, and the season will open about May 1, with Edmonton playing in Tacoma and Calgary in Vancouver.
Directors of the league, Mr. Nelson said, agreed on a list of 18 players to June 1 and 14 thereafter.
Managers of the teams are announced as follows: Tealey Raymond, Tacoma; Gus Gleichman, Edmonton; Bob Brown, Vancouver and Bill Rogers, Calgary.

The first WIL folded in mid-season due to an odd set of circumstances. Baseball Commissioner Landis got POd at Bill Klepper, the owner of the PCL's Portland Beavers, who was also supporting the WIL's Tacoma Tigers. The Commissioner suspended him in a player tampering case, Klepper withdrew his support of Tacoma, and the league collapsed.

It seems odd that there was no pro baseball in the Pacific Northwest (other than the PCL teams in Seattle and Portland) for the next 15 years, but that's what happened until the WIL we all know was put together for the 1937 season.

1953 Page Coming Together

2008-03-14T00:57:00.000-07:00

Well, despite a bike accident that put me out of commission for a few days and having to go back on a slowwwww dial-up connection (it takes five minutes for a .pdf file to download), I've completed the first part of getting the 1953 page together. All the pre-season stuff (which starts at the end of the 1952 season) is now in chronological order and I'm starting to transfer the 1953 game stories over from this blog. Once the season's done .. and it won't be for a few months, I suspect .. then I'll delete the 1953 game stories on this page.

I plan to make a few additions on the 1953 page. One was the pleasant task of transcribing Eric Whitehead's columns dealing with the Capilanos' season. There weren't a lot of them so that's been done; in fact, I added them to this page for now.

However, the real problem is standings. I've decided to add daily standings, knowing how the papers can screw them up badly and not fix them. Other than a period of about five days at the end of April, I was sailing along. And then at the end of July 1953, the AP assigned the wrong win and loss in a Victoria-Wenatchee game. And ten days later, it still wasn't fixed. The Sporting News picked up the incorrect standings. Meanwhile, the Victoria paper I can access was fine for a few days, then missed a Victoria-Spokane game on a day it didn't publish and its standings were wrong. A few days later, someone with the Victoria club must have told the paper because it fixed the Victoria standings, but not the Spokane ones. And as Spokane was leading the league, it meant the 'games behind' column was completely wrong. So, I am looking at two sets of standings, both wrong in different ways. That means I manually have to calculate them and that takes time. (UP also did WIL standings, but they must have been compiled on Mars as they never seem correct).

And as some game stories are either missing or consist of one line, it means going through the Vancouver and Victoria papers to see what I can add. The Victoria Colonist stories are lovely, but the home game stories are very long and take about 20 minutes each to transcribe (the Vancouver papers gave a lot less space to Capilanos). So that'll slow the process, too. Even more so as I'll likely add the Jim Tang columns from the Colonist as he whines for another season that no one was supporting the ball club.

Some time over the summer, I hope to slog my way through 1954, the final WIL season, and may take a break when all the post-war game stories are done.

A Missing Player and Another Book

2008-02-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

Well, let’s dip into the old mail once again.

Here’s a nice little missive:

Hello there,
I am Jim Allicotti's daughter (one of 4) and happened upon your site during a search of our family's last name. My dad is 77 and living in Yorba Linda, CA with my mom. I recently shared a printout of the baseball game that mentions his name. He definitely got a kick out of it. Thanks for posting it!
Lola Allicotti

I mention this because Jim played for the Spokane Indians, but in checking the nascent SABR Minor League Database, there’s no record of him in the W.I.L. at all. He’s mentioned in a wire service story, so he got into at least one game.

This is where this SABR project of assembling minor league data is so important. It seems some records simply don’t exist. I’ve seen plenty of stats that read “ten or more at-bats”, with anyone under that simply a non-entity, thinking that maybe they’re recorded in the official, year-end league stats. That’s evidently not the case as baseball wasn’t as stats nuts at one time that it is today.

So, Lola’s inadvertently helped add to missing data, or at least data hidden away somewhere. Which is kinda what this blog is doing about the W.I.L.

Now, about books. It seems everyone’s writing a book about minor league baseball. Except me. Despite what the newspapers say. A former player has sent me a note about his book. Okay, he didn’t play in the W.I.L., but he writes of his experiences in minor league ball in the ‘50s, and I wish more players of that era would do the same thing.

My name is Ed Mickelson. I played 11 years in professional baseball, ten of which were in the minor leagues. I played in every classification from class C up AAA and also three years in the PCL batting .308 in 55, .309 in 56 and .338 in 1957. I still hold the fielding record for 1st basemen in the PCL by fielding .9964 in 162 games. The record is for 1st basemen in 150 games or more. My book is called Out of the Park- Memoir of a Minor League Baseball All Star. It is about baseball in the minor leagues in the golden age of the minors 1945 to 1957. The book is published by McFarland Publishers. If you are interested you can buy the book from me for 29.95. Ed Mickelson, 1532 Charlemont Drive, Chesterfield. Mo. 63017. I will take care of handling and postage.
The book is recommended by
Library Journal in N.Y.
Sabr – Neil Chamberlin
New York Yankee Magazine Sept Issue 1907
Richard Beveridge former President of SABR
Tom Kayser current President of the Texas League

You can e-mail Ed if you’re interested.

You Forgot Something, Mr. Brown

2008-02-19T04:35:00.000-08:00

You find the damndest things rooting through the library when you least expect it. For example, there’s an extensive newspaper clipping collection; I've looked up some non-baseball stuff in a few of the filing cabinets. But, to my surprise, I found another set of cabinets and therein happened to spot a file on Vancouver’s “Mr. Baseball,” Bob Brown, who ran the Capilanos and then the Western International League (in 1953).

Back in 1957, Bob Brown told his life story to the Vancouver Province’s Eric Whitehead, which was presented in three parts in the newspaper’s weekend editions. It’s really fascinating, and eventually, I’ll get around to transcribing the whole thing. I wish I had access to the original photos accompanying the story, which likely were in Bob’s personal collection. No doubt Tom Hawthorn used Eric’s lengthy piece for some of the material in his excellent biography of Bob, which you can find here.

In reading the third part, published July 13, 1957, Bob made a comment about the W.I.L. as follows:

“The league folded in ’55 after an unfortunate attempt to include Calgary and Edmonton—both too remote and ill-equipped for membership.”

Bob is being a little coy. He left out some information here—the fact that he was the one who had been championing the inclusion of Calgary and Edmonton and pushing the idea to sceptical W.I.L. members; even John Ducey in Edmonton had concerns the concept was not viable because of the travel distances involved. Readers of our 1953 blog will be able to see contemporary reports of the day about how the whole thing actually unfolded. Bob thought he had, um, all the bases covered (don’t throw things, please) but attendance kept falling around the league (which was happening all over minor league baseball then) and Calgary never did draw anything remotely close to what was expected.

Incidentally, the library has a clipping file for the Vancouver Capilanos and another for Capilano Stadium, and several dealing with the Vancouver Mounties of the P.C.L. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have much on any W.I.L. players, other than a couple of things on Sandy Robertson after he finished his athletic career.

Western International League Opener, 1937

2008-02-19T04:09:00.000-08:00

If you click on the VANCOUVER BASEBALL link to the right (okay, to make it easy, click here), you will see a page on the first day of the true Western International League in 1937 (the 1922 league was really kind of a separate W.I.L.). It’s in lieu of starting the 1937 pages on this blog because that unfortunately won’t happen for months because of time restraints.

Once that project starts, it’ll be slow. About the only way I’ll get information is by parking myself at the library and transcribing from the three local newspapers on microfilm. And they didn’t really cover the league outside the local team all that well, so there may be not much more than a score, and that’s it. You’ll notice on the 1937 page, a linescore is missing. None of the Vancouver papers had it and I don’t have access to any resources where it might be.

Eventually, I’d hope the Vancouver papers will get smart like the ones in Toronto or New York and scan their old editions and have the archives on-line. Of course, the day that happens, I can complain about all those wasted hours going to the library to get information.

Oh, That Newspaper Story, Part Two

2008-02-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

Someone asked about the newspaper article (mentioned below) about this blog. Here is a link to it. It's the no-frills version.

I take no responsibility for Cookie Gilchrist misspelling Ossie Chavarria's first name.

WIL fan's Mighty Mailbag

2008-02-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

While I'm not writing a book about Vancouver baseball, there is someone writing a book that will touch on the Western International League.

Ken McIntosh has been busy researching Capilano Stadium, known to baseball fans today as Nat Bailey Stadium. The idea of a new park to place the dumpy Athletic Park was a bit of a political football before it was built, but the new (in 1951) ball yard has given countless baseball memories to several generations. Ken's book is 99% finished, he says.

He's even dug up material related to the old Western International League club. I don't know if you can see this, but...

A note has come in from Graham McNeil. He asked how much a signed baseball is worth. In this case, it's from the 1946 Victoria Athletics and the signatures are readable. If you're interested, mail Graham.

The post about Luke Moyls brought a response from Jim Robson, the Voice of the Mounties, via Ron Robinson, the Re-Creation Assistant to the Voice of the Mounties. Jim writes:

Hi Ron
I knew Luke Moyls well. He did the PA job at UBC football and
basketball for many years. He was an insurance agent with Parsons-Brown..
then went out on his own. He was our insurance agent for many years.
I don't remember him at the ballpark.. but I wasn't around in 1951.
(Except for one game I "covered" for the Maple Ridge Gazette as a 16 year old)
I think Luke did the Lion's PA job for many years as well.
He died probably 20 years ago.

In reading Jim's note, it's sad to think none of his old baseball broadcasts are available on line. The sound effects Ron made for the recreates are now in the Provincial Archives but they have not been converted and uploaded. Maybe some day.

As a side note, Jim and Bill Stephenson (the Voice of the Victoria Athletics/Tyees) did all the PCL Mounties games on CKWX .. except at least one. The team's first home game in 1956 was broadcast by Jim Cox over CKNW. I believe Jim did the last season of the Capilanos.

It's tremendous what the internet has done for old minor league information. About 20 years ago, I made a pile of notes on every game of the Mounties. It had to be done at the library, going through microfilm reels of newspaper (except the News-Herald, which was hidden away in hard copy in unbound stacks). Today, there are a bunch of sites devoted to the PCL and I can even find old newspapers on line (unfortunately, not local ones) which almost instantly can bring me some of the information I painstakingly scrawled down in the 80s.

One of the things I'm absolutely thrilled about is a huge project being undertaken by SABR .. an on-line data base of minor league players going back more than 100 years. Some of this information is available in old guides and other books most of us don't have access to. It looks like in many cases, the information isn't available anywhere, judging by the lack of stats and even first names of some players. But it'll be so valuable that, some day, I suspect people will take for granted it'll be available to them.

This is as good a place as any to plug Oz's NOTES FROM THE NAT web site, known to press box denizens simply as "The Blog." He provides in depth coverage worthy of something more than an A ball team, and is not afraid to post inside player/front office dirt. I wish the kind of player stuff he has were available for the W.I.L. days.

The kind of baseball Vancouver sees now is really unlike anything in its history. In the PCL days, fans could see guys going up, guys coming down and a bunch of guys who would stick around for a few years or went from team to team to team. The WIL was no different, other than the players were coming down from the PCL. Today, it's a handful of media-hyped prospects and a large bunch of guys going nowhere past Class A. You see them for nine weeks then they're gone (the real prospects may be gone within days) and replaced next year by a whole bunch of new guys. How .. or why .. anyone would want to follow that kind of baseball, interrupted by "contests" solely existant due to sponsorships, I don't know. Give me the old days when between innings, people talked about the team, their favourite players and the game, instead of either cheering on racing mascots or trying to be heard over deafening MP3 files.

Oh, That Newspaper Story

2008-02-05T16:58:00.000-08:00

The phone rang yesterday morning. It could only mean one thing. I was sleeping. That's the only time it rings.

It was Cookie Gilchrist at the Vancouver Province. He was asking about my baseball web site. The other one. The one I wanted to start working on, but kinda got sidetracked by these blog pages that grew into a project I didn’t start with. I guess he was alerted to it by Jim Robson, the Voice of the Vancouver Mounties (Pacific Coast League), the finest play-by-play broadcaster in Vancouver, period.

The other site has a capsulised history of Vancouver baseball I wrote to help out Ami Catriona, who is endeavouring to do a documentary on the subject. The idea was to also publish stories on the highlights of local baseball history over the years -- the Santiago Rosario bat incident, the Fireball, the first night baseball game in Canada, Babe Ruth's appearance at muddy Athletic Park, and so on. But I’ve been occupied going through each W.I.L. season first. I suspect it may be the summer before I can finish the post-war game stories.

Anyway, it’s been so long since I've been on the other site, I couldn’t remember the URL because I just kinda threw the page together and haven't done much with it (It won’t win any design awards). You can check it out here.

Yakima's Gain is Seals' Gain

2008-01-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

A nice little note came to me from Bill Soto Castellanos. Bill was originally the visitors' batboy at Seals' Stadium and spent 1954 to the end of the Seals' days as the visiting clubhouse man, taking over when Bill Rode became the trainer for the Yakima Bears of the Western International League.

So Bill would have taken care of the Vancouver Mounties in their very first game in the PCL in 1956. Maybe that isn't such a great memory, as Bill worked for the Oakland Oaks, too, which ended up in Vancouver and leaving him without one of his jobs.

Bill's written a limited edition book about the Seals of those days and you can find out more by giving him a shout at leenbill2k2 at aol.com (address munged to foil spammers).

Other than that, I continue to work on 1952 game stories and continue to deal with incorrect standings. One wire service had them incorrect for about ten days early in the season, and again for another ten-day period in June, meaning I have to do my own math and that takes time.

A Pair of Pippins

2007-12-24T23:40:00.000-08:00

Andy Anthony sent me a note asking about the Yakima Pippins, his grandmother’s favourite team. He was looking for a logo that they had on their uniforms. Today, you’d see a cartoon apple swinging a worm-shaped bat or something like that, and find it on mugs, baby t-shirts, key chains, bobble-heads, whatever, in four different sets of colours. In those days, a jersey had a city name on the front and a number on the back. Home whites, road greys. That’s it. It was cheap. And marketing was far off in the future (bobbleheads can go with ear-splitting between-inning music on the list of things baseball would be better off without).

Here you see two photos of Pippins, which allows me a great opening to rave about Dave Eskenazi’s photo collection, whence these came. It’s absolutely astounding; at least the few pictures I’ve seen are. I don’t know how he found the photos he has, or how long he’s been assembling them. But I swear they encompass the life of baseball in the northwestern U.S. and B.C.’s Lower Mainland. The book Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, a beautiful historical look of some of that history, would have been a far lesser book without Dave’s wonderful pictures. The Vancouver snaps I’ve seen are not to be found locally in the library or city archival photo collections.

The photo above (I have shrunk the pix so they can fit on the page) is of Felix Penso, who spent the pre-war years in the WIL with Yakima and Vancouver and the post-war years kicking around Texas. To your right is Goldie Holt, who managed the Pippins to a second-place finish in 1940. The Pippins slipped to third in 1941 and Goldie was gone at the end of the season to the San Jose Owls of the California League. He’s probably best known to non-WIL baseball lovers as being picked to be a charter member of the Cubs’ ridiculed College of Coaches in 1961. And when the real Pacific Coast League was killed by major league transplantation in 1958, Goldie opened the season managing Brooklyn’s, er Los Angeles’, club in Spokane (I'd settle for any kind of PCL in Vancouver again, but that's another story).

I'm presuming the pictures were taken in Parker Field (the style of outfield billboard seems to have been popular; Sick’s Stadium had similar lattice connectors).

And, yes, it’s a bit late for Christmas now, but Rain Check is a wonderful gift for anyone who thinks there’s more to baseball’s past in this area than A-Rod.

On to 1952

2007-12-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

The 1951 page is pretty well completed as it's going to be right now. I have a couple of additional stories on the new Capilano Stadium I have to add to the June 14 page and some other tidying up to do. It's not really a priority so I'm working on 1952.

I'm changing the content for the blogs. I was doing posts of old stories on the basis on a calendar year, as the pages are labelled in terms of years. But it just looks odd having half the off-season on one page and half the following year. So, I'm going to end the '51, '52 and '53 pages with the season finale stuff (including stats and all-star stuff), and then start all the other off-season stuff on the following year. It may be a bit confusing having 1951 content on the '52 page, but it just seems to work better this way. We'll see. I've had to convert other pages over eventually to do the same.

The post season stuff has been a pain to compile. For 1952, for example, I manually transcribed probably close to 103 pages worth of text (8 1/2 by 11, single space, times roman 12). That was just from two newspapers (with one exception). That doesn't include other news copy on line I haven't even searched for. So, there's plenty of reading.

The 1952 pre-season had four main stories:
• Tacoma moved to Lewiston and talk of Alberta expansion remained little more than talk;
• The league jumped from Class B to Class A;
• Victoria came close to folding due to chronic undercapitalisation;
• The league decided to make a pile of knee-jerk reactions, including a rule limiting the number of veterans in an effort to save money.

The last one caused something completely unexpected—massive integration. Vancouver's canny-but-miserly G.M. Bob Brown got around the "rookie" rule by signing experienced Negro League players; organised baseball considered them rookies. Others teams saw this and rushed to do the same thing. Of course, Brown had John Ritchey, and there were Larry Neal and a few other blacks in the WIL prior to this, but 1952 was the year more of them were given the chance to play.

Obviously, if baseball owners spend inordinant amounts of time getting around a rule, there can be only one conclusion—the rule will inevitably die. And that's what happened with the veteran rule after the 1952 season ended.

As I have access to one of the Victoria papers, you'll see a pretty complete story of the efforts to save one of the clubs that year. In fact, there's probably more pre-season information now that anyone would want to know about; and I haven't even added the stuff from the southeastern Washington State papers. Nor the Vancouver Sun or News Herald (the sidebars are unreadable in the latter due to photocopying after binding the papers).

I likely won't go in depth into the off-season like this after the 1953 off-season (and maybe the 1946 pre-season); it's taken almost two weeks, eight or more hours a day, transcribing in the library just to do post-1951 and post-1952 (not uploaded in its entirety). It's just too much typing. I'd rather spend my time posting game notes and sidebars from during the season.

Today's Cap Stadium Trivia

2007-11-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

The P.A. announcer at the new Cap Stadium in 1951, according to Jack DeLong's column in the Vancouver Sun of July 18th that year, was Luke Moyls.

There's kind of a cool connection here. I was the P.A. announcer at the same stadium 30 years later. On top of that, Luke was sports editor for the Ubyssey in the mid 40s. That's when my dad attended UBC and was on the table tennis team. So Luke wrote about my father in his pages (January 27, 1945, for one).

OK, I thought it was cool, anyway.

He had graduated from UBC by the time he was doing the P.A. but what happened to him after that, I have no idea. In fact, the city directories of the late 40s and early 50s don't even mention a Luke Moyls, though they have three other Moyls listed as "student" and, later, as employees at UBC. So, he's a complete mystery.

Clancy Goes to Spring Training

2007-11-18T05:07:00.001-08:00

When I started this blog, it wasn't my intention to examine Western International League spring training games. After all, it's spring training. The media makes the contests out to be vital and important—and then the season starts and all is forgotten. Spring training means meaningless games featuring players who don't cut it and are never heard from again. However, I've done spotty coverage of it in a couple of the year's blogs and will likely go back and do it for other years when I complete the scores.

I don't have 1946 spring on this blog, so I'm going to post some late spring stories and a column by Clancy Loranger. Baseball fans in Vancouver may know there is a Clancy Loranger Way that leads into Nat Bailey Stadium (I thought it was part of old Robsart Avenue). He's in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, so you can read his bio there.

Clancy was still watching hockey and baseball when I first started appearing in press boxes in 1979. Clancy had his own spot in the box at Nat Bailey (right side, first seat, next to the announce booth) and his own chair in the Molson Lounge at the Pacific Colesium. It wasn't really "his" but everyone respected Clancy and no one would sit in his chair, and Robo and Jim who ran the lounge made sure no rookie media types did (like Pat Karl of CJVB).

His columns in the Province were loved by all. One of his ways of getting into a topic was to write a thoroughly-invented conversation with his neighbour across the fence. But Clancy still did game stories when it came to his favourite sport, baseball. He had been an official scorer during the Vancouver Mounties days (leaving a Mountie pitcher with a one-hitter, though everyone else said it should have been ruled an error). He covered the Mounties, and the Capilanos before that. He had been Sports Editor at the Vancouver News-Herald, the puny also-ran paper in town, though at the time these pieces were written, Carl Robertson was Sports Editor. The News-Herald had some good writers, generally people who had been, or would end up at, the big dailies. Copies of the News-Herald were bound and placed in stacks at the Vancouver library. Unfortunately, when it was decided to photograph the papers and put them on microfilm, the dough-heads didn't unbind them, so one side of each page is in the gutter and unreadable. However, but for a few words, these stories are complete.

By the way, Clancy's still with us, but the stair-climb at Nat Bailey would fix that. So he hasn't been to a ball game in some years. I'm sure he's still with us in spirit up there, growling under his breath and puffing on his cigarellos.

P.S.: The Tacoma and Salem stories aren't Clancy's; they're wire service previews that were in his paper that I include for interest's sake. The News-Herald, being as inconsistent as it was, didn't publish them for all the teams in the league.

It Says Here
By CLANCY LORANGER
[Vancouver News Herald, April 23, 1946]
SUNNYSIDE, Wash.—Even Nick the Greek, the famous gambler who used to carry a million bucks in cash in his pocket, wouldn’t have done any better than break even here.
By now, you may have gathered from Carl “Bullpen” Robertson’s earlier observations from [Caps’ spring training] this isn’t exactly the wildest town in the world.
HUNGRY BANDIT
The principal amusement I have found to my sorrow, is watching the pinball machines in the lobby of the Planter’s Hotel. We have three of these robbers and two of them are out of service. That leaves one. It’s not out of order—it’s just hungry.
It says here they make it very simple for you to lose your dough.
All you have to do is put a nickel in the slot, then things start happening. The whole machine lights up brighter than Broadway at midnight, numbers flash off and on, two small boys come out of the innards and shoot off firecrackers, Kate Smith sings a few bars of the Star Spangled Banner, then bingo, you’re confronted with the number three.
NO ETHICS
At least it always seem to be the number three, for me.
Oh yes, I forgot to tell you—numbers two and seven are out of order, too. Anyway, you’ve got your number—three—and all you have to do is shoot the little round ball into the number three hole. Numbers one, four, five and six are as simple, but all you get from the machine is a cold stare if you sink these.
I think the OPA should be informed about that number four, because it has no ethics at all. Even when number three yells “I got it,” it calmly reaches over and grabs the ball.
But really, Ma, I was driven to playing this thing. The only other alternative is listening to the ball players talk and, well—I’ll give you an example of that.
WRONG COUNTRY?
The other night George Bogdonovich, the Vancouver kid who came down here with Bob Brown to see how the pros perform, thought he’d heckle Alex Palica a lot.
“What’s your nationality,” says he.
Well, this seemed like a waste of time to me, because Palica is quite dark, and with a name like Palica, he seemed almost a cinch to be an Italian, but “I’m a Slav,” said Palica, right quick as it he was sure of it.
“A Slav,” echoed George, who is a Slav from way back and resented Alex trying to cut in on his territory. “If you’re a Slav, I’m an Indian.”
“How,” said Alex. Then, “Sure, I’m a Slav. All the best ball players are Slavs. There’s Johnny Pesky, Andy Pakfo, George Metkovich, Alex Palica. It’s Palovich, really.”
THE TEXAS SLAV
“You a white Slav?” asked George, incredulously. “If you’re a white Slav, I’m Santa Claus.”
“I want a doll for Christmas,” answered Alex, “about five foot three, with blonde hair.”
“But I can tell by looking at you you’re just a black Slav. One of those Serbs who live up in the hills. But don’t worry, maybe you’ll live it down.”
At this point, Lou Janicek, Texas gift to the Capilanos, wandered within range. “Now, there’s another Slav,” said Palica.
“Man, I’m no Slav,” drawled the Texas Terror. “Mah folks were white people from Czechoslovakia.”
“Oh, yes,” said George. “That’s the country on the border with Germany.”
“What you mean, boy? Germany’s on the border of Czechoslovakia. Ah dropped in and saw mah folks when ah was over there helping show the Germans where their bordah was. They don’t let none of those Slavs in there.”
BACK TO CRIME
Jimmy Estrada shuffled in at this crucial moment and I thought sure we had Palica. Jimmy is a full-blooded Indian who comes from the Mission tribe that produced Chief Myers, the old New York Giant star.
But I saw that look in Palica’s eye. And that, kiddies, is how I became a gambler.

CAPS KICK BALL AROUND TO LOSE TO BREMERTON
By CLANCY LORANGER
[Vancouver News Herald, April 23, 1946]
SUNNYSIDE, Wash.—Aside to Bob Brown, “What were you saying Bob about the Vancouver Capilanos fielding before you left for home Monday. Something like: “One thing I’m sure of, we’ll have a topnotch fielding club.”
Well Bob, you should have seen your boys against Bremerton Blue Jackets here Monday, or maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t.”
The Caps confined their trouble to one inning, the fourth, but they really made a job of it while they were at it, they did everything but bury the ball in the sand, and they couldn’t find any sand. When they were through Bremerton had eight runs, enough to win almost any ball game.
It just wasn’t enough, as Sylvester Johnson’s W.I.L. lads came back busting to pound Bremerton’s Bill Kostenbater for 13 hits and almost pull the game out of the fire, but the final tally was Bremerton 11, Vancouver 10, and the tying run died on third in the ninth.
VOLPI HOMERS
That fourth inning was something which isn’t likely to happen too many times this summer. The Caps are, as vice president Brown said, a top notch fielding club. Al Kretchmar started it off by throwing to second on a double play, then Watts Guland [sic] tossed two wild ones and Catcher Ray Spurgeon neglected to tag a man coming home, thinking it was a force out. Veteran Frank Volpi wrapped it up for the Blues by rapping out a homer to right field with two on.
CUFF NOTES—Big Doug Ford was the victim of his mates misdemeanors up till then, he had done very nicely holding the opposition to one hit in three innings if he’d have allowed 100 runs after that, nobody would have blamed him, except maybe the scorekeeper.
Ron Bryant finished up for the Caps, who windup their Spring training schedule against Bremerton again today.
Sad Sam Gibson’s Blue Jackets have, besides old friends Frank Volpi and Walter Bliss, young Vern Hill playing shortstop. Vern was with Bellingham last year, you’ll recall . . . They also have perhaps the best second baseman in the league in veteran Al Wright, late of Oakland . . . Wright is really smooth . . . he also powered out three hits in four tries . . . Third sacker Watts Gulan led the Caps at bat making up for his two miscues with four hits in six tries, one a triple . . . Frank Mullens stayed with the hot pace maintained by his outfielding by banging in three runs with two safeties.
Ray Orteig is expected to join the Caps in Spokane . . . he’ll be out of the Coast Guard momentarily . . . He should give Vancouver the toughest corps of right handers in the loop, with Alex Palica, who looks very impressive . . . Ford who looks likewise . . . Bryant who won 15 and lost six in ’42, his last year, and Bob Snyder, who also went well against Tacoma last week.
It’s been discovered that Cleve Ramsey, the rookie hitting star, also plays the infield. He may get a spot at first base if big Frank Gosney, whose play has been in and out, fails to click.
Bremerton . . . . . 000 811 010—11 16 6
Vancouver . . . . . 200 210 212—10 13 4
Kostenbater, Curran (9) and Volpi; Ford, Bryant (5) and Spurgeon.

Capilanos Break Training Camp; Open Season In Spokane Friday
By CLANCY LORANGER, News Herald Sports Writer
[April 24, 1946]
SUNNYSIDE, Wash.—That long, loud sigh (maybe you heard it) emanating from the Vancouver bench following the Capilanos 3-1 loss to Bremerton Blue Jackets here Tuesday was a sigh of relief. The spring training grind was over.
For Manager Sylvester Johnson and some of his boys, who started working with the Seattle Rainiers in San Fernando, it wound up nine weeks of kink-chasing. That’s not a lot of weeks, but there’s not a kink in sight.
Today the lads pack up their crisp new uniforms, the white home jobs and the grey travelling set and pile into their special bus for Spokane, where they open the season Friday. They plan to get in a couple workouts under the lights before the umps yell “play ball” for the first time at Ferris Field.
Manager Johnson will herd 21 ball players, including himself (and his old Major League soup bone is feeling pretty good) to Spokane where Ray Orteig will probably join the club.
Syl is well satified with his crew. Tuesday’s loss was number four in ten starts here, but he’s not too concerned about wins and losses—yet.
He is somewhat concerned about one spot on the club, though. That’s first base, big Frank Gosney who is none too strong around the bag, hasn’t been hitting lately either, although he did get hold of a double yesterday. Down in San Fernando Syl says, Frank was knocking the cover off the ball, but he hasn’t even looked like a hitter as of late.
Johnson isn’t exactly unprotected if Gosney doesn’t come out of it. He’s got Jimmy Estrada, who has been playing well, and he also figures he could use Orteig, who is at home in the infield, at the initial sack.
But the ace-in-the-hole is one Bill Wright, who, you’ll remember covered the spot in 1941-42. Bill is supposed to be getting out of the service soon—and he’d look mighty good out there.
The rest of the club goes like this:
Catchers: Ray Spurgeon and Dick Zender. Young Carl Brannum was returned to Seattle Tuesday. A promising boy, he’ll be placed where he can get steady work.
OUTFIELD STRONG
Infield: Art Bonnell and Al Kretchmar at second and short are as good as any keystone corps in the league. Watts Gulan at third has been a little erratic afield the last couple days, but he should do. His antics will kill the folks, too.
Bill McCloskey and Estrada are both capable utility men. Orteig can also help out, and then here is Vancouver’s Andy Clovechuk waiting to break in.
Outfield: Four top notch performers in Earl Silverthorn, centre; Frank Mullens, right; and Cleve Ramsay or Sid Van Sindern in left. Jim Youngman and Reg. Clarkson are also available.
PALICA MAY START
Pitchers: Six right handers, including Johnson and Orteig, topped by Alex Palica and Doug Ford. One of the latter two will start in Spokane Friday, with Palica the probable choice. Alex looked very good in three innings Tuesday, allowing just one blow. Bob Snyder, who also went well Tuesday and Ron Bryant, complete the right side staff.
The three left handers, Lou Janicek, Jim Hedgecock and Dick Conover have all run into a little grief here lately, but all three know what they’re doing on the hill. The pitching staff is the least of Johnson’s few player worried.
While we’re on pitching worries, we might mention that Gene Holt, who played a couple times for Norvans last summer, gave the Caps some uneasy moments yesterday. Southpaw Holt handcuffed the boys with two safeties the six innings he toiled on the Bremerton mound. That was the ball game Tuesday.
Bremerton . . . . 000 021 000—3 10 0
Vancouver . . . . 000 000 001—1 6 2
Holt (6), Medeghini and Paglia; Snyder (3), Hedgecock (6), Palica and Spurgeon, Zender.

Salem Will Have Good Pitching; First Sacker Is Club’s Standout
SALEM, Ore.—Leo “Frisco” Edwards, who used to see things from the umpire’s point of view, will be learning how the other half lives this year.
Frisco now is the manager of the Salem Senators of the Western International League, and will be calling his decisions from the bench and the coaching lines.
GOOD HUNTING
The Senators, a farm club for the Portland Coast Leaguers, appear to have a strong pitching staff, an outstanding first baseman, a weak keystone combination and a fair outfield. Their catching has weakened by the departure of Roy Younker, who didn’t like the salary terms.
Edwards will probably catch a 200-pound salmon, by name of Woody Salman, who will alternate with George “Red” Daniels behind the plate. Both have shown this spring, whenever weather conditions permitted practice. The Senators are somewhat behind in their training program because of dripping skies.
The mound staff includes one hometowner—Lee Fallin, tall gangling right-hander who has played with Portland. Another prospective ace is Steve Gerkin, who was with the Philadelphia Athletics before being traded to Portland. Then there’s Ed Kowalski, portsider with plenty of steam, who whiffed 14 in a recent 10-1 victory over Pogland University.
Two more southpaws are Carl Gunnarson and Jack Schafer of California. Paul Soderberg, Henry Newman, Clyde Janeway, Jimmy Foster, Andy Adams and John Nolan complete the mound hopefuls.
George Vico, a six-foot-three first baseman, is expected to be a standout. The only thing that kept him off Portland’s first sack was that the Beavers have Larry Barton. Vico hits well and is excellent defensively, with his “splits” on low throws drawing admiring oh’s and ah’s.
Al Pristo and Henry Bartholomi [sic] are competing for second base, and Ray Malgradi and Sam Tosti seek the shortstop berth. Jim White appears to have third base cinched. There’s suspicion the club may be weak down the middle but it’s a bit too early to verify this.
Dick Wenner, a Fresno State product, Bob Cavinett of the University of Oregon and the Portland Beavers; Frank Lucchesi from Portland, Ralph Arnott of San Francisco and Duane Crawford complete the outfield. Crawford will also do relief work at first base.
A squad of 18 to 20 players will leave for Yakima April 25 to open the season the following day.

Angels Aid Tiger Crew
TACOMA, April 24—Tacoma’s Western International League Tigers will have excellent catching, an infield which figures to be as good as any in the circuit, and an entirely adequate outfield—but Manager Luther “Red” Harvel doesn’t like to dwell on his pitching prospects.
Fortunately, assistance in the elbowing department has been promised by the Los Angeles club of the Pacific Coast League.
HURLERS COMING
Right-handers Warren Martin, Richey Colombo, Gene Clough and Jack Jimmink and southpaws Cy Greenlaw and Kenny Dupuis are the club’s pitchers now but at least one or two of that sextet will be replaced before the gong rings April 26.
Martin, a one-time Chicago farmhand who saw service in the Texas, East Texas and Three-Eye Leagues and Colombo, a 17-year-old Boston youngster reportedly handed a good sized bonus to sign with the Chicago Cub organization, are flingers on option from Los Angeles.
Jimmink, formerly a Michigan State Leaguer, was signed as a free agent after getting a trial with the Angels. Greenlaw, a Boston Red Sox chattel until he drew his release a fortnight ago, twirled for Vancouver in the W-I before the war, and Clough and Dupuis are locals without previous professional experience.
Catchers are Dick Kemper on option from the Angels, and Earl Kuper, former Pioneer Leaguer signed as a free agent. Both are nifty receivers.
[remainder of story unavailable]

CAPS WILL TRY TO BREAK INDIANS’ OLD TRADITION
By CLANCY LORANGER, News-Herald Sports Writer
[April 25, 1950]
SPOKANE.—There’s nothing like a good bus ride to shake a ball club down. Pardon, make that “up.”
Well, anyway, we all got here, with no bones broken. A few of us thin fellows were vibrating a bit, but otherwise the Vancouver Caps’ trip from Sunnyside, Wash., was uneventful.
Peppery Watts Gulan, the club’s unofficial court jester, kept things moving nicely by making cigarettes disappear, and everything was dandy until Jim Hedgecock, the left-handed ex-Marine, tried to lead the boys in song all the way from Walls (or is it Halls?) of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.
EVERYTHING OKAY
But another southpaw, Lou (Tex) Janicek, broke that up by suggesting we render “Deep in the Heart of Texas” or as a second choice, “The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You.”
By the time they got that ironed out, the eyes of Spokane were upon us, and with native son Jim Youngman serving as guide, harbor was safely reached.
After deciding that Spokane was a pretty nice town, the lads went out to look at Ferris Field, where they open their W.I.L. season against the Indians Friday night.
They had nothing but praise for the ball park, too. It is a nice park, with good lighting, an excellent infield, a comfortable mound, lots of fresh green grass, and some bright new signs on the fences. Sylvester Johnson’s crew put in a couple of hours under the lights, and they’re going back for another workout. Then they’ll sit tight and worry a bit until Friday night’s first ball.
NO WORRIES
The Spokane team, which is bossed by ex-Pittsburgh and Brooklyn shortstop Glenn Wright, isn’t worried a bit about the opening game. Tradition is on their side. Ever since they’ve been in the W.I. loop, they’ve won every other opener, and this is their year.
As for manager Johnson and his Caps, well, they kinda figure tradition is about due to take a beating.

Here's What's Happening

2007-11-11T04:25:00.000-08:00

The library strike is over here, meaning the painfully-slow process can resume of going through reel upon reel of newspaper microfilm and fill in some blanks for the 1949-50-51 seasons that are on the various pages. (blanks meaning scores and linescores; stories are not available for some games in the newspapers I can access).
On top of that, you'll notice the results for 1953 games at the beginning of this blog start in mid-season, then jump to the beginning. It wasn't planned that way; the blog was actually going to be done differently until I changed my mind (not realising it would create a huge project in the process). So I'm setting up a 1953 page and once I weed through all the pre-season stuff, I'll move the 1953 posts from this page over there so everything's in chronological order.
As I work full-time for a living and am heavily involved in fraternal groups at night (and weekends), the process won't be a fast one. But there's lots of reading to do here now, anyway.

I have also changed my e-mail address you can click on to write. To make a long story short, my ISP doesn't have a recycle box for deleted web mail. And it marks all kinds of useful mail as spam. When I log out, it's gone forever. It turns out someone wrote me about Leon Mohr, the ex-Vancouver and Spokane infielder. However, I never got to read the mail; the ISP marked it as spam and killed it before the subject line dawned on me and I could open it. So, I have a gmail address where this won't happen. And, no, I don't know what happened to Lee. If anyone knows, let us all know by writing here.

The Highs and the Lows

2007-11-01T02:25:00.000-07:00

There's something bittersweet about seeing the names of former major leaguers on the rosters of Western International League clubs over the years. It was great for fans in those pre-TV days; how else would they see anyone who had a major league uniform? Probably the most famous one was Bill Bevens, who will be forever known as the guy who came within an out of pitching a no-hitter in the World Series. His arm went bad and he eventually landed in his home town of Salem. Pitcher Joe Orrell was another. And Vancouver outfielder Charlie Mead was another. Their best days were behind them. But there was one whose best days were yet to come. Well, and some bad ones, too.

He was Steve Gerkin. He was the ace of the Lancaster Red Roses, which won the Class 'B' Inter-State League championship in 1943, ended up in the military, and then was signed by the Philadelphia A's. In 1945, Gerkin lost 12 games. He didn't win any, although he came close a few times. He was sent back to Lancaster in August and that ended his major league career. A deal was announced at the minor league meeting:

COLUMBUS, O., Dec. 5 —(AP)—The Philadelphia Phillies gave up Pitcher Steven Gerkin and Outfielder Mayo Smith to Portland of the Pacific Coast League for Pitcher Wendell Mosser.

But Portland assigned him to the farm in Salem in the spring and then he was released in July, only to be picked up hours later by the Tacoma Tigers.
However, it was evident he had talent. And he was on the move up:

Millers Sign Up Athletic Hurler
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 15 [1947]—Bill Ryan, general manager of the Minneapolis American association baseball team said today the club had signed Steve Gerkin, a right hand pitcher formerly with the Philadelphia Athletics.
Gerkin, a free agent, was signed for an undisclosed bonus. Ryan said. Gerkin won 19 games and lost 16 for Salem, Ore., in the Western International league last season.
He pitched 20 games for the A's in 1945, finishing with a 3.42 earned run average before he went into the service.

A man solely assigned to relief pitching was a fairly new concept in those days; newspapers insisted on spelling the title "reliefer" for a good 20 years. That's what Steve became and he had a huge season:

Millers' Relief Star Chalks Up 75th Game
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 21 — UP — Slim Steve Gerkin, whose heart is considerably stouter than his pitching arm, may never find himself in baseball's hall of fame, but it appeared today his relief twirling record may stand for many a year.
The 29-year-old right hander has appeared in 75 games for the Minneapolis club in the American Association, a mark no modern moundsman has even approached. Most of the reliefers, barely have hit the 60-game circle.
Gerkin, a lanky Baltimore product, spends his off-season as a garage mechanic. Sometimes he hurls only an inning or two, but his record of 10 victories and only two losses is tops on the faltering Miller mound staff. He has started only one game all year, but he has pitched 159 innings.
“I'll probably pitch in seven or eight more games,” he said. “Maybe more if we get in the playoffs.”
Gerkin's best ball is a sinker, but he also is well fortified with slow balls, curves and knucklers.
“I don't mind the pressure,” he said. “In fact I like it. It's sort of a challenge, and I always feel a lot better after I've met it.”

Gerkin Chosen Most Valuable In Association
COLUMBUS, Sept. 5—(INS)—Steve Gerkin, rubber-armed pitcher of the Minneapolis Millers, was proclaimed the American Association's most valuable player today by the league's baseball writers chapter.
Gerkin, who has shattered all records for number of pitcher-appearances in a season, pitched in his 82nd game of the season Wednesday.
The competition for this year's most valuable title was the keenest in years. Close behind the lanky ex - Philadelphia Athletic hurler wore Don Lang, Columbus third sacker, and Cliff Mapes, outfielder for the league leading Kansas City Blues.
Until Gerkin started working overtime in the association, Johnny Podgajny of the Boston Braves, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles and other points held the record for greatest number of appearances. Podgajny appeared in 66 contests for the Orioles in 1945.
Gerkin, a skinny 30-year-old right - hander known as “The Sliver” — has a record of 10 victories and two defeats as a relief hurler.
He spent part of 1945 with the Athletics, then played with Salem and Tacoma of the Western International League. Last year, the Baltimore, Md. native appeared in 52 games for a new league record.
Other American Association stars who finished high in the balloting included Heinz Becker and Alvin Dark of Milwaukee, Mike Natisin and Ira Hutchinson of Columbus.
Ed Stewart of Kansas City, Phil Haugstad of St. Paul and Andy Gilbert of Minneapolis.

And he got in some Winter Ball in 1947 as well:

Noted Ball Player Here
Mr. and Mrs. Steve Gerkin and their three year old daughter, Judy, are visiting his sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Miller of 824 Chester avenue, Eastport.
The Gerkin family flew up from Havana, Cuba, to attend the funeral services of Mrs. N.J. Miller. Mr. Gerkin is a professional baseball player and has been in Havana since Oct. 4. He played for Minneapolis, of the American Association during the season and set an all time high record by taking part in 83 games. He was voted the most valuable player in the American Association by sports writers and also won Sporting News Award for being the most valuable player.
He pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1945 and was in the Coast League in 1946.
Before he started playing professional ball he pitched for the Eastport team against Annapolis in the 1937 series.
The Gerkins will return to Havana by airplane.
[Evening Capital, Annapolis, Md., Dec. 4, 1947]

You'd think a major league team - even one as dismal as the Philadelphia A's - would sign the ace reliever. But they didn't. Instead, Steve kicked around in Triple-A in 1948...

IRON MAN IS SOLD
COLUMBIS, O., June 24 - (INS)—Pitcher Steve Gerkin, who set an organized baseball record last year by appearing in 83 games for Minneapolis, has been sold outright by Columbus of the American Association to Rochester of the International League.

...and the following year was hurling for a semi-pro club, and did something really dumb.

Steals Cash From Police
ESTHERVILLE, July 27 (AP) — A former Minneapolis baseball pitcher was fined $100 in justice of peace court here Wednesday after he pled guilty to a charge of petty larceny.
Steve Gerkin, with the Minneapolis American Association team, admitted taking $19 from a metal cash box at police headquarters. The money was from parking meters.
Gerkin said he had stopped at police headquarters about 3 a.m. Wednesday to see Chief of Police Gene Morris, who manages the local baseball team for which Gerkin pitches. No one was in the office, so Gerkin said he called Morris and told him: “Say, there's no one here. I could walk away with a typewriter.”
Morris advised him to go home, but Gerkin said he found the cash box key and took $19 first.

It wasn't viewed as a big deal and the "string bean hurler of the Ewell Blackwell type" was back with the team the next season. However, like many minor leaguers, he kept his suitcase handy.

Royals Ink 2 Pitchers for '52 S-M Campaign
Two more pitchers have been signed by the Rochester Royals for the 1952 Southern Minnesota league baseball campaign.
Contracts were returned by Dick Fischer, the hard-luck pitcher with the Royals last season, and Steve Gerkin, former star with the Minneapolis Millers a few years back.
Gerkin is a familiar name to most Minnesota baseball fans. The 36-year-old righthander was the sensation of the American Association with the Minneapolis Millers in 1947 as a relief specialist. He appeared in 83 games and had a 10-2 record that season.
He played with Columbus and with Rochester of the International league in 1948. With Rochester he posted a 4-4 record and had an earned run average of 3.35.
Last year, the former professional had a 15-6 record for Lake Dennison, Iowa.
Gerkin will probably be used exclusively as a relief pitcher, according to present plans of manager Clint Dahlberg.
[Austin Daily Herald, Austin, Minn., Jan. 30, 1952]

He was one of only four pitchers on the staff to start the season(one was not Fischer).

Steve had another crack at pro ball:

Gerkin Named ...
VETERAN STEVE GERKIN, a member of the Rochester pitching staff last season, has been named manager of the St. Petersburg, Fla., entry in the Class B Florida-Internationa1 Baseball League. Gerkin will leave Rochester Sunday. He says he plans to do some relief pitching “whenever my young pitchers get in trouble”.. Gerkin has played in this section of the country since leaving professional baseball. In 1947, with Minneapolis, Gerkin set a record by appearing in 88 games as a relief pitcher. . . St. Petersburg offers a challenge to the "thin, man". For the Florida city is considered as being a “manager's graveyard” with its rapid turnover of pilots. . . Gerkin is well along in years and once hurled in the major leagues for Connie Mack's then hapless Philadelphia Athletics. Last season he had an 0-1 record in the Southern Minny and was released shortly before the season ended. . .
[Evening Tribune, Albert Lea, Minn., February 27, 1953]

But we find him later that year as a relief pitcher for the Duluth Dukes in the Class 'C' Northern League. He finished the year back in semi-pro. The only references I can spot after that are to his fine season with Minneapolis and his less-than-fine career with Philadelphia.

Steve's grandson supplied the picture of the scorecard you see above.

Vern Kohout

2007-10-29T01:38:00.000-07:00

Names of ball players get butchered in newspapers all the time. I must admit, I carried on this tradition by misspelling the occasional name of a Vancouver Canadians player on the web site at work this past season. In going through 1949 stories, one of the most commonly misspelled named was that of Bremerton lefthander Vern Kohout. Apparently, newspaper writers were thinking of some conspiracies and that he was in ka-houts with someone.

He pitched in 1947 and 1948 with the Salt Lake Bees of the Pioneer League and started 1949 with the Visalia Cubs of the California League before moving up to Bremerton. The Bremerton club moved to Wenatchee in 1950 and Bob went along, but was during spring training, he ended up with Spokane. The Indians released him (his last game was July 6th) with a 2-3 record and was signed in mid-August by the Lamesa Lobos of the West Texas-New Mexico League (the team noted for firing its official scorer because it didn't like his calls) and pitched in the playoffs. Here's Vern and a teammate with one of those nose-cone Ford station wagons (Studebakers had the ultimate in nose cones).

It appears Vern wasn't the only Kohout playing pro ball. His brother Bob Kohout made his pro debut in 1941 for Big Spring in West Texas-New Mexico League after a fine season for San Francisco State College the year before (he was with Santa Barbara in the California League in 1942, Danville of the Three-I League in 1946 and Pueblo of the Western League in 1948).

And what did he do after baseball? Let the Salt Lake Tribune of Nov. 6, 1968 reveal all:

Sports Mirror by
John Mooney
Tribune Sports Editor
Disa and Data About People
On the Sports Scenes
Vern Kohout, a southpaw pitcher for the Bees in 1947-48, was a Salt Lake visitor last week.
Only now he's sporting a Ph.D. as program coordinator of vocational guidance for the Appalachia Educational Laboratory in Charleston, W. Va.
Vern spent four years “in Europe, trying to teach natives how to improve their conditions and he's lectured and studied all over the United States.
“It's quite a change from the days at Berks Field when I'd be standing on the mound, with the bases full, wondering how I could insure my future,” he added.
After kicking around baseball for two or three years after leaving the Bees, Vern decided to forget baseball and concentrate on his studies.

Vern is in the Tacoma-Pierce County Old Timers Baseball-Softball Hall of Fame with a pile of other WIL players, like Dick Greco, Gordy Brunswick, Cy Greenlaw, Morry Abbott, Ray Spurgeon and, well, the list is a long one.

Edo Vanni

2007-10-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

There's talk about naming the Northwest SABR Chapter after Edo Vanni, who died in May this year. When you think about it, that's probably about as good a name as any for it, though I'm partial to long-forgotten cross-border slugger Charlie Swain.

Most fans in these here parts who have heard of Edo will likely associate him with the Seattle Rainiers (the photo to the right is from 1946), but he spent time in a bunch of cities in the Western International League, including Vancouver and Victoria.

You know the story. Edo was a college football star who signed with the Rainiers in 1938. The signing had some controversy, as L.H. Gregory's story in The Sporting News of Feb. 24 that year reveals:

When the Seattle Rainiers reached into the freshman class at the University of Washington to sign young Edo Vanni, field goal kicking specialist and baseball outfielder, they stirred up a terrific outcry through the Pacific Northwest over "raiding" by professional leagues of varsity ball players, already quite a sore point with the colleges.
Vanni was signed, oddly enough, by Torchy Torrance, vice-president of the Rainiers, who formerly was assistant graduate manager at Washington, and the pressure from his old college chums became so hot that Torrance agreed to tear up the contract if Vanni said the word. The youngster, however, who had previously given an option on his services to Dutch Ruether, ex-Seattle manager, after first saying he would stick to college and football, later changed his mind and stood pat on his baseball contract.

TSN talks a bit more about Edo on July 14th.

Leading the talent parade [for the Rainiers] are two home-town youngsters, both of them only a year out of high school [mention is made of Freddie Hutchinson].
The other youngster who is earning the plaudits of the critics and fans is Edo Vanni, a speedy Italian boy who patrols right field and who swings from the left side. Vanni gave up a promising football career at the University of Washington this spring to make his bid in pro ball. During a spring training tussle, he suffered a torn muscle in his left thigh while trying to beat out a bunt. For nearly two months, he was on the shelf. Then on May 28, Jack Lelivelt pulled out Al Marchand and inserted Vanni. The former football drop-kick artist came through with three lusty base hits. The following night, he blasted three more, and after that he kept up a steady tattoo of blows to win a regular berth. A short, compact swing and an eagle batting eye are reasons for young Vanni's steady stickwork.

That's all I can find about him in TSN for that year. There was an interesting Canadian connection mentioned in an AP national sports column, dated August 22, 1938:

Edo Vanni, a sophomore back who learned the game playing Rugby up Vancouver way, is one of the biggest reasons they're tabbing Washington as the dark hoss of the coast conference.

Sounds to me he was still playing football.

I first saw Edo's name going through some Vancouver Mounties game stories. He was taking part in a cow-milking contest before the game at Cap Stadium. I couldn't figure out why they'd have a visiting coach do that, but it's obviously because Edo had a reputation. The Seattle P.I. mentioned in his obit:

• He'd often pull a red handkerchief out of his back pocket and wave it in the outfield in ways to incite fans on the road and inspire home supporters.
• He once wrestled a black bear before a game in Wenatchee to draw fans to the ballpark.
• In Seattle, he got tossed before a game for bringing a friend's St. Bernard, supposedly the biggest "seeing-eye" dog he could find, to home plate while delivering the lineup card, a comment on the previous night's disagreements with the umpiring crew.
• Faced with an empty ballpark for a doubleheader in Wenatchee, he instructed his players to start a huge brawl in the opener and, with word spreading fast because of the radio description of the slugfest, fans filled the place for the second game.
• While managing the 1964 Rainiers ... Vanni caught Rainiers pitcher Jim Lonborg, another eventual Red Sox standout, breaking curfew. Lonborg's punishment was to run until he vomited under the manager's watchful eye and sarcastic tone.
"I see you had Chinese food last night," Vanni quipped while the pitcher was doubled over.
• As Angels general manager, Vanni observed that his manager, Bob Lemon, the Hall of Fame pitcher, repeatedly smelled of alcohol when he came to the ballpark. Others might have looked the other way, considering the baseball pedigree involved. Vanni firmly told him to quit drinking before games or lose his job, and Lemon complied.

Why wouldn't you name a SABR chapter after a guy like that?

We Get Letters!

2007-10-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

Let's face it. I wonder if anyone really reads all the stuff I put up here. After all, this blog is about a low minor league that's been dead since for 53 years. It's mostly linescores and a line or two on each game. Search engines don't seem to know about it. But I've gotten a few e-mails, which is really cool.

The latest one is from Angelo Venturelli, Jr. That's his dad on the right. His father pitched in Tacoma in 1948 then was called up to the San Diego Padres, where he spent some time. He had a stop with the Twin Falls Cowboys in the Pioneer League in 1942, from which the Padres bought his contract in 1943, then with the Modesto Reds of the California League in 1947. After his career ended, he went into the banking business in southern California.

Speaking of Modesto, John Holmquist wrote asking about the Sept. 22nd game that gave the Reds the 1954 California League championship versus the San José Red Sox. Now, Modesto wasn't in the WIL, but I did a little digging. It was a great game, the one baseball fans love to see (OK, the kind I'd like to see). It was scoreless until the top of the ninth and the Reds hadn't even put a runner past second base until Red outfielder Russ Derry, who had played for the Yankees, smashed a solo home run over the right field fence. Then came the bottom of the ninth. The Red Sox had the bases loaded on a hit and two walks. Two were out. Up stepped Gary Killingsworth. He hit a slow roller to Jack Holmquist, who "while bent over and still running, threw to first for the final out" to give Modesto the Governor's Cup.
The heroic Holmquist in question was the late father of my correspondent.
Incidentally, Derry celebrated by rushing back to St. Louis where his daughter was showing her prize calf in the 4-H show at the fair. Now, that's old-time baseball! Could Barry Bonds say the same thing today?

A relative of Morry Abbott fired off a short note. Abbott swatted 37 homers for Tacoma in 1939 and spent the next couple of seasons there. I haven't done any pre-war stuff on the WIL so I really don't know much about him, other than Bremerton's Bill Barisoff broke his record in 1946. And his middle initial is "H."

But the best part, so far, is getting a brief e-letter from former Victoria lefthander Jim Propst, who had several good seasons for the Athletics and Tyees. Jim is 80 now and, if the internet is correct, a former steelworker and antique and stamp collector.

Feel free, dear readers, to click on "comments" to leave a note on the site re. the WIL, especially if you're a former player or related to one. Nancy Shapley left a squib about her dad, Carl. I'd even be happy to hear from anyone who went to a WIL game that stuck in their memory.

Doc Younker

2007-10-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a couple of months ago about former Vancouver Mounties trainer Doc Younker, a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, who attended the SABR meeting in Vancouver. Little did I realise he had been a Western International League umpire. Or a grocery guy.

Here's a piece on him from the Tri-City Herald, May 20, 1952, by sports editor Don Becker.

Harold Younker who gave up calling out grocery lists to sing out on balls and strikes may not know how lucky he is to break into the umpiring business in Class A league. The former Pasco groceryman really got a big break when League President Bob Abel plucked him to work the WIL circuit. Most umpires, like ball players, have to come up the hard way by starting out in the low minors and then proving their ability.
Younker got his big chance when George Behringer quit. Right, now he will be on probation for perhaps a month or so until he has proved his ability. That will depend on the reports from the umpires working with him and to some extent what the club managers have to say, providing Abel asks them.

It's quite a process this getting to be an umpire. The most single important thing about umpiring, at least in our opinion, is a thick skin. They have to take some pretty rough treatment from managers and players when a disagreement arises and you can't just thumb them out of the game. At least not in this class of baseball where a team only carries 17 players. Boot out a couple of key players and you might just as well hand the other team the ball game. Consequently the umps, must of necessity, allow a much wider latitude than they would, say in the Coast or Major Leagues.
YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE IT
Younker's case history is a good example of how umpires happen and is probably applicable to most in the business. First of all it was his hobby. . .he liked calling games. So after beating ground a few semi-pro games he decided to take a few lessons and attended the school in Portland operated by “Doc” Regele, a former WIL umpire. But Younker found that wasn't enough so this past winter he enrolled in Bill McGowan's two-month course at Daytona Beach, Fla. And here's how that looked.

RIGHT POSITION IS IMPORTANT

“There were about 130 of us I guess,” said Younker, “who were taking the course. The first in the morning we had calisthenics, then breakfast. After the morning meal we'd take a long workout practicing calling balls and strikes, safes and outs. For that we'd form up in a long line, then one at a time go forward beatable and call “safe,” “out” or whatever it was. And when you made the call you had to be in the proper position with your legs well spread and the gesture well-defined. The rest of the morning we'd choose up teams and take turns in calling the game.”

If you noticed Younker working behind the plate Saturday night or Sunday it was quite apparent that even not knowing who McGowan was, that he was from the American League. Younker was calling the game directly over the catcher's head as contrasted with the National League style in which the umpire calls the pitches from inside the catcher, that is he looks over the shoulder of the catcher nearest the batter.

More on Gus Hallbourg

2007-10-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

The last survivor of the Spokane Indians bus crash in 1946 who died last week was signed to a pro contract in February 1939. He was in the West Texas-New Mexico League and started with Lubbock but ended up with Pampa against Lubbock in the playoffs.
Here's a contemporary sports column about him.

The LOOKOUT
By JOHN F. KENNEY
[The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts, March 17, 1939]
OUT OF A CLEAR SKY BEAMS A NEW SUBURBAN star, for whom two major league clubs ran a merry race this winter with a contract as the prize.
The whole story can be told, now that Darwin Hallbourg of East Pepperell is finally and officially listed with the Chicago White Sox rookie camp at Longview, Texas.
Two years ago, rangy, strong-armed, right-handed Hallbourg was tossing 'em up for the North Chelmsford American Legion team, and then he pitched for the St. Joseph's church team of Pepperell in the Catholic Junior league. When that circuit failed to reorganize, Hallbourg applied his trusty arm to the fortunes of a crack semi-pro team in Nashua, N. H. He never hurled in Lowell, but he's the pride of Pepperell and the joy of the suburban towns, who always claim to have baseball talent as plentiful and able as Lowell proper.
The story of Hallbourg has its dramatic points. Six weeks ago, one of the scouts of the New York Yankees "got ahold" of this writer and sought the kind of information that scouts are wont to seek. For the present, the scout's identity must be held in confidence. It doesn't matter particularly anyway, but the contacts were opened for the Yankee ambassador in Pepperell by the writer, and he proceeded to the town. In no time at all, he was talking with an older relative of the prospect.
"Your boy plays quite a lot of baseball, doesn't he?" politely inquired the Yankee talent hunter.
"Oh my, yes," was the reply. "Darwin just yesterday signed an agreement to play for Chicago of the American league. Isn't that grand?"
"Swell," mumbled the scout, as he reached for his hat.
If Hallbourg had known that the Yankees were after him, it's a cinch this would be another story.
Of Hallbourg's prospects, Sec. John P. McEnaney of the Middlesex County league is more than mildly optimistic.
"He has everything," said Mac. "He's young, has a sweet variety of shoots and is big, strong and heady."
Where Hallbourg's stuff was first discerned by Chicago and New York scouts is unknown. The Yankee scout refused to impart that enticing piece of information. But down in Longview, Texas, there's a kid who was chucking for North Chelmsford's little Legion Junior team a few years ago and he is good enough to have created a contract race between two of the best operated teams in major league baseball.

Spokane's Last Survivor

2007-10-20T04:25:00.000-07:00

No doubt you've heard about the passing of former Spokane Indian Gus Hallbourg. Here are some news stories dealing with his death, including a fine piece by SABR's Jim Price, who was radio's voice of the Indians when I met him in 1979.
You can read contemporary stories about the bus crash on this site. Click on the label 'bus crash' at the end of this post.

Pitcher from ill-fated 1946 Spokane Indians team dies
The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash., Oct. 17 — Darwin "Gus" Hallbourg, a survivor of a fatal bus crash that devastated the 1946 Spokane Indians baseball team, died Saturday of a heart attack at a California care center, according to his brother Don. He was 87.
Nine of the Western International League team's 15 players died when their Bremerton-bound bus tumbled off the Snoqualmie Pass highway and burst into flames on June 24, 1946.
Hallbourg, who played professionally for six years as a pitcher and outfielder, crawled through a window frame. After helping others to safety, he was treated for burns on his arms and hands. He returned to action later in the season.
In 1940, his second season, the right-hander won 21 games for Pampa, Texas, of the West Texas-New Mexico League. After being sold to San Diego, Hallbourg won 15 games for Anaheim of the California League in 1941 and appeared in four games for the Padres.
After service in the U.S. Navy in World War II, Hallbourg played for Spokane, finishing with a 7-6 record. He played two more seasons with Lancaster of the Inter-State League.
He settled in Manteca, Calif., and was employed for 32 years by Pacific Telephone Co.
Hallbourg is survived by Roberta, his wife of 61 years; a brother; two sisters; three sons and a daughter. There are five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Survivor of ill-fated bus crash dies at 87
Staff reports of the Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin [Oct. 18]
The last survivor of what is considered to be the worst accident in American professional sports passed away Saturday.
Darwin "Gus" Hallbourg, a longtime Manteca resident, died of a heart attack at the age of 87. He was set to turn 88 on Halloween.
Hallbourg was stricken with pneumonia after suffering a stroke in September.
Hallbourg was a part of a tragic bus crash June 24, 1946 while he and his Spokane Indians minor league baseball team, of the Western International League, were traveling across Washington state to Bremerton.
The bus tumbled off the Snoqualmie Pass highway and was engulfed in flames.
Nine of the 15 players, including player-manager Mel Cole, died as a result. Hallbourg helped get his surviving teammates to safety and was later treated for burns on his arms and hands.
"I was able to get out of there without serious injuries, and I've been lucky to live a wonderful life," Hallbourg once told the Spokesman Review. "I am one of the great lucky guys alive."
Hallbourg was a Minor League pitcher and outfielder for six years and served four years in World War II with the U.S. Navy.
After his final two professional seasons with Lancaster of the Inner-State League, he settled in Manteca and went on to work for Pacific Telephone Company for 32 years.
Hallbourg was a member of Spring Creek Golf Club in Ripon and was considered an excellent amateur golfer.
He is survived by Roberta, his wife of 61 years; two sisters and a brother; three sons and a daughter; five grand children and one great grandchild.
Information from: The Spokesman-Review

Darwin F. (Gus) Hallbourg
Retired
Darwin F. (Gus) Hallbourg, 87, died Saturday, Oct. 13, in Hughson, after a long, happy life. He was born on Oct. 31, 1919 in Huntington, Mass.
Gus grew up in Pepperill, Mass. where he lived until high school graduation in 1939. He played professional baseball from 1939 until 1948, with time out to serve as a Chief Boatswain's Mate in the Navy during World War II. During this time he married Roberta Harney on Jan. 5, 1946 in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1948 they moved to Stockton, where he began a 33 year career with Pacific Telephone. He moved to Manteca with his family in 1959 where he lived until his death at 87 years old. He enjoyed many happy years playing golf and was well known for his beautiful tomato garden.
Gus is survived by and will so be missed by his wife of 61 years, Roberta; brother, Donald Hallbourg and wife Jean of Stockton; sisters, Alice Duce of Middletown, Rhode Island, and Shirley Jones of Oakville, Ontario, Canada; daughter, Marsha Beever and husband Dan of Atwater; sons, Robert Hallbourg and wife Flora, and Peter Hallbourg of Manteca, Mark Hallbourg of Auburn; grandchildren, Dan and Crystal Beever, Tony and Jessica Hallbourg, Laura Beever, Matthew and Melissa Hallbourg, Kendall Hallbourg; and great-grandchildren, Janessa and Isaac Hallbourg.
Please join the family in a celebration of Gus's life at Spring Creek Golf & Country Club, (1580 Spring Creek Dr., Ripon, CA 95366), on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Community Hospice, Inc., 2201 Euclid Ave., Hughson, CA 95326.
Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin - Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007

Last survivor of bus crash dies at 87
Heart attack claims Hallbourg
Jim Price
Correspondent
Spokane Spokesman-Review, October 16, 2007
The passage of time has concluded the living history of the ill-fated 1946 Spokane Indians baseball team.
Former pitcher Darwin "Gus" Hallbourg died of a heart attack Saturday night in a care center near Modesto, Calif. Hallbourg, 87, developed pneumonia after a minor stroke in late September. A resident of nearby Manteca, he was the last survivor of the worst accident in American professional sports history.
On June 24, 1946, a bus carrying the Spokane Indians across the state to Bremerton, tumbled off the Snoqualmie Pass highway and plunged into the canyon, where it exploded in flames. Nine of the Western International League team's 15 players died as a result.
Hallbourg escaped by squirming through a window frame. After helping other survivors reach safety, he was treated for burns on his arms and hands. He returned to action later in the season, playing in the outfield when he wasn't pitching.
Moments before the accident, Hallbourg turned to star pitcher Bob Kinnaman, who shared his love of fishing, and said "Wouldn't this be one helluva place to go over the edge?"
Hallbourg had begun the trip sharing a seat with third baseman Jack Lohrke. However, Lohrke, Spokane's best major-league prospect, left his teammates after dinner in Ellensburg, where he learned he had been recalled by the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League.
A native of Huntington, Mass., Hallbourg played professionally for six seasons, half before his four years of World War II service with the U.S. Navy.
In 1940, his second season, the gregarious right-hander won 21 games for Pampa (Texas) of the West Texas-New Mexico League. After being sold to San Diego, Hallbourg won 15 games for Anaheim of the California League in 1941 and appeared in four late- season games for the Padres.
Spokane was his first stop following the war. He finished with a 7-6 record. After two seasons with Lancaster of the Inter-State League, he accepted a full-time job in Central California with Pacific Telephone Company. He settled in Manteca and retired from the phone company 32 years later.
Hallbourg was admired for his cheerful outlook.
In a 1986 interview, Spokane teammate Milt Cadinha remembered him as "a very, very, very nice person." Monday, Hallbourg's brother, Don, a Stockton, Calif., resident, agreed. "He always had a nice attitude. Nothing ever bothered him too much."
Indeed, last June, asked about his health, Hallbourg chirped, "I'm bright-eyed and bushy-tailed."
More than once, he told The Spokesman-Review how fortunate he felt to have been spared in the bus wreck.
"I was able to get out of there without serious injuries, and I've been lucky to live a wonderful life," he said. "I am one of the great lucky guys alive."
For years, Hallbourg was among the Modesto area's best amateur golfers, and he was an avid gardener who raised tomatoes. He and wife Roberta had been married 61 years. The 1946 baseball season in Spokane served as their honeymoon.
Hallbourg would have turned 88 on the last day of this month.
His remains will be cremated, according to family members. In lieu of services, there will be a family gathering later this month. In addition to his wife and brother, he is survived by two sisters, three sons and a daughter. There are five grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Hey, Now, What's That Sound?

2007-10-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece from Jim Coleman's column (reprinted in the Lethbridge Herald) of May 17, 1951. It deals with rabid rooters and starts with Hilda Chester in Brooklyn. Then, it mentions the Western International League.

Take the case of Joe North, a veteran baseball devotee in Victoria, B.C. A couple of years ago, Joseph sued the Victoria Baseball Club because the management refused to admit him to the game. The management contended that North's vocal manifestations of approval and disapproval disturbed other spectators in the grandstand. Specifically, Joseph was charged with uttering a hideous sound described as “The Bronx Cheer.”
The case was tried before a dignified jurist of the British Supreme Court, who, puzzled by the nature of the evidence, requested Mr. North to give a demonstration of his art. Beaming proudly, Mr. North arose In the witness box, took a deep breath, pursed his lips and obliged with the grand-daddy of all Bronx Cheers.
His Lordship reeled backward in his chair. Visibly shaken, he adjourned the court and fled to his chambers, looking back fearfully at Mr. North who was taking bows from the witness box. Mr. North's suit was dismissed when His Lordship had regained his composure.
• • • •
The evidence revealed that Mr. North had another little pecularity. He took large quantities of home-made sandwiches to each game. He would pass through the stands pressing these sandwiches.
One of the witnesses who testified against him was a waiter from the Empress Hotel. Witness contended that North's offers of sandwichs were annoying and offensive.
“Did you ever accept one of these sandwiches?” counsel asked.
“Certainly not,” sniffed the witness. “I work at the Empress and I eat only the very best food.”
Personally, we find it hard to understand why Mr. North was discriminated against for distributing home-made sandwiches unless, of course, he was cutting into the profits of the concessionaires who sell, the frankfurters and coffee. We remember a prominent Vancouver gentleman who arrived at all baseball games, carrying a large wicker picnic-basket packed with sandwiches and hard boiled eggs. Perhaps they have barred him, too.

Save on Transportation

2007-09-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

This incident likely took place in 1939. Bellingham packed up for Salem for 1940. As usual, "manager" means "business manager" as opposed to "field manager."

Speaking of baseball did you know that at one time a team hitch-hiked in order to keep up with the schedule? That's right. It happened when Bellingham was in the WIL circuit. The club had suffered heavy financial reverses and finally were left without even a manager. Al Lichtner, now sports editor of the Salem Statesman, was appointed as manager, and the club not only used their thumb to get to Spokane for a series, but also used the same method to swing across the state to Tacoma.
-Tri-City Herald, Monday, February 5, 1951

Amby Moran

2007-09-03T03:39:00.000-07:00

Umpires don't tend to be popular. But Amby Moran was. He had called balls and strikes and outs in the PCL then worked in the shipyards in Bremerton during the war before resuming his umpiring career in the WIL in 1946. That's all I knew about him until stumbling on this column by the late Jim Coleman in the Lethbridge Herald of November 21, 1950.

Jim was always a great writer, and here he is about Amby Moran. It doesn't deal with Amby's time in the Western International League, but you'll like the story.

THE GREAT AMBROSE
This is about "The Remarkable Reformation of Ambrose Jason Moran, The Man-Who-Scored-A-Goal-While-Skating-Backwards." We ran into this story in Vancouver last week and we offer it in the spirit of humility because we think that it provides a strong object-lesson for any young athlete who wanders from the Primrose Path.
Young gaffers of today probably don't remember Ambrose Jason Moran, but he was one of the fabulous figures of the Torrid Twenties. He was the locomotive fireman from Winnipeg who played hockey for Brandon, Regina, Vancouver, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks, Tulsa and way-stations.
He was one of the best all-round athletes ever developed in Winnipeg, In the space of two years, he played on six championship teams—in lacrosse, hockey and baseball. There is no telling how far he might have gone if a fellow-railwayman hadn't given him his first drink of gin at the age of 19. There are competent western sports critics who will tell you that Amby Moran could have been elected to Hockey's Hall of Fame, on the strength of his playing-ability—if he hadn't been an unregenerative screwball.
You've heard the old legend of how Cyclone Taylor is reputed to have scored a goal while skating backwards. Taylor has never confirmed that story. The fact remains that Amby Moran did score a goal while skating backwards.
Despite the fact that he weighed 250 pounds, Moran was a speedy and skillful skater. When he was checled by the opposing defence, he had a trick of pirouetting like a ballet dancer. One night, he was playing for Regina Capitals against Calgary Tigers in the old Western Canada League. He was hit by Red Dutton and Herb Gardiner of the Calgary defence.
Amby pirouetted, retained possession of the pick, skated backwards all the way from the blue line and blasted the pust past Bill Binnie in the Calgary goal.
* * *
However, we're writing this piece with Moran's blessing because he hopes that others may profit from his mistakes. To be brutally frank about it, Amby was a lush. Looking back on it, he believes he was the unchallenged, catch-as-catch-can champion of Canadian professional sport.
The other day, in Vancouver, we asked Amby if ever there was an occasion when he was on the wagon.
"Sure," said Mr. Moran affably, "I was on the wagon every time they had me locked up in the can."
Mr. Moran's visits to these houses of correction were the direct result of the chemical reaction of alcohol on an Irish temperament. Moran never deliberately hurt an opponent in the course of a game but, when he got his nose into the grog, in extra-curricular activities, his actions were somewhat unpredictable.
* * *
Moran owes all his misfortunes to his affection for alcohol. He was one of the outstanding athletes of his era but he was tossed aside reluctantly by sports promoters who couldn't keep him on a straight line. He blew his jobs and he blew his chances with the unreasoning nonchalance of the alcoholic.
Today, Amby should have been one of baseball's top umpires, holding a job in the National League.
The National League sent a scout to report on Moran, who had been recommended highly by Big League players who barn-stormed in Canada. The scout caught up with Moran who was umpiring a Labor Day double-header in Winnipeg. It was one of those "synthetic" double-headers with a single game in the morning and another in the afternoon.
After the first game, the scout wired National League headquarters: "Hire this man at once. He's outstanding."
During the luncheon interval, Amby dipped into a jar of jungle-juice. The crowd appreciated the umpire's antics during the second game but, reluctantly, the scout telegraphed National League and told them to forget about Moran.
* * *
It was only his remarkable constitution which kept him going. He skidded and skidded and then, one night 26 months ago, he reached the end of the road.
He was sitting alone in a little hotel room in North Vancouver. He tried to read the newspaper and his eyes couldn't focus on the type. The perspiration ran down him in streams. The walls were closing in on him and there was no one on whom he could call for help.
It was at that precise moment that two strangers walked into his room. One an impulse, they had driven 10 miles through a blinding rain-storm to see him. They were Alcoholics Anonymous.
Analyzing it now, we believe that those were the first two real friends that Amby Moran ever had in his life.
He hasn't had a drink since that day. Now, at 55, he looks so wonderfully clear-eyed and happy that his old friends wouldn't recognize him. In our Vancouver hotel room the other day, he told us the story simply and sincerely and he told us that he's devoting the remainder of his life to helping other men and women.
We were mobed genuinely, when we heard him say: "We don't want to add years to their life—we want to add life to their years."
Well, if ever an old athlete needs help, he should remember the name of Ambrose Jason Moran.

Amby Moran died in North Vancouver on April 4, 1958, age 61.

1950 Done (Mostly)

2007-09-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

If results of the 1950 Western International League season are what you're after, they're all on the 1950 page. There are scores for all of them, linescores for all but a handful and at least a one-line story from various sources on most of them. Despite conflicting newspaper numbers and my poor math skills, I think I have accurate standings after most game-nights.

Unfortunately, the CUPE strike in Vancouver that has shut down the library and its newspaper archives is still on, otherwise I could flesh out some of the stories and add the missing linescores. I especially wanted to check the Vancouver News-Herald for Clancy Loranger's (I'm presuming it was his) front page story on rumours of Tri-City moving, as well as the flap regarding the Vancouver official scorer (the current Vancouver official scorer, Pat Karl, is guessing it was the late Eric Whitehead), and more on the proposal to move the Salem club to New Westminster.

If you're waiting for the 1951, 1952 and 1954 seasons (and the pre-war years of 1937-1942), you will be waiting for awhile. Now that September is here, I am involved with a number of organisations which will take up about all my spare time until next summer and thus I will be unable to carry on with the game-by-game roundup. And I still can't finish 1949 until the strike ends and I check the archives to confirm six weeks worth of linescores.

Vancouver SABR Meeting

2007-08-25T18:23:00.001-07:00

Once a year, a pleasant afternoon is spent in Vancouver when the local/regional members of SABR get rounded up by Max Weder for a little get-together. This year was no exception and Max did a fine job in setting up the meeting in the empty-but-noisy concession area at Nat Bailey Stadium (now, if the old Press Room were still around.....).
I had a chance to speak far too briefly with Bill Whyte, who pitched for the Vancouver Capilanos in the Western International League. Bill's retired in Nanaimo now. He doesn't look old enough for someone who was in baseball 55-plus years ago. The chat was coincidental as I'm now posting the July 1950 WIL games (see the 1950 page) and have reached the point where Bill started appearing for the Capilanos.
He's a local guy who was signed by Bob Brown off the sandlots. Bob sent him to Calgary to play semi-pro in 1949 (if I recall, it was four-team league; the Purity 99s and another club in Calgary and two in Edmonton). He led the league. The following year, Bill says Victoria was shy of players so he and another were loaned to the Athletics, then he ended up in El Centro in the Class C Sunset League before being called up in mid-season to the Caps.
Bill stayed around the team for a couple of more years and has the distinction of winning the last game played in Athletic Park. "They rolled up the infield," he says, "and the next day, we were playing on it here [Cap Stadium, now Nat Bailey]."
I wish I had a chance to make some notes and then speak with him longer. The stories about the games and the players are usually more interesting than the games themselves.
Bill's picture you see above is from 1951. It's been purloined off the web and I'm guessing it's from Max's collection.
Incidentally, I mentioned how I saw Bud Beasley's name in a linescore with his. "He was quite a character," Bill said. Indeed he was. Here's a link to Bud's obit. He's probably the only WIL player to have a school named after him (it's in Sparks, Nevada).

The best part about the meeting perhaps was the appearance of the former trainer for the 1954 Capilanos and PCL's Vancouver Mounties during their years as an Orioles farm club. Doc Younker told the story about what happened after Brooks Robinson ripped his arm on the dugout at Cap Stadium in 1959. It was more like he impaled it. Doc explained that ambulance response times were worse in the '50s than they are today, so he ended up taking Brooks to Vancouver General, and then caught hell from Mounties General Manager Cedric Tallis for it. But, in doing so, Brooks was able to get medical attention and then, as we all know, go on to a Hall of Fame career for the Orioles.

Bud Kerr showed me a ball signed by members of the 1953 Caps. Apparently, some widow found it in her late husband's garage workshop on the North Shore, called former C's souvenier man Torchy Pechet, who immediately called Bud.

Canadians co-owner Jake Kerr made an appearance. What a great thing to have local ownership show that kind of interest. Andy Kerr, the GM-who-has-some-other-title, spoke about his jaunts around the minor leagues, starting with the Oklahoma City 89ers. It sounds like he was there when the Rangers would seemingly sign almost any six-year free agent over the age of 32 (pitches, especially) and ship them to OKC. A lot of veteran PCL players used to end up there back then.

He reminded us the park isn't up to AAA standards. We can always hope that day comes.

Congrats to Bud Kerr

2007-08-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

He never played in the Western International League, but he's been supporting Vancouver baseball since those days. He's Bud Kerr, who has received more space in one edition of the Vancouver Courier than the dailies will give to local baseball in a month. Click HERE for it.

A loud "Hear! Hear!" comes from this blogger about a baseball museum. One of the selling points about dear old Nat Bailey Stadium is "the past," but precious little about it is visible anywhere there, unless you want to count the coats of paint like rings on oak tree. What a great idea to allow baseball fans of all ages to view Bud's collection and learn about our city's baseball history. Decades ago, Bob Brown was the first to be inducted into the Vancouver Baseball Hall of Fame. The Hall's resurrection is long overdue and should have a home in Bud's museum.

Now that the club will put this excellent idea in place, the next thing they should do something about is the atrocious state of the field at Nat Bailey. It used to be the best in the PCL. Now, it's a divot-laden, boggy embarrassment to A-ball. Cement has more give than the infield some nights. It's pretty bad when the umpire demands last-minute work be done on it, like we saw on Thursday night.

While we're mini-ranting, here's a question raising from the Courier story: where on earth did anyone get the idea that professional baseball in Vancouver "is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary"? The first pro game was 1905. That was 103 seasons ago. If you take out the various gaps when Vancouver didn't have pro ball, it still doesn't work out to 100. Whoever came up with "100 year" canard sure didn't get the idea from Bud Kerr. He knows his history. Other people obviously don't. Maybe when we get a baseball museum, stupid misconceptions like this will become history themselves.

Don Ferrarese

2007-08-11T01:20:00.000-07:00

Today, not an awful lot of players get called up to the PCL from the Northwest League. How different things were in the 40s and 50s. The Western International League was, in part, a feeder for PCL clubs and you'll read stories of guys going from, say, the Vancouver Capilanos to the Seattle Rainiers (and vice versa). So, when Vancouver joined the PCL in 1956, Mounties fans (and it's remarkable there were any after that dreadful season) would see former WIL players dotting various Coast League rosters.

One of these was Don Ferrarese, who appeared in a Wenatchee Chiefs uniform in 1950. He was 9 and 12 with an ERA of 5.21 that year, giving up 123 runs (107 earned) on 121 hits and 209 walks. He struck out 154 and tossed 18 wild pitches that year (the 16 March 1951 newspaper photo to the left is when he went to spring training with Oakland). Ferrarase also pitched for the Vancouver Mounties, as he was sent down from the Baltimore Orioles on May 16, 1957 (the baseball card you see to the right and above is from that year). He won his first start for the Mounties ten days later against the Rainiers, and reeled off three straight victories, then five straight losses, then eight straight wins to finish the season. Don had a remarkable string of four straight four-hitters and even beat Tommy Lasorda who was with a Los Angeles team that wasn't the Dodgers on August 28th. He struck out 15 in his final start for Vancouver on September 14 and finished with an ERA under 3.00 (why aren't minor league career stats before 1978 available on-line anyways?)

I write this because I occasionally stumble upon what former WIL players are doing now. Don had a charity web site with a broken URL, but THIS will give you an idea of what it's about. It's great to see someone helping others.

And HERE is an interesting article about his career in the Texas League and what happened after he left Vancouver.

Bob Robertson - Part 3

2007-08-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

Instead of me rewriting the story, go HERE to go to the 1950 blog and read how Bob started his radio career. It's interesting, but a little less than candid. Sounds like the play-by-play guy got liquored up or didn't show up or both. That wouldn't be a surprise, considering the sports media back then. It's a lot different than today's sterile, corporate radio (or newspaper) world. The industry doesn't have real characters any more. And they wouldn't be allowed to smoke cigars in the press box anyway. I'll have to ask Bob about it when he comes back to Vancouver next season.

Vancouver's main library is still behind CUPE pickets. I can't put August and September up on the 1949 blog until then. However, I'm getting some pre-season work done on 1950 which you can click on and read.

Bob Robertson, Part Two

2007-07-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

More on Bob in a moment - but first:

CUPE STRIKE
Yes, it's having an effect on the blog. Some of the stories, linescores, standings and other material I've been putting up has come only due to library research and the libraries are behind pickets indefinitely. So that's why things are on hold. Sorry. I have a skeleton of the rest of the 1949 season in draft form awaiting scores and other material to flesh it out for posting.

1950 will be a bit easier. Tri-Cities entered the league and the local paper for that year is on-line. As well, another Washington State paper available on-line stepped up its coverage in 1950, though the camera which took pictures of the pages was not focused properly (it wasn't in 1949; why that was never corrected, I'll never know) so not all the stories or linescores are intelligible. However, once summer ends, I won't be posting due to other things going on in life so things will stagnate here indefinitely.

BLACK PLAYER
The first reference I can find to one in the WIL is at the end of the 1949 season when Art Pennington was sent to Salem from Portland.

BOB
Looking for something else, I found a reference to Bob doing WIL play-by-play, though he apparently did it to the United Press on something other than the game. Here's the story from 1950:

Umpire Mobbed by 1,000 Irate Fans, Feud With Manager Thompson Cause
WENATCHEE, Wash., May 23, (UP)—Approximately 1,000 irate baseball fans rioted and mobbed a base umpire Sunday night at the conclusion of a Western International League doubleheader.
The fans, irked at what they believed the fulfillment of a public threat by the umpire to "get" Wenatchee manager Tommy Thompson, were finally dispersed by police after they pummeled base ump J. "Doc" Regele as he made his way to the umpires' dressing room.
Before the start of the series between Wenatchee and Tri City here Friday, Regele had said he was out to "get" Thompson. He ejected the manager during the course of tonight's game.
In the final innings, Regele made numerous calls which gave Tri City a decided edge, radio broadcaster Bob Robertson reported.
With the score tied 6-all in the ninth, Dick Faber of Tri City hit a blooper to second baseman Buddy Hjelmaa. Hjelmaa fielded the ball on the first bounce and tagged Artie Wilson as the runner went by, Robertson said.
Regele called Wilson safe, and two Tri City runs were scored.
Hjelmaa vociferously protested the decision, and was thrown out of the game as pop bottles rained around the umpire.
As the contest ended, with Tri City winning 8-7, the fans poured out of the stands, throwing pop bottles, seat cushions and rolled-up newspapers. They swarmed around Regele, and he had to fight his way through the throng to reach the safety of the dressing room, Robertson said.

Pop bottles. It was a kindler, gentler time.

Just as a side note, Buddy had been with the Capilanos in 1948 but he and Bob Stumpf were sent to the Great Falls Selectrics in the Pioneer League the next year. The two teams had a working arrangement with the Seattle Rainiers that really shouldn't be a surprise. Great Falls had been known for years as the Electrics, but became the Selectrics in 1949, named after a beer manufactured by—Emil Sick. Sick sold the brewery later that year. In addition, former Seattle outfielder Dick Gyselman managed (and I think had part ownership in) Great Falls in 1948.

Bob Robertson, WIL Broadcaster

2007-07-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

To me, Bob Robertson's the guy I saw do the sports on Channel 11 out of Tacoma when I was, well, a little younger than I am now. Today, he's the play-by-play voice of the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League.

When doing some research on the WIL, I stumbled across the following column that I've transcribed HERE:

Bob had mentioned once upon a time he was in school in the Lower Mainland in his boyhood years, had played outfield and signed a pro contract lo those many years ago and I wondered if he was the young man mentioned in the column. Pat Karl, the long-time official scorer and former P.A. announcer at Nat Bailey Stadium, and I were talking about this, so when Bob arrived in town for the Vancouver-Spokane series, he asked Bob about it. And Bob confirmed it was him.

We chatted about it during the rain delay yesterday. He had been told about, but had never seen, the article. He had been shopping his services around and Bob Brown was one of the people he hit up. It turns out the Portland Beavers signed him to a Salem Senators contract but he decided not to play after all so they put him on something like the voluntarily retired list.

Bob eventually played semi-pro all over the Pacific Northwest, but got into broadcasting in 1949, doing the Wenatchee Chiefs games on KHQ. "They got so short of players, they wanted me to come down from the broadcast booth and go into a game. But my rights were still held by Portland. They called and asked if they would give a waiver to let me play. The club was told they could trade for me, but they didn't have anyone to trade, so that ended my pro comeback."

Bob asked if Keith Matthews was still alive because "he mentioned an apology." I have no idea if Keith's still around. He may be; after all, Clancy Loranger was on the WIL beat back then (for the News Herald that year) is still with us, no doubt puffing on those thin cigarellos of his. For that matter, I understand former Caps broadcaster Hal Rodd is, too. So, Keith, if you're reading, please send Bob an apology. After all, he is a Hall of Famer. And Bob and his wife Jo are some of the most genuine people you can meet.

His skills as a play-by-play announcer are a marvel to many aspiring broadcasters; Rob Fai, the current Canadians radio man, remarked about Bob's broadcasts the other day. Bob's style is really basic. He doesn't yell into the mike. He doesn't use a phoney Ronnie Radio voice (why in God's name do others?). He doesn't engage in Dave Niehaus hyperbole (where a routine ground ball is made to sound like the most amazing play in baseball history). He simply describes what's going on in a conversational way and makes sure he is prepared to go on the air with relevant things to say about the players, the game, the batting/fielding situations, the park, whatever. In that way, he's very much like Jim Robson who, as we all should know, was the play-by-play voice of the PCL's Vancouver Mounties when I was, well, yes, younger than I am now. And Jim's the best play-by-play guy this city will ever have.

The Spokane Indians are quite fortunate to have him. Bob suddenly discovered he wasn't going to be back doing the Tacoma Rainiers games in one of those atypical radio management bonehead decisions that happens to everyone if you're in the business long enough. He called the next closest club, the Everett Aquasox, who had re-signed their current guy but suggested he call Bobby Brett in Spokane, who had been looking for someone. And that's how Bob landed in the Northwest League.

You may wonder why Bob, with all his baseball play-by-play experience, never ended up doing the Seattle Mariners on radio. Because I think he should have. But he'll have to tell you that story.

Emmett Ashford - W.I.L. Trailblazer

2007-07-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't discovered yet who was the first black player in the Western International League as I plow through the game stories of the late 40s. Catcher John Ritchie was the first for the Capilanos in 1950; he was the first in the PCL with the San Diego Padres in 1948. But Vancouver baseball rooters of a certain vintage remember umpire Emmett Ashford doing some of the Mounties' PCL games in the late 50s. He appeared at Cap Stadium in Vancouver before that, as these wire stories attest:

Negro Ump Set In Western Int. Loop
VANCOUVER, B. C. — The only Negro umpire in organized baseball has been hired by the Class A Western International league, President Bob Brown announced today.
He is Emmett Ashford, 37, for the last two years an umpire in the Class C Arizona Texas League and currently an arbiter in the California winter league.
- Saturday, February 7, 1953

SPORTS THINKS
By Ed Orman
Yesterday was a swell day for the opening of the baseball season in the Fresno-State College Park.
The weatherman provided mild, sunshiny weather after a few blustery days the past week. The Tokio Giants from Japan and the Valley All Stars did their part, too, by supplying about 1,500 fans with a snappy exhibition of baseball for such an early date.
But it remained for the plate umpire to steal the show and if you were among the absentees from the sun splashed college ball orchard you missed the most amusing, entertaining as well as efficient job of ball and strike calling ever performed in the FSC park.
And it was by the first and only Negro arbiter in organized baseball—Emmett Ashford of Los Angeles.
Ashford came to Fresno, donned the umpiring gear and made his way to the plate unannounced. But it was not long before all of the fans were asking “Who is that fellow back of the plate; he sure is colorful; he knows his business?”
With his bellowing, booming,voice and emphatic arm gesticulations, and dramatic whisking of the broom as he manicured home plate, Ashford made a tremendous hit with the customers.
Got Standing Ovation
“But he's no fly by nighter as an umpire,” Les Powers, the public relations man for the touring Giants said. “I hired the fellow for the tailend of the 1951 season to umpire in the Southwest International League of which I was president.” He immediately caught the fancy of the fans with his colorful work. Why, one night in El Paso where Ashford's race ordinarily is not in good standing, the fans gave him a standing ovation at the end of the game.
“Every town in my league was clamoring for his services. He was just like money in the bank. He umpired in the Sunset League last season and was sent to the Western International League this year. I know the Pacific Coast League made a mistake by overlooking him.
“My prediction is, given the breaks, Ashford will be in the major leagues in five years. He's a high class fellow and a fine ball and strike man.”
Ashford, 34 years of age, is a native of Los Angeles and attended elementary, high school and college there. He was graduated from Jefferson High School where he competed in football and baseball, and later was graduated from Chapman College. Ashford planned a career in ministry, but didn't go through with it.
Basketball Ump, Too
He worked for about 15 years as a postal clerk in the Los Angeles Post Office and umpired semipro baseball games on weekends, and also umpired basketball games, including some Pacific Coast Conference contests in Los Angeles. Ashford was called back to the national semipro baseball tournament in Wichita, Kan., for a couple of hitches.
“When I ran short of umpires in my league in 1951, I called Ashford's wife to see if I could induce him to help me out,” Powers recalled. “She contacted Emmett and urged him to join me, which he did. He gives his wife credit for whatever successes he attains in life.”
The current umpiring chores constitute Spring conditioning for Ashford. He will work all of the Giants' games, many against PCL and major league clubs in California, and all back of the plate, Powers said.
Fans, can get a peek at him this afternoon in Visalia and again in Fresno tomorrow afternoon and we can assure you you won't be disappointed.
- Fresno Bee, Sunday, February 22, 1953

First Colored Umpire
by AL WARDEN
Emmett Ashford, one-time athletic star af Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, will serve as one of the Pacific Coast League's umpires during the 1954 season. Ashford is the first colored umpire ever to call halls, strikes and plays in organized baseball.
Back in 1946 Ashford was lying on a cot at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, when news spouted over the radio that Jackie Robinson had been signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first colored player in organized baseball. Right then and there Emmett Ashford promised he would become the first of his race, too, in his line. He would become the first Negro umpire in baseball history with an eye on the Coast league and then the majors.
Les Powers signed Ashford for the Southwest International League back in 1951. Last year he worked in the Western International circuit.
His beefs have been few in his organized baseball career.
Last season he called “one” too fast in a game between Victoria and Vancouver. He turned to the stands and made a public admission that he had “kicked one.”
The fans gave him a terrific ovation and they later held a night for him. This chap must be a colorful umpire. Fans, players and managers of the Western International swear by him.
This winter Ashford is working Pacific Coast Conference basketball games. Writers on the coast say baseball's first Negro umpire is just as handy with the whistle.
-Ogden Standard-Examiner, Thursday, December 17, 1953

Negro Umpire Earns Respect
By STERLING TAYLOR
TORONTO (CP) — Emmett Ashford looked like anything but a world beater when two Canadians decided to make him the first Negro umpire in professional baseball 14 years ago.
But he set all the precedents on his way to the major leagues and now, at 49, Ashford is still “breaking barriers all over the place.”
Dianne R. Cox of Victoria recalls the day she first saw Ashford in December, 1952 at the annual meeting of the Western International Baseball League in Phoenix, Ariz.
“He was looking for a job,” Miss Cox said in an interview Monday night.
“He was certainly a scruffy character — practically threadbare.”
Miss Cox, currently visiting Toronto, was in Phoenix when Ashford arrived, attending the baseball meeting with her father, the late Arthur H. Cox, president of Victoria Tyees of the WIBL.
The Victoria club manager, Cec Garriott, recommended Ashford to Cox, who persuaded Bob Brown of Vancouver, owner of the Vancouver franchise and president of the league, to hire the umpire.
“He had been umpiring for a C-class league in the U.S.,” Miss Cox recalls. “But we've always considered that the Western International League was the first to hire a Negro umpire into professional ranks.”
Ashford was also in Toronto Monday night to appear on a television program.
Thirteen years from the time of his meeting with Cox and Brown, he finally reached the majors as the first Negro umpire last season.
Ashford says he's a good umpire, although not incapable of making mistakes.
However, he contends he has gained the respect of the clubs and their players through hard work.
“I think I was ready for the majors five years earlier. I just got stubborn and decided to wait it out until I got the call.”
Ashford's umpiring style is noisy and flamboyant but no one has tried to change it in the majors. American League president Joe Cronin told him to work his own way.
“I've always made it a rule to call a man out so he knows it and so does everybody else,” Ashford said.
- Wednesday, December 14, 1966

1947 Stats Done

2007-07-07T03:48:00.000-07:00

The year-end WIL stats for 1947 are now on the 1947 page. My scanner wouldn't read them, so they were typed manually. I typed them in an html format, but then the blog decided it wasn't going to recognise my html writing and they had to be partially re-formatted. I hope you can read them.

I didn't include stats for total bases or sac hits because I didn't think I had enough margin room, but in re-formatting, it seems I could have added the sac stats.

Evergreen League?

2007-07-04T03:59:00.001-07:00

It seems when the Western International League was going to be revived in 1937, that wasn't the name that was originally planned.

Minors Sound Properity Note

...we already have on file an application for the Northwestern (Class C) League to be composed of Spokane, Yakima, Tacoma, Wash., and Lewiston, Idaho. These are four well established cities, and before the opening of the season we expect to have two more to make this at least a six-club circuit.

- The Sporting News, Dec. 10, 1936 (relaying a comment from an official of the Natl. Assn.)

Pro Ball for Con Jones Park
Six Club Circuit Planned to be Known As Evergreen League
[Vancouver Sun, December 19, 1936]
Vancouver is to be included in the new professional baseball circuit to be known as the Evergreen Tree League with Con Jones park the headquarters for the local league.
Teams from Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima, Bellingham, Aberdeen or Olympia from the state of Washington and Lewiston in Idaho are interested in the new league. A six team circuit is planned.
Shirley D. Parker of Yakima is the president and the league will carry a class “C” rating.
The league has joined the National Association and word was received here today that the entry of the Evergreen League has been accepted.
T.B. Jones is president of the local club and Noel Jones is the secretary. According to local officials, who have attended several organization meetings of the new circuit, it is planned to play night ball at the local park.
The Jones boys have been working on the scheme for some time and are enthusiastic over the prospect of some high class ball for the Vancouver fans.

Pro Ball for Jones Park
Vancouver Team in New Northwest Loop
[Vancouver Province, December 19, 1936]
After a lapse of more than a dozen years, professional baseball is due to return to Vancouver next summer. Organization of a league and its acceptance as a class C circuit was announced today by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues at Durham, North Carolina. Simultaneously it was learned in Vancouver that a franchise would be operated her by Con Jones, Ltd. with Noel Jones as manager.
Noel stated that a strong team would be imported. Outstanding local players will be given a chance to make a place.
Sixty games are to be played at Jones Park in the East End with the schedule to open here in early May. Besides Vancouver, cities to be definitely represented include Spokane, Yakima and Tacoma in Washington and Lewiston in Idaho. A sixth franchise is held by P.B. Mitchell in Seattle and may be operated in Bellingham, Aberdeen or Olympia.
Bob Brown of Athletic Park Ltd. last held the professional franchise here in a league which included Edmonton, Calgary, Tacoma and Vancouver. At that time travelling expenses proved so heavy the league folded up.
----
YAKIMA, Wash.—Teams in the new Evergreen Baseball League, announced today at Durham, N.C., will play ball six nights a week, Royal (Hunky) Shaw, veteran big leaguer, said today in explaining the setup of the league.
“The league will play only night ball with 120 games on the schedule,” Shaw said. “Each club will carry fourteen players and a playing manager. No two teams will play each other more than three games in a row, and there will be six games a week, Monday out.”
Shirley D. Parker of Yakima is league president.

However, the Evergreen League never operated under that name:

WESTERN INTERNATIONAL COMPLETE WITH 6 CLUBS
Roger Peck, Tacoma Banker, Head New Class C Loop;
All Entries Backed by Wealthy Sportsmen

TACOMA, Wash.—With its organization complete, the Western International League, a Class C circuit, will open the 1937 season on April 27, Tacoma playing at Vancouver, B.C., at Lewiston, Ida., and Wenatchee at Spokane. The western opening of the circuit will take place one week later. Vancouver, with no Sunday ball, will open on Monday, May 3, against Yakima. Spokane will be at Tacoma and Lewiston at Wenatchee in other inaugurals scheduled for Tuesday, May 4.

The league was definitely organized when Wenatchee was accepted for the sixth franchise. Walla Walla also had a bid for a place in the league, after five clubs had posted forfeit checks earlier in the week.

Roger W. Peck, vice-president of the National Bank of Tacoma, and one-time business manager of the Tacoma club of the old Pacific International League, was elected president, following the resignation of Shirley D. Parker of Yakima, who was chosen when the circuit was organized as the Evergreen League two months ago. Hunky Shaw, Yakima franchise holder, is vice-president, and Nelson R. Hong, sports editor of the Tacoma News-Tribune, secretary.

The league plans a schedule of 120 games, closing on Labor Day. Present plans call for split-week series in each city in alternate weeks. The league player limit will be 15, including manager. The total population of the six cities in the circuit is 574,000.

The Western International League will offer this section its first Organized Ball in 15 years, or since the demise of the Pacific International League.

Sponsors Are Men of Wealth.

One of the factors that indicates success for the Western International is the financial stability of the sponsors. Each unit has wealthy sportsmen behind it.

As an indication of the optimism that prevails, reservation has already been made for the Bellingham territory. Bellingham was slated for membership this year, but the city had to be dropped becausde of the inability to get a lease on the city-owned ball park. The league has been assured a lease fo 1938. Aberdeen, Wash., is also expected to be ready next year, pointing the way for an eight-club league.

Work will begin here next week on the improvement of Athletic Park, which was used by professional leagues years ago. A lighting system will be installed and improvements made on the stand and field. Yakima interests plan to construct a new park at a cost of $45,000. Spokane will install lights in a modern, city/owned park. Vancouver has one of the finest parks in the Northwest, representing an investment of $70,000. It is owned by the franchise holders in the Canadian city. The Wenatchee city council has appropriated fund to light the park in the Apple City, while plans have already been made for the installation of lights in the new Lewiston park.

Joe F. Carr, promotion director of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, has notified President Peck that he will visit the Northwest and meet with league directors about March 15. Carr's visit is expected to give the new league considerable impetus in its promotional plans.

Franchise holders are T.H. Jones and Noel Jones, Vancouver; Hunky Shaw, Yakima; Shirley D. Parker and Hadyn H. Walker, Spokane; Albert Kurbitz, Lewiston; Tacoma Baseball Club, Joe Lanser president and Peter Mitchell, secretary, and Nevison and McClay, Wenatchee.

The league has opened headquarters at 412 Washington Building, Tacoma.

NELSON R. HONG.

- The Sporting News, Feb. 25, 1937

Yakima's O.B. Club Girds for Fight with Independents.
YAKIMA, Wash.—Yakima's rival baseball forces, embattled and slightly embittered, have cleared their decks for what looks to be a fight to the finish, with Organized Ball in one corner, and independent ball in the other. As a result, the fans hardly know whether to warm up to the new Western International League or try to keep allegiance with the semi-pros.
It has been 15 years since the city had Organized Ball and most of today's fans remember only hazily the halcyon days of Bob Connally, Paul Strand and Tealey Raymond. Those were the days of the Pacific International League. With the departure of the Organized Game, independent ball had a revival and has steadily grown in popularity.
In 1935 and 1936, with George Burns, former Detroit and Cleveland first sacker, holding the reigns after his resignation from the Seattle Indians, interest reached the heights here. Last year, the independent Yakima Indians drew more than 90,000 paid admissions at 75 exhibitions and Northwest Semi-Pro League games and the city was described by the Kansas City Monarchs and House of Davids as one of the hottest independent baseball centers they had ever seen. The fans had their favorites on the independent team, so just now this inland Washington apple center of 25,000 is torn between two forces.
Royal (Hunky) Shaw, formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates and long identified with the diamond pastime here has Yakima's franchise in the Western International and Shirley Parker, wealthy sportsman, backing the club, has started construction of a new lighted park, as the Independent Indians have the lease on the city's only other lighted diamond.
Burns will continue to manage the Indians, but Shaw has not announced his manager.
The Yakima O.B. club and the directors of the league's five other cities—Spokane, Tacoma and Wenatchee in Washington, Vancouver, B.C., and Lewiston, Ida.—are pushing their plans for a gala opening the night of April 27.
HARRY SHARPE.
- The Sporting News, March 18, 1937

Capsulising the Caps and Other Vancouver Pro Baseball

2007-06-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

The year was 1905. Vancouver had been blessed with semi-pro baseball, as visiting nines from American cities and colleges as far south as California would come to the Powell Street Grounds for contests – contests that inspired a couple of local baseball backers to believe the city could support a professional team. A.E. Tulk and W.D. Haywood convinced the Northwestern League to grant them a franchise. They hired long-time baseball man John McCloskey, later known as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, to put together a team. And because McCloskey was a veteran, the team was called the Vancouver Veterans. One newspaper shortened it to Vets. Another took that name and using the esoteric rhetoric peculiar to baseball sportswriters, called them the Horse Doctors.

The team’s first game was in Bellingham on May 9 (a loss) and the first home game was May 11 (a win) against Victoria in the brand-new Recreation Park at the southeast corner of Homer and Smithe (recently turned into a condo development with narry an indication a ball park ever existed there). The season was divided into halves and Vancouver lost the first half by a bit of chicanery by Everett Smokestackers manager Billy Hulen. Unbeknownst to McCloskey or the Vets, Hulen played an unscheduled make-up game at 5 in the morning in Bellingham to ensure his team at least tied Vancouver for first. The Veterans finished with a 45 and 52 record (Everett won the championship), and Haywood and Tulk decided against a second season.

However, a baseball club was resurrected for the 1907 season. The Vancouver Canucks (not to be confused with a current hockey team) went through five managers and finished a painful 34 and 106 year, a mere 53 games behind the first place Aberdeen Black Cats, managed by one Robert Paul Brown, whose name would soon become familiar to several generations of Vancouver baseball fans.

Stunningly, Vancouver went from worst to first. It topped the Northwestern League in 1908 with a new moniker – the Beavers, which it would keep through 1922. The team’s “manager” was by Richard Dickson, a businessman who had no baseball experience, though likely many of the on-field decisions through a succession of Captains. George Engel led all league pitchers with a 22-7 record, Ham Hyatt has a league-best 15 home runs and Jim Flanagan led in batting average with .352.

Bob Brown arrived in 1910 to manage the club after time at the helm of the Spokane Indians. With players over the years like Pug Bennett, Lou Nordyke, Kitty Brashear, Dode Brinker, pitcher Dutch Ruether and sluggers Charles Swain and Emil Frisk, the Beavers were contenders throughout most of their life, hoisting the pennant in 1911 and 1914.

The other highlight for the Beavers was the opening of Athletic Park on April 17, 1913 at Fifth and Hemlock. 6,000 took in the first game, a Vancouver win over Tacoma. A lowlight was a player mutiny on June 18, 1915 to protest Bob Brown’s suspension of a player.

The Northwestern League was reconstituted in 1918 as the Pacific Coast International League and Vancouver placed first in a shortened season in 1919. It was renamed the Western International League in 1922 and died suddenly on June 18, mainly because Tacoma was tied in with W.H. Klepper, the Portland P.C.L. owner, who had been suspended by Commissioner Landis in a baseball ethics scandal and withdrew his financial assistance to the Tigers. However, venerable Athletic Park hosted amateur ball through the rest of the roaring 20s and the Depression, and players like Coley Hall, Johnny Nestman, Norm Trasolini and Ernie Paepke became household names in Vancouver.

Athletic Park suffered a fire in 1926 and survived to host two memorable events – the first night baseball game in Canada on July 3, 1931, and a major league all-star exhibition game on a very rainy October 19, 1934 (Babe Ruth was 0-for-2), which was broadcast by Charlie Defieux on CKWX.

The Depression was lifting, and a successful attempt was made at reviving the Western International League. The owner of the Don’t Argue cigar stores, Con Jones, built a park (now Callister Park), named it after himself and put the Vancouver Maple Leafs there. The first home game was April 27, 1937 (Tacoma won it in the ninth inning). The Leafs finished in third place, and in fourth in 1938. Jones, heavily involved in the local lacrosse scene among other things, sold to team to brewer Emil Sick, the owner of the Seattle Rainiers (named for one of his beers), who renamed the team the Capilanos (named for his brewery) and moved it back to Athletic Park. Tommy Lloyd won the home run championship that year with 25, the team acquired veteran minor league slugger Smead Jolley from Spokane in 1941, but the Caps didn’t win the pennant until 1942 under the guidance of Don Osborne, who led the league in earned run average in both ’41 and ’42.

The league shut down in 1942 due to the war, and Athletic Park suffered a disaster. It been renamed Capilano Stadium in 1943 when the land was purchased by the team from the C.P.R. for $35,000. On February 28, 1945, a $50,000 fire roared through the park and left it a soak shambles of charred lumber and twisted iron. But it was quickly rebuilt, as there was already talk about reviving the Western International League – which happened at a meeting of the board of directors months later. And so, the Capilanos were back in business for 1946. They rose from sixth place to take the pennant the following year over Spokane by .001 percentage points with 25-year-old war veteran Bill Brenner as manager and catcher.

Almost from the outset, there had been talk of building a bigger stadium, and after a bit of dickering with the city of Vancouver, the new Capilano Stadium opened (late) on June 15, 1951, built using the blueprints of the parent club’s ball park – Sick’s Stadium. The $550,000 park was compared by many at the grand opening to a major league park (precient, as Sick’s housed the Seattle Pilots in 1969), as the Caps thrashed the Salem Senators and former New York Yankees pitcher Floyd Bevens, 10-3. Alas, the Caps finished the season in second place, a half game behind Spokane, despite Bob Snyder’s 27 wins.

But minor league baseball was in a deep decline. Teams were losing money. Leagues that had existed for decades were shutting down for good. The Western International League tried to add to its attendance numbers by expanding into Alberta in 1953, but it was to no avail. The Calgary and Victoria franchises folded in 1954, then the league was voted out of existence on December 15. The Caps won the pennant in the W.I.L’s final year, with Marv Williams leading the league in batting with .360, Bob Wellman tied for homers with 21 and Bill Brenner back with the club – as a knuckleballing pitcher, with a 2.53 E.R.A. and a 21-9 record.

Some owners wanted to form a smaller circuit with less travel expense between cities, and thus the Northwest League was born. But Vancouver adopted the attitude “P.C.L. or nothing” – there had been talk years earlier of an "All Pacific" League with Vancouver and the Coast League clubs – and rejected the idea of joining the small-time N.W.L. And the P.C.L. wasn’t far away. Brick Laws got fed up with poor attendance numbers and a decrepit stadium in Oakland and moved the Oakland Oaks (a.k.a. Acorns) to Vancouver for 1956. The team’s new name was the Mounties, and they made their debut in a 6-3 loss at Seals Stadium on April 10. The P.C.L. had been to Vancouver before – the Seattle Rainiers had played several games at Athletic Park in the late 30s – but it arrived on what was hoped would be a permanent basis on April 27. San Francisco was the opponent again, and 8,146 paid to see the Seals score a pair in the ninth to defeat Vancouver 2-1. Losses were not all that unusual in 1956 – the Mounties finished dead last with a 67 and 98 record.

The Mounties never did have a first-place club, but came close in 1957, finishing 3½ games back as the team benefitted from excellent pitching by George Bamberger, Morrie Martin, Erv Palica and Art Houtteman, all ex-big leaguers.

On May 4, 1959, the Mounties got a Hall of Famer, though no one knew it then. At the time, they were getting an infielder who had been struggling with Baltimore and was been sent down to see if he was the real thing. He made an auspicious debut, breaking up a no-hitter in the seventh inning with a single. His name was Brooks Robinson. Less than two weeks later, on May 17, Robinson tore his forearm in the fifth inning when he ran into a metal hook projecting from the Mounties’ dugout guard rail. 2,011 witnessed it at Cap Stadium, though Jim Robson’s play-by-play description on CKWX was so vivid, many more claim they were at the ballpark that day and saw it with their eyes instead of their ears. Robinson came back within three weeks, and finally was called up on July 6, homering in his last game. The Caps finished in second, 1½ games behind Salt Lake City, and second again in 1961, ten games behind the Tacoma Giants, as Canadian=-born Mountie Ron Piché led the P.C.L. with an earned run average of 2.26.

1962 saw lowlights and skylights. José Valdivielso led off the 12th inning of the May 28 game at Cap Stadium when he looked in the sky, screamed and ran back to the dugout, with other players quickly following. He thought a burning plane was sending debris onto the field. There was a three-minute game delay due to what was said to be a meteorite high in the galaxy. It was also the year George Bamberger communicated with the dugout via a hand-held radio receiver inside his uniform (Bamby won the July 18 contest with Tacoma). But the team estimated its losses at $90,000 and the franchise packed up and moved to Dallas.

However, the Mounties made a comeback. The Kansas City A’s put a farm team at Cap Stadium from 1965 to 1968, sending players like Sal Bando, Tony LaRussa and Rene Lachemann, shortstop Ossie Chavarria, who stayed in Vancouver and became a respected umpire, and local boys Wayne Norton and Gerry Reimer (Kevin’s dad).

The most infamous incident in Vancouver baseball history happened on May 11, 1966 against Seattle. Vancouver outfielder Ric Joseph was hit on the shoulder in the fourth inning by a fastball from Jim Coates, who had a reputation as a head-hunter. Joseph headed to the mound, but was stopped by Seattle catcher Merritt Ranew, who landed one of Joseph’s chin. Players poured onto the field and umpire Jerry Dale restored order. Or so he thought. Tommy Reynolds was up next and bunted, went part the way up the line, then turned for the mound to get at Coates. Ranew tried to rescue his pitcher, but Mounties’ first baseman Santiago Rosario, waiting in the on-deck circle, raced to the mound and cracked Ranew on the head with a bat. The dugouts emptied again, and an ambulance came to take Ranew to Vancouver General Hospital. Lost in all this was the fact Coates was throwing a no-hitter at the time, which is the reason he denied throwing at Joseph. Santiago was banned from baseball the rest of the year. A post-script is that Joseph got his revenge, waiting for Coates at the Sylvia Hotel and pummelling him there, cutting his nose and chipping a tooth.

Ranew’s career carried on eventually. He ended up with the Mounties in 1969, when the club was a joint farm team of the expansion Seattle Pilots and Montreal Expos. That year’s team is famous for being the April home of Jim Bouton when he wrote Ball Four (though, as he writes, he was called up before ever pitching at Cap Stadium). Manager Bob Lemon’s team drew only 62,666 fans, last in the league, the season ending with the club dropping a pair of games in Portland on September 1. Mounties management urged fans not to give up hope there would be a team in 1970, but that was quashed in a statement on September 9 by P.C.L. president Bill McKechnie. The team would move to Salt Lake City. The following day, the sports landscape of Vancouver changed forever with the announcement the city that an N.H.L. expansion franchise for 1970 had been purchased.

Capilano Stadium was left to fallow, featuring soccer games and concerts. But the idea of professional baseball in Vancouver was still alive. Harry Ornest ignored all the nay-sayers, including Province baseball writer Clancy Loranger, who told him of all the cash Nat Bailey lost running the Mounties, and managed to convince the P.C.L. to grant Vancouver an expansion franchise for the 1978 season. Harry looked at history and re-named Capilano Stadium ‘Nat Bailey Stadium’ (Bailey died about a month before seeing a game in “his” stadium). Perhaps looking at the historical connection with breweries, Harry named the team the Canadians, with the same typeface and colour as the Molson Canadian beer label, though Harry always brushed it off as mere coincidence. Ironically, the Park Board would not permit him to sell beer in the first year. And as an added historical bonus, the scoreboard used at Sick’s Stadium, torn down several years earlier, were transported to Nat Bailey.

The Canadians began life on April 14, 1978 in Honolulu as the guests of the Hawaii Islanders (winning 4-0) and the first home game at the renovated Nat Bailey Stadium was April 26 (beating San Jose 9-4). Endless call-ups to Oakland didn’t help manager Jim Marshall, a former slugging Mountie first baseman, as the team finished third in its division. It won a first-championship in 1979, as Mark Bomback had an outstanding 22-7 season, leading the league with a 2.56 E.R.A., but the team lost to Hawaii in the divisional playoffs. The Canadians finally won a P.C.L. championship in 1985, defeating Phoenix, but lost to Las Vegas in the finals in 1986 and 1988. Pennant number two came against Albuquerque in 1989, as lefthander Tom Drees threw three no-hitters at home, two of them back-to-back, with Jerry Willard as the catcher and Pat Karl the official scorer for all of them. (Drees drew 13,258 in Albuquerque's Sports Stadium on June 2 as he went for back-to-back no-hitters. He lost it in the first inning when Tracy Woodson homered off him). The low-light of the P.C.L. Canadians came that year as well, as the team staged a 1915-style mutiny on July 6 and forfeited a game in Albuquerque because they had not been paid. The cheques arrived the next day.

The Canadians changed ownership a number of times over the ensuing years, with the last owner, Art Savage, candidly admitting he would prefer a ball team closer to his California home. Sacramento had been talking about building a Triple-A ballpark ever since leaving the P.C.L. in 1977. The Sacto area finally got its act together and was waving the sweet carrot of a state-of-the-art stadium with all the amenities, a far cry from a luxury-boxless Vancouver stadium designed in the 1930s for Seattle. Savage convinced the P.C.L. that extra attendance and revenue would be assured in the California state capital, and the league cavalierly disregarded the Vancouver fan base and agreed to move the Canadians after the 1999 season. How bittersweet it was that the Canadians went all the way, winning the P.C.L. championship at home on September 17 against Oklahoma City before a full house, then travelling to Las Vegas to beat Charlotte in the Triple-A World Series. The P.C.L. had come to Vancouver from California and to California it would return.

But even as smoke from fireworks masked ‘Field of Dreams’ cornstalks on the field in a special goodbye after the final game (the left field fence was accidentally lit on fire), rumours circulated that a team would be coming to Vancouver from the Northwest League – the very league rejected by Bob Brown and fellow local baseball owners in 1955. Fred Hermann, the owner of the Southern Oregon Timberjacks, was doing what Art Savage was doing – thinking he’d make more money by moving his franchise. The Timberjacks were based in Medford, Oregon, and Hermann quickly got approval to move the team to Vancouver. The first game of the Class A Canadians was played at Nat Bailey on June 25, 2000.

The major leagues are a long ride from Class A, but the new Canadians have sent over a dozen players to the big leagues, notably Victoria’s Rich Harden. Hermann sold the team after the 2006 season to local owners who spruced up the old park. So baseball remains, and fans can continue to await Vancouver 11th baseball championship, and endless memories in between.

- by Jim Bennie

1948 Underway

2007-06-26T00:54:00.000-07:00

The 1947 page is just about finished, other than the final stats, which I have to scan, and then format for this page. As the text boxes don't accept more than one space-character, I have to type a special code for each space. It's a pain. I'll get it done when I can scan the stats, make corrections, do the format coding and upload it.

You'll now notice a 1948 link to your right. I've started with the season previews and have done the first couple of weeks of the season. Just about all of the rest of the season will involve going through newspaper microfilm at the library and transcribing. When I have time. So, it'll be a lengthy process. Again, all we'll have is linescores for most of the games that don't involve Canadian teams.

1948 was another close race, the Indians winning by 2½ games (sorry to spoil the ending for you). Imagine if there wasn't all that rain that washed out all kinds of games in the latter part of April and beginning of May. The Spokane win, rather fitting considering the dedication of fans after the 1946 fatal bus crash, is despite Victoria's individual efforts; the team had a player that won 2/3rds of the triple crown and the pitcher with the most wins.

If you read the previews, it sounds like the league would finish with all teams tied for first. But isn't that the way it sounds in every sport, every team, every pre-season?

1947 Western International League on Seperate Page

2007-06-18T00:21:00.000-07:00

There'll be little activity on this blog for awhile as I'm going to set up to have seperate web pages for each year of the Western International League. I am now working on 1947 and you will see a link to that page on your right.

1947 was an interesting year as the race for the top spot came down to the last weekend.

I should have linescores for almost all the 1947 games. Stories for teams outside Canada are difficult to come by, transactions even more so. As this involves manually transcribing material, it will take a while to post.

We Interrupt This Blog....

2007-06-14T03:39:00.001-07:00

Just a note that if you hunt and peck around here, you'll find linescores for most of the games of the 1946 and 1953 Western International League seasons. There are game stories for some, but not all, matches.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to all the material that would provide stories (or box scores) on all the games. Newspapers I can get my hands on provided inconsistent coverage; one paper has published line scores but in checking against another newspaper, I've found they didn't publish all of them. That same paper, not in a WIL city, sometimes published one-line game stories, but most of the time it didn't. Another paper in a WIL city was equally inconsistent and didn't even print information on games if it didn't publish the next day (so there would no info on a Sunday game if it had a Tuesday paper but didn't publish Monday). Still another paper had a reporter who was great at thinking up colourful phrases, but rarely said much about the game itself other than what a reader could have gleaned from the box score anyway. "He of the swarthy complexion whose hurtling speed would give jackrabbits a greenish tinge"; that sort of stuff that passed for writing in one era.

On top of that, in 1946, the final standings are correct, but some of the mid-season numbers you'll see here don't add up. (wire services compile their own standings and there have been times where someone at the service has put a win or loss in the wrong column. Getting that someone to fix things is a chore, as I can attest through experience.)

So this means a lot of work in just doing the bare-bones highlights that you can read here as I have to park myself at the library and make notes.

1953 was picked arbitrarily; 1946 is here because it's the first year of resumption after the war and because of the horrible Spokane bus crash, printed in stories across the continent, thanks to full coverage by the two major wire services.

Because some of the coverage is from wire services, names are not spelled consistently. This will be corrected over time. And some material came from .pdf files so there will be the occasional scanning error.

I hope you've found the information here at least mildly interesting.

Final Standings - 1946

2007-06-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

WESTERN INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Standings
                 W L Pct GB
Wenatchee .......... 89 54 .622 —
Salem .............. 79 63 .556 9½
Bremerton .......... 73 63 .537 12½
Tacoma ............. 76 67 .531 13
Yakima ............. 71 69 .507 16½
Vancouver .......... 65 71 .478 20½
Spokane ............ 54 78 .409 29½
Victoria ........... 49 91 .350 38½

INDIVIDUAL BATTING
                          G AB R   H 2B 3B HR SB RBI AVE
Wright, Van. ........... 11 26   8 12 0 0 0 3   2 .462
Stetter, Wen. ......... 154 500 132 183 49 7 18 14 102 .366
Amaral, Bre. ........... 73 261 60 95 17 10 13 6 72 .364
Kemper, Tac. .......... 127 425 82 151 22 6 7 3 106 .355
Kuper, Tac. ............ 97 307 54 109 19 8 7 3 58 .355
Spaeter, Sal. .......... 17 51   4 18 1 3 0 0   6 .353
Salmon, Sal. ........... 87 265 39 93 18 0 8 0 55 .351
Bryant, Van. ........... 25 43   5 15 1 2 0 0   3 .349
Hawkins, Spo. .......... 51 158 28 55 19 0 3 1 26 .348
Stumpf, Vic. ........... 24 66   7 23 4 0 0 0 11 .348
Orteig, Van. .......... 102 358 84 123 23 4 25 4 86 .344
Garbe, Yak. ........... 134 558 119 191 43 12 16 5 141 .342
Barisoff, Bre. ........ l31 523 130 178 18 18 40 6 155 .340
Crawford, Sal. ........ 125 462 99 157 29 5 5 7 79 .340
Hughes, Vic. .......... 119 366 119 124 25 1 30 1 120 .339
E. Fitzgerald, Wen. .... 91 287 58 97 16 8 13 8 48 .338
Clarkson, Van. ........ 116 475 97 158 30 16 14 15 62 .333
DeVaurs, Bre. ......... l35 573 116 190 26 5 4 17 60 .332
Greco, Tac. ............ 67 208 43 069 12 6 15 1 44 .332
Gullic, Sal. ........... 89 302 64 100 23 4 6 6 60 .331
Adams, Wen. ........... 126 548 113 180 36 7 37 11 155 .330
Vallee, Tac. .......... 107 404 102 133 19 9 10 7 62 .329
Wheeler, Sal. .......... 54 239 53 78 6 5 6 10 30 .326
Harris, Yak. ........... 95 273 75 88 26 1 8 2 63 .322
Jonas, Van. ............ 17 28   9   9 4 0 0 0   2 .321
Hedington, Tac. ....... 1O3 318 64 100 18 4 8 3 50 .314
Walsey, Wen. .......... 145 601 105 188 38 5 5 16 93 .313
Plouf, Bre. ............ 60 218 38 68 14 2 4 0 34 .312
Kubiak, Sal. .......... 129 480 91 147 15 6 5 12 67 .306
Clift, Yak. ........... 120 426 119 130 31 4 19 8 111 .305
Marionetti, Vic. ....... 97 361 60 110 19 7 12 6 32 .305
Pesut, Wen. ............ 77 233 35 71 19 2 5 0 33 .305
C. Peterson, Yak. ..... 104 438 87 433 24 0 5 7 70 .304
R. Peterson, Tac. ..... 141 512 106 155 30 17 17 19 108 .303
Summers, Sal. ......... 121 436 62 132 27 10 13 4 98 .303
Lilly, Yak. ............ 76 324 88 98 21 7 4 9 55 .302
Thompson, Yak. ........ 122 445 86 134 19 7 11 20 95 .301
Gibb, Yak. ............. 64 217 29 65 16 4 2 0 46 .300
Clifford, Tac. ........ 131 510 79 151 34 3 2 9 79 .296
Mead, Van. ............. 77 274 46 81 11 3 7 2 49 .296
Gedzius, Bre. ......... 110 386 82 114 22 5 14 6 82 .295
Estes, Van. ........... 112 327 411 96 24 1 7 4 67 .294
Warner, Wen. .......... l22 480 106 140 31 2 25 21 90 .292
Sabena, Spo. ........... 54 237 31 69 10 2 1 4 22 .291
Wenner, Sal. .......... 138 517 100 150 37 4 16 4 101 .290
Bishop, Spo. ........... 41 155 28 45 9 2 2 4 22 .290
McConnell, Yak. ........ 94 285 59 82 15 3 4 6 51 .288
Paglia, Bre. ........... 52 153 20 44 8 1 1 2 28 .288
Murphy, Vic. .......... 126 507 83 145 21 6 15 38 71 .286
Bliss, Bre. ........... l18 477 71 136 11 3 4 22 44 .285
Brenner, Van. .......... 59 l93 29 55 12 3 7 1 38 .285
Kretchmar, Van. ....... 124 486 88 138 10 8 2 44 53 .284
Moore, Yak. ........... 135 463 101 131 24 9 4 6 92 .283
Scott, Tac. ........... 107 396 61 112 23 1 0 3 52 .283
Joratz, Tac. .......... l33 465 80 130 28 5 10 9 84 .280
Volpi, Bre. ........... 118 386 86 108 15 6 5 7 58 .280
Reese, Bre. ........... 130 462 106 129 23 1 27 5 81 .279
Barr, Wen. ............ 121 435 96 121 24 0 9 12 57 .278
Palica, Van. ........... 31 54   9 15 1 0 0 0   3 .278
Estrada. Van. ......... 135 498 82 137 16 4 6 12 70 .275
Sutak, Tac. ............ 42 131 19 36 8 0 0 1 18 .275
Reynolds. Sal. ........ 104 398 66 108 14 2 6 3 46 .271
Spurgeon, Van. ......... 75 258 39 70 8 4 11 4 39 .271
Steiner, Spo. .......... 70 258 53 70 14 0 1 17 25 .271
Elliott, Yak. .......... 61 204 37 55 12 1 2 2 29 .270
Caviglo, Wen. .......... 14 37   4 10 2 2 0 1   7 .270
Kerr, Sal. ............. 83 251 32 67 8 1 6 3 41 .267
Flager, Sal. ........... 66 244 44 65 17 2 1 4 21 .266
Dawson, Yak. .......... 141 567 l30 148 27 8 5 20 58 .261
Cherry, Vic. .......... 131 446 97 117 21 6 13 14 53 .262
Sandell, Spo............ 30 92 13 24 4 1 2 1 19 .26l
Schultz, Spo. .......... 61 231 34 60 8 2 1 5 27 .260
Lucceshi, Sal. ......... 53 197 38 51 3 2 1 13 26 .259
Marsh, Tac. ........... 131 492 88 127 22 7 4 24 60 .258
Dunn, Spo.-Vic. ....... 124 425 61 109 22 0 8 10 57 .256
W. Raimondi, Vic. ...... 92 273 43 70 18 2 2 6 32 .256
N. Clifford, Spo. ...... 87 262 24 67 9 0 0 1 27 .256
Anderson, Van. ......... 28 86   8 22 4 0 0 0   7 .256
E. Curtis, Bre. ........ 86 332 46 84 8 5 0 7 31 .253
Gulan, Van. ............ 51 150 17 38 7 2 2 2 25 .253
Williams, Wen. ......... 99 340 71 85 21 0 9 14 54 .250
Mullens, Van. ......... 131 496 83 123 21 5 16 14 75 .248
Paulson, Spo.-Vic. ..... 94 275 29 67 16 2 4 1 34 .244
Anderson, Spo. ......... 33 108 13 26 4 0 0 0 10 .241
Hedgecock, Van. ........ 30 75   6 18 2 0 2 0   9 .240
Haskell, Wen. ......... 129 473 75 111 20 1 3 13 76 .235
F. Curtis, Bre. ........ 68 240 32 56 7 5 0 3 27 .233
Varrelman, Spo. ........ 64 195 29 44 5 1 1 2 34 .226
Suytar, Vic. ........... 27 99 15 22 2 0 7 0 16 .222
Faria, Spo. ............ 36 97   5 19 5 0 0 0   9 .196
Bartolomei, Sal. ....... 80 259 43 47 8 2 3 3 27 .181
A. Raimondi, Vi.-Sp. ... 55 121 10 19 4 0 2 0   7 .157
Cirimele, Vic. ........ 118 383 56 83 12 0 1 23 26 .217
Bertoletti, Wen. ........76 258 45 55 11 2 5 5 30 .213
Norbert, Vic. .......... 17 47   7 10 2 0 2 0 14 .213
Molitor, Tac.-Yak....... 22 93 19 19 0 4 0 2 15 .104

INDIVIDUAL PITCHING
                       G W L Pct. IP H   R   BB SO HB WP
Jonas, Van. .......... 9 6 0 1.000 58 64 32 17 31 0 3
Hess, Sal. ........... 5 1 0 1.000 16 15   9 13   4 0 3
Condon, Wen. ......... 2 1 0 1.000 11 16   9   5   3 1 0
W. Raimondi, Vic. .... 7 1 0 1.000 10 14 11 16   4 2 0
Romple, Yak. ........ 13 9 1 .900 92 118 80 61 52 2 19
Orphan, Wen. ........ 26 14 4 .778 174 140 83 123 164 17 2
Babbitt, Wen. ....... 37 15 6 .714 198 192 102 84 82 6 4
Simon,Yak. .......... 21 5 2 .714 65 62 46 79 38 5 5
Cadinha, Spn. ....... 28 16 7 .696 232 204 124 100 174 4 4
Medegheni, Bre. ..... 34 9 4 .692 107 112 65 48 62 3 2
Vivalda, Wen. ....... 34 18 9 .667 221 2l6 104 90 125 6 3
Martin, Tac. ........ 29 12 6 .667 196 190 124 159 115 7 15
Green, Wen. ......... 27 12 6 .667 182 172 121 130 204 4 9
McCollum, Wen. ...... 16 8 4 .667 103 124 69 50 69 3 0
Schubel, Sal. ....... 27 12 7 .632 159 195 87 53 61 7 1
Wyatt, Sal. ......... 31 15 9 .625 169 163 107 112 143 6 15
Colombo, Tac. ....... 31 13 8 .619 196 181 103 105 80 4 9
C.Federmeyer, Bre. .. 41 2l 13 .618 263 270 168 139 15 11 1
Kittle, Bre. ........ 32 15 10 .600 216 187 146 103 l38 14 4
Porter, Sal. ......... 7 3 2 .600 45 52 24 16 13 1 4
Strait, Yak. ........ 32 13 9 .591 157 208 127 80 72 2 5
Pintar, Bre. ........ 28 10 7 .588 183 244 136 52 91 4 3
Anderson, Van. ...... 28 14 10 .583 208 206 114 l13 104 3 3
Soderberg, Sal. ..... 23 7 5 .583 128 159 89 56 66 4 1
Greenlaw, Tac. ...... 36 l8 13 .581 208 198 l32 110 141 8 11
Yaylian, Yak. ....... 35 18 14 .563 249 218 124 118 211 14 7
Jungbluth, Tac. ..... 37 16 13 .552 193 103 126 134 126 5 10
Gunnarson, Sal. ..... 32 12 10 .545 201 230 110 63 98 3 4
Snyder, Van. ........ 34 14 12 .538 233 255 122 96 98 5 6
Cronin, Wen. ........ 38 14 12 .538 226 218 122 93 140 2 5
Hallbourg, Spo. ..... 29 7 6 .538 112 154 106 58 47 1 7
Sullivan, Bre. ...... 13 7 6 .538 85 80 47 36 39 3 0
Gerkin, Sal-Ya-Ta. .. 47 16 16 .500 227 268 144 64 66 1 2
Lowman, Bre. ........ 26 7 7 .500 131 145 91 42 40 0 3
Hedington, Tac. ..... 16 6 6 .500 103 111 57 29 38 0 3
Sandel, Spo. ......... 6 1 1 .500 31 37 20 32 17 2 4
Kershaw, Van. ........ 3 1 1 .500 1l 18 10   3   7 1 1
McHugh, Yak. ........ 32 11 12 .478 205 206 155 124 95 13 15
Hedgecock, Van. ..... 30 10 11 .476 90O 109 127 119 125 3 5
Jensen, Vic. ........ 44 15 17 .469 264 211 146 179 296 5 17
Sostre, Tac. ........ 31 7 9 .438 118 135 83 68 52 1 6
Palica, Van. ........ 29 10 13 .435 161 175 1l2 90 92 10 4
Bass, Spo. .......... 27 6 8 .429 137 191 122 79 40 3 2
Kowalski, Sal. ...... 32 11 15 .423 196 206 126 110 154 3 3
Blankenship, Vic. ... 44 7 10 .412 169 244 165 77 67 1 6
Ferrara, Vic......... 30 10 15 .400 187 192 138 149 110 4 7
Bryant, Van. ........ 23 6 9 .400 136 170 85 54 60 2 4
Bohnen, Yak. ........ 28 2 3 .400 83 109 84 49 38 4 0
Faria, Spo. ......... 24 7 12 .368 183 202 114 78 111 4 2
Kralovich, Yak. ..... 32 8 16 .333 150 178 133 10 85 4 5
Musgrave, Vic. ...... 27 5 11 .313 149 203 147 90 55 7 3
Carpenter, Vic. ..... 27 5 11 .313 117 203 147 90 55 7 3
Fallin, Sal. ........ 26 3 7 .300 114 131 101 99 67 2 4
Glane, Spo. .......... 8 2 6 .250 54 43 42 65 64 3 4
A. Raimondi, T-Sp. .. 25 5 1O .231 109 152 104 40 36 3 4
Marshall, Y-Va.-B. .. 16 3 12 .200 116 140 120 95 76 2 4
Oliver, Spo.-Vic. ... 20 2 9 .l82 76 96 90 l63 37 6 12
Sadlish, Spo. ....... 10 1 5 .167 53 72 57 28 25 1 1
Chapetta, Y.-Vic. ... 14 0 5 .000 55 81 72 41   9 2 4
Collins, Spo. ........ 8 0 5 .000 29 51 47 32   7 1 4
Note - Musgrave and Carpenter have the same stats on this list. That is incorrect from the source.

Sunday, September 8, 1946

2007-06-10T03:24:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 89 54 .622 —
Salem ......... 79 63 .556 9½
Bremerton ..... 73 63 .537 12½
Tacoma ........ 76 67 .531 13
Yakima ........ 71 69 .507 16½
Vancouver ..... 65 71 .478 20½
Spokane ....... 54 78 .409 29½
Victoria ...... 49 91 .350 38½

First game
Wenatchee ....... 000 012 0— 3 8 1
Bremerton ........ 006 233 x—14 15 1
Adams, Barr (3) Wasley (3) and Sady; Federmeyer and Volpi.
Second game
Wenatchee ....... 002 011 000—4 9 1
Bremerton ........ 000 301 001—5 8 4
Babbitt, Warner (5) and Pesut; Kittle, Sullivan (5) and Volpi.

VANCOUVER—The Vancouver Capilanos ended their WIL season Sunday by sweeping the Spokane Indians by identical 2-1 scores.
Al Kretchmar scored both Vancouver runs. He doubled and walked and added to his stolen base total of 40.
Neil Clifford singled in Frank Hawkins in the second inning, who was issued a walk by Bob Snyder for the Indians' run.
Snyder walked only two, scattered eight hits and struck out five for his 14th win.
In the second contest, Spokane wasted a ten strikeout performance, three-hit performance by Bill Glane. Jim Estrada had a pair of them, including a double.
Lou Kubiak got Spokane's run in the fourth when he walked, was sacrificed to second by Anderson and scored on a single by Joe Faria, a pitcher playing left field.
Ron Bryant, who walked and scored a run, was the winning pitcher.
First game:
Vancouver ....... 010 100 0—2 8 0
Spokane .......... 010 000 0—1 8 2
Snyder and Spurgeon; Sandell and Clifford.
Second game:
Vancouver ....... 000 110 0—2 2 1
Spokane .......... 000 100 0—1 5 2
Bryant and Spurgeon; Glane and Varrelman.

First game
Salem ........... 100 000 0—1 4 1
Tacoma ........ 012 100 x—4 4 0
Wyatt and Salmon; Jungbluth and Kemper.
Second game
Salem ........... 002 010 000— 3 12 4
Tacoma ........ 009 002 02x—13 15 2
Kowalski, Fallin (3) and Salmon; Gerkin and Kuper.

First game
Victoria ........ 002 000 1— 3 10 5
Yakima ......... 040 250 x—11 5 0
Ferrara and Paulson; Simon, McHugh (4) and McConnell.
Second game (8 innings—midnight curfew).
Victoria ........ 010 020 23— 8 12 3
Yakima ......... 238 000 4x—17 22 3
Chapetta, Carpenter (3), Blankenship (3), W. Raimondi (4) and Paulson; Romple and Gibb, McConnell.

Saturday, September 7, 1946

2007-06-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 89 52 .631 —
Salem ......... 79 61 .564 9½
Bremerton ..... 71 63 .530 14½
Tacoma ........ 74 67 .525 15
Yakima ........ 69 69 .500 18½
Vancouver ..... 63 71 .470 22½
Spokane ....... 54 76 .415 29½
Victoria ...... 49 89 .355 38½

SPOKANE, Sept. 7—Hunk Anderson scattered five hits and held off a two-run, ninth inning Spokane rally as the Vancouver Capilanos defeated the Indians 4-3 in WIL baseball here Saturday.
Anderson needed help from Ray Orteig, who tripled, Lou Estes and Reg Clarkson, who doubled, and Al Kretchmar, who stole home in the second inning.
Anderson picked up his 14th win, tying him with Bob Snyder on the Capilanos staff.
Milt Cadinha was victimised for his seventh loss of the year in giving up nine Vancouver hits.
Vancouver ........ 010 001 002—4 9 2
Spokane ........... 000 000 102—3 5 3
Anderson and Spurgeon; Cadinha and Hinz, Varrelman (8).

YAKIMA, Sept. 7—Victoria squared its Western International League series with Yakima by defeating the Stars 13-11 tonight in a wild contest which produced 16 extra-base blows, including home runs by Beans Marionetti and Jake Suylar of the Athletics and Spencer Harris of the Stars.
The visitors scored eight runs in the second inning off Walt McHugh and his relief, elongated Henry Bohnen.
Making his first mound appearance in Yakima, Spencer Harris, veteran outfielder who started the season as Yakima's manager, held the Athletics to four runs the rest of the way and clouted a double besides a homer to lead the uprising by which the Stars almost overtook Victoria.
Victoria ........... 180 103 000—13 15 0
Yakima ............ 023 030 102—11 13 1
Bass, Blankenship (3), Jensen (5), Carpenter (6), Ferrara (7) and Paulson. McHugh, Bohnen (2), Harris (3) and Gibb.

Salem ......... 010 003 100—5 12 3
Tacoma ...... 000 203 31x—9 11 2
Gunnarson and Kerr; Sostre and Kemper.

Wenatchee .......... 212 100 101—8 19 1
Bremerton ........... 020 000 001—3 9 4
McCollum and Pesut; Lowman, Medeghini (7) and Volpi.

(other stories not available)

Seals, Acorns Recall Athletics
VICTORIA, Sept. 8—Coast League clubs have recalled six members of the Victoria Athletics, it was announced yesterday by Reg Patterson, business manager of the Western International League team.
Pitcher Bob Jensen received notice to report to San Francisco Seals, while recalled by Oakland Acorns were outfielders Eddie Murphy and Pete Hughes and infielders Walt Raimondi, Bill Dunn and Beans Marionetti.

Friday, September 6, 1946

2007-06-10T02:45:00.001-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 88 52 .629 —
Salem ......... 79 60 .568 8½
Bremerton ..... 71 62 .534 13½
Tacoma ........ 73 67 .521 15
Yakima ........ 69 68 .504 17½
Vancouver ..... 62 71 .466 22½
Spokane ....... 54 75 .419 28½
Victoria ...... 48 89 .350 38½

YAKIMA, Sept. 6—Although outhit, Yakima trounced Victoria tonight 9-1 in the first game of the final Western International League series of the season for both teams.
Ahead 4 to 1 at the time, the Stars capitalized on the control trouble of pitcher Doug Oliver for five runs in the seventh inning, the first two of which were forced in on walks. Singles by Charley Peterson and Bill Garbe drove in more.
Walt Raimondi hit a double and two singles for the Athletics but the blows were wasted as pitcher Max Strait hurled effectively in the clutches.
Victoria ....... 000 000 010—1 10 4
Yakima ........ 211 000 50x—9 9 2
Oliver, Blankenship (7) and Paulson; Strait and McConnell.

Salem .......... 050 100 050—11 13 3
Tacoma ....... 230 001 003— 9 14 2
Porter and Kerr; Greenlaw, Oppelt (8), Colombo (9) and Kuper.

Wenatchee .... 110 001 000 3—6 8 2
Bremerton ..... 000 010 101 0—3 6 3
Orphan and Sady, Pesut (9); Ahearn and Leovich, Volpi (4).

Vancouver at Spokane, postponed (wet grounds).

Thursday, September 5, 1946

2007-06-10T02:44:00.001-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 87 52 .626 —
Salem ......... 78 60 .565 8½
Bremerton ..... 71 61 .538 12½
Tacoma ........ 73 66 .525 14
Yakima ........ 68 68 .500 17½
Vancouver ..... 62 71 .466 23
Spokane ....... 54 75 .419 28
Victoria ...... 48 88 .353 37½

VANCOUVER, Sept. 5—Tacoma Tigers edged the Vancouver Capilanos, 11-9, here tonight in a 13-inning slugfest which marked the final home appearance of the Caps this season.
Singles by Marv Scott and Dick Kemper drove in three runs in the Tacoma half of the 13th for a winning margin. The losers managed a single run in their last turn at the plate.
Reg Clarkson continued his hard hitting, banging out two home runs and a double in six trips. Ray Orteig and Al Kretchmar also homered for the hometowners while Bob Hedington cleared the fence for the Tigers.
Tacoma ........ 000 006 020 000 3—11 12 1
Vancouver .... 200 100 500 000 1— 9 19 0
Gerkin, Jungbluth (8) and Kemper; Hedgecock, Anderson (8), Kershaw (9) and Spurgeon.

VICTORIA, Sept. 5—Weakened by injuries, Victoria Athletics were handed a 3-1 setback at Royal Athletic Park Thursday night in their last home appearance of the season as the Bremerton Bluejackets copped their second win, 5-1, behind the effective pitching of Hub Kittle.
Over 2,500 customers turned out to honour Ted Norbert, popular manager of the A's, who was given a night at the park in appreciation for his hustling leadership. Norbert was presented with gifts from the players, club management, fans and business firms in a home-plate presentation before game time.
Although wild, Kittle bore down in the pinches and left 12 runners stranded. He got out of a bad jam in the seventh when he retired the side without a run after passing the first three batters. Norbert connected for a pinch double in the eighth, scoring Bill Dunn, who led off with a two-bagger, to spoil Kittle's shut-out bid.
The game was scoreless until the seventh, when the winners pushed over three runs on two hits, a walk and a pair of errors. A home run by Joe Gedzius and an error by Dunn accounted for the last two Bremerton runs in the ninth.
Bob Paulson and Bob Stumpf, Victoria catchers, injured Wednesday night, where unable to play, although Paulson caught the ninth inning. Business manager Reg Patterson was pressed into service behind the plate. Beans Marionetti played part of the game with a severly-swollen finger and Bob Cherry was lost in the early innings when conked on the hand by a pitched ball.
Bremerton ...... 000 000 302—5 6 0
Victoria ......... 000 000 010—1 6 3
Kittle and Volpi; Jensen and Patterson, Paulson (9).

Salem ....... 022 020 002—8 11 3
Yakima ...... 003 000 003—6 12 2
Schubel and Kerr; Yaylian and McConnell.

Spokane ........ 000 000 000—0 4 2
Wenatchee .... 002 000 01x—3 5 1
Faria and Varrelman; Cronin and Pesut.

(stories unavailable)

Wednesday, September 4, 1946

2007-06-10T02:37:00.001-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 86 52 .623 —
Salem ......... 77 60 .562 8½
Bremerton ..... 70 61 .534 12½
Tacoma ........ 72 66 .522 14
Yakima ........ 68 67 .504 16½
Vancouver ..... 62 70 .470 22
Spokane ....... 54 74 .422 27
Victoria ...... 48 87 .356 36½

VANCOUVER, Sept. 4—The youngest playing manager on the Pacific Coast, 24-year-old Bill Brenner, of the Vancouver Capilanos Baseball Club, was honoured tonight by fans and officials of the Western International League here, showering gifts on him in the fifth inning of tonight's game with Tacoma.
Brenner, who had given the Caps nothing but good performances, was the receipient of gifts from owner Bob Brown, sports writers, the president of the ball club and others. Mrs. Brenner was presented with a bouquet from her husband's Capilano mates.
The young manager, who hails from Olympia, Wash., has given Vancouver 20 wins out of 24 starts.
Vancouver jumped on 17-year-old Richie Colombo early, and chased him after he got only one out. He was credited with six earned runs on four hits and two walks, as Vancouver scored eight times in the first inning. The final two runs came off Bob Hedington, who gave up two more in the seventh inning. All four were unearned.
Only one of Vancouver's eight hits of the night went for extra bases - a double by Brenner.
Tacoma picked up four runs in the third inning thanks mainly to a three-run homer by Bob Joratz. Hedington homered in the fifth and Peterson smacked a two run shot in the ninth as the Tigers ended the game with two runners stranded.
Tacoma ............. 004 010 002— 7 11 6
Vancouver ......... 800 000 20x—10 8 0
Colombo, Hedington (1) and Kemper; Snyder and Brenner.

VICTORIA, Sept. 4—The Victoria A's pounced on Clarence 'Beak' Federmeyer for five first-inning runs, but came out on the losing end of a 19-10 Western International League game with the Bremerton Bluejackets in the B.C. capital on Wednesday night.
Bremerton started to roll in the second and scored in every inning afterward.
Bean Marionetti clouted a grand-slam home run in the fourth to highlight Victoria's second five-run rally and give them a momentary 10-6 lead. The winners tied it in the fifth and consistently added to their total in the last four frames, while Federmeyer tightened up to hurl shutout ball the rest of the way.
Big Bill Barisoff clouted his 39th and 40th homers for the Jackets and added to his runs-batted-in total with seven. Marionetti drove in six runs for the Athletics, while Frank Plouf brought in four for the Tars with three singles. Frank Volpi had four of Bremerton's 18 hits.
Bremerton ......... 013 242 223—19 18 0
Victoria ............ 500 500 000—10 9 7
Federmeyer and Volpi: Chappetta, Blankenship (3), Carpenter, (6) and Paulson, Stumpf and Cherry.

Spokane ............ 240 010 000— 7 10 1
Wenatchee ........ 031 140 03x—12 18 5
Hallbourg and Varrelman; Condon and Sady.

Salem ............. 200 000 000— 2 8 5
Yakima ........... 000 902 20x—13 12 1
Wyatt, Kowalski (4), Fallin (4), Hess (8) and Salmon; Romple and Gibb.

ON THE SUNBEAM
By ALF COTTRELL, Sports Editor
[Vancouver Sun, Sept. 5, 1946]

While Alf Cottrell, regular keeper of this corner, sojourns in distant places on a two-week vacation, guest columnists will provide the daily fare. Today REGGIE CLARKSON, talented young centre-fielder for the baseballing Vancouver Capilanos, tries his hand with the pen.
Reg Debuts in Pro Society
As the baseball season draws to a close and I reminisce about the past summer, I realize my first year in pro-ball has been a real experience.
However, I didn’t realize that while that Cottrell cad has a good time doing nothing, that the finger would be put on me to reminisce in public.
But that’s how it goes.
My pro baseball career began on April 4, 1946—which, if you are still with me, isn’t very long ago. It was the Planters Hotel in Sunnyside, Washington, for me and a spot of spring training with the WIL’s Caps.
The first fellow I met was Watts Gulan, which may have been my biggest mistake.
I roomed with Gulan in Sunnyside and never did get it straight why I was there. Though I admit the first intention was to get in a few practise licks with a bat and ball I was later led to believe this was a rehearsal for some sort of pantomime. This Gulan—or if you will “The Nose”—is terrific.
I also met Earl Silverthorne who had a strong claim staked for centre-field. He wasn’t very worried about my meagre reputation and as I look back, I can’t say as I blame him.
It’s Great to Have Friends
With the opening of the playing season, my friendship with Bob Brown finally paid off and I was allowed to sit on the Cap bench instead of being sent to Boise in the Pioneer League. There were six outfielders on the team and my chances of making the “varsity” seemed rather slender.
Then things took a different light. By the end of the month I was playing regularly, doing very well and thinking that baseball was a cinch, which is a mistake all of us young fellows make.
No matter what a fan thinks the score is on the diamond, it’s still the club-house where the games are won and lost. It’s there where these managerial strokes of genius are discovered, where intimate friend are made and where the best chuckles are heard.
Foremost among the clubhouse personalities is Watts Gulan—that little man again. Watts is affectionately called the “Horn.” The ball players will still argue that when Watts hit a high inside pitch over the left fence, he didn’t use a bat, but, instead his nose.
‘Twill Be a Long, Hard Pull
Watts is always good for a laugh, and more than once during this season he has pulled out a little spark from a bunch of buddies who were all but down and out.
Pete Jonas, who has since deserted out scenery, is another high ranking member in the club of the ridiculed. Bill Wright claims that it is for hairless heads like Pete’s that w wear Caps. Otherwise the woodpeckers wouldn’t stay away.
Bill Brenner, our likeable manager, has had nothing but praise for his work and so it should be. I don’t like to be any different but I think Bill takes the game a little too seriously when he fines a lowly paid outfielder ten bucks for being a little late.
(ED. NOTE: Reg was fined the tenner when he arrived after the first game of the Victoria series had started. He caught the wrong boat.)
Bob Brown, the general boss of the Caps, has received his share of criticism from the ball players. He has the unfortunate job of balancing the budget, but to our knowledge it hasn’t tipped over yet.
Which reminds me. Bob was telling me the other day that the Brooklyn Dodgers had made a bid for my contract. Now I have to choose between baseball and dentistry as a career.
It’s going to be a long, hard pull.

Tuesday, September 3, 1946

2007-06-10T02:04:00.002-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 85 52 .620 —
Salem ......... 77 59 .566 7½
Bremerton ..... 69 61 .531 12½
Tacoma ........ 72 65 .526 13
Yakima ........ 67 67 .500 16½
Vancouver ..... 61 70 .466 21
Spokane ....... 54 73 .425 26
Victoria ...... 48 86 .358 35½

VICTORIA, Sept. 3—Getting full production out of their base hits and receiving a neat pitching chore from curve-balling Tony Ferrara, the Victoria Athletics handed the Bremerton Bluejackets a 7-3 setback in the first game of a three game series which marks their last home appearance of the season.
Although in frequent trouble due to streaks of wildness, Ferrara had a two-hitter going into the ninth when a pair of walks and two scratchy infield hits got him in trouble. Frank Plouf's pair of well-tagged singles were the only balls hit out of the infield by Bremerton.
The Tars scored a pair of unearned runs in the second inning when Pete Hughes led Plouf's single roll past him, scoring Bill Reese from first and sending Plouf to third, to score later on an infield out.
Jake Suytar clouted one over the fence in the Victoria half to get one run back, but Ferrara walked four men in a row in the fifth to give Bremerton a 3-2 lead.
Hughes sent the A's ahead in the last of the fifth when he dropped his 30th home run of the season over the centrefield wall, scoring Bob Cherry ahead of him.
Three runs in the eighth, which featured a jawfest between Bremerton players, led by pitcher John Marshall and umpire Rice over ball and strike decisions, salted the game for the Athletics. Doubles by Hughes and Billy Dunn, the latter blow scoring two runs, were the big blows.
The losers had the bags loaded in the ninth and two runs in when manager Ted Norbert, taking no chances, called for Bob Jensen. The right-handed ace finished his relief chore in short order, making Reese his 290th strike out victims on three straight pitches.
Bremerton ....... 020 010 002—5 4 1
Victoria .......... 011 020 03x—7 7 1
Marshall, Medeghini (8) and Volpi; Ferrara, Jensen (9) and Stumpf.

WENATCHEE, Sept. 3—Bill Glane of Spokane outlasted Eddie Green of Wenatchee in a 13-inning pitching marathon tonight as the Spokane Indians nosed out the Wenatchee Chiefs, 2-1, for their first win in three Western International League games here.
Green set a single game strike-out record of 22, although it took him four extra innings to do it.
The game also produced a record for total strikeouts as Glane whiffed 19 to make a two-pitcher total of 41.
Spokane ......... 000 000 010 000 1—2 4 1
Wenatchee ..... 100 000 000 000 0—1 6 1
Glane and Varrelman; Green and Pesut.

VANCOUVER—Al Kretchmar added to his WIL-leading stole base total with a pair as Vancouver thumped Tacoma 11-6 at Capilano Stadium on Tuesday.
Kretchmar now has 42 steals this season.
His first of the game came into the second inning after he reached back on a muff by Marvin Scott. It wasn't needed as Reg Clarkson brought him in with a three-run homer.
Kretchmar reached base five times—twice on errors, twice on walks and once with a hit.
Lou Estes hit a two-run double in the seventh and Ray Spurgeon followed later that inning with a three-run homer for Vancouver.
Bob Hedington smacked a pinch homer for Tacoma in the eighth to score two runs.
Pete Jonas made his farewell appearance, though not in the game. He appeared as a base ump, and was called up afterward to the Seattle Rainiers. Earlier in the day, pitcher Larry Guay was summoned by the Pacific Coast League club.
Tacoma ........ 010 300 020— 6 8 3
Vancouver ..... 030 100 52x—11 12 0
Sostre, Jimmink (8) and Kuper; Anderson and Spurgeon.

YAKIMA, story unavailable.
Salem ...... 300 110 027—14 13 6
Yakima ..... 203 001 210— 9 12 4
Soderburg, Gunnarson (1), Fallin (4), Schubel (8) and Salmon; McHugh, Yaylian (8), Simon (9) and McConnell, Gibb (1).

Monday, September 2, 1946

2007-06-10T02:04:00.001-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 85 51 .625 —
Salem ......... 76 59 .563 8½
Bremerton ..... 69 60 .535 12½
Tacoma ........ 72 64 .529 13
Yakima ........ 67 66 .504 16½
Vancouver ..... 60 70 .462 22
Spokane ....... 53 73 .421 27
Victoria ...... 47 86 .353 36½

Wenatchee Wins WIL Flag
WENATCHEE, Sept. 2—The Wenatchee Chiefs are indeed chiefs of the Western International League, thanks to a double win Monday over Spokane, 5-1 and 17-3, as the runner-up Salem Senators divided a double bill with Yakima.
Salem captured the opener from the Stars 15-3 but dropped the finale 5-4 to fall eight and one half games behind the leaders with but seven games left on the schedule.
First Game
Spokane ......... 000 100 0—1 2 ?
Wenatchee ..... 010 012 x—5 6 ?
Collins and Varrelman; Orphan and Pesut.
Spokane .......... 3
Wenatchee ..... 17 (LINESCORE UNAVAILABLE)

VANCOUVER, Sept. 2—The Vancouver Capilanos split a twin-bill Monday with the Victoria Athletics, with the home team losing the afternoon game 7-6 in ten innings, but winning the night contest, 7-4.
The finale featured six stolen bases by Vancouver, as Alex Palica allowed five hits in picking up his tenth win. Three of the hits were home runs, by Bob Paulson, Bob Cherry and Walt Raimondi.
A towering fly by Reg Clarkson that center fielder Ed Murphy lost in the lights in the second inning cleared the bases to score three of four runs that inning.
In the daytime game, Ray Orteig, earlier voted the Caps' most popular player, was the goat as his boot of Murphy's grounder with two out in the tenth allowed Jack Suytar to score the winner. And the Caps came close to tying it in their half with one out, only to have pinch-hitter Charley Mead force Al Kretchmar at the plate.
First Game
Victoria ............ 300 011 010 1—7 7 2
Vancouver ........ 003 030 000 0—6 10 2
Ferrara, Blankenship (3), Carpenter (8) and Stumpf; Jonas, Bryant (8) and Brenner.
Second Game
Victoria ............ 001 001 020—4 5 1
Vancouver ........ 040 020 20x—7 9 1
Jensen and Paulson; Palica and Brenner.

First Game
Bremerton ..... 000 201 0—3 4 ?
Tacoma ........ 010 300 x—4 7 ?
Sullivan and Volpi; Jungbluth and Kemper.
Second Game
Bremerton ..... 8
Tacoma ........ 6 (LINESCORE UNAVAILABLE)

First Game
Salem ........ 015 700 2—15 17 ?
Yakima ....... 001 020 0—3 5 ?
Kowalski and Kerr; Romple, Bohnen (5) and McConnell.
Second Game
Salem ........ 4
Yakima ....... 5 (LINESCORE UNAVAILABLE)

Sunday, September 1, 1946

2007-06-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 83 51 .619 —
Salem ......... 75 58 .564 7½
Bremerton ..... 68 59 .535 11½
Tacoma ........ 71 63 .530 12
Yakima ........ 66 65 .504 15½
Vancouver ..... 59 69 .461 21
Spokane ....... 53 71 .427 25
Victoria ...... 46 85 .351 35½

First Game
Yakima ......... 100 012 132—10 13 1
Spokane ....... 000 010 002— 3 9 3
Simon and Gibb; Sandel, Sadlish and Varrelman.
Second game
Yakima ......... 432 003 100—13 12 3
Spokane ....... 000 000 100— 1 4 3
Yaylian and McConnell; Cadinha and Clifford, Varrelman.

First Game
Tacoma ......... 001 101 0—3 6 3
Wenatchee .... 000 002 0—2 5 0
Greenlaw and Kuper; Vivalda, Cronin (6) and Pesut.
Second Game
Tacoma ......... 100 202 003—8 9 3
Wenatchee .... 100 032 012—9 10 0
BATTERIES UNAVAILABLE

First Game
Salem .......... 200 301 0—6 13 0
Bremerton .... 000 000 0—0 2 0
Wyatt and Kerr; Kittle, Medeghini (5) and Volpi.
Second Game
Salem .......... 000 110 101—4 7 1
Bremerton .... 000 001 000—1 5 1
Schubel and Salmon; Lowman and Leovich.

(Vancouver and Victoria unscheduled due to Lord's Day Act)

Saturday, August 31, 1946

2007-06-10T01:58:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 82 50 .621 —
Salem ......... 73 58 .557 8½
Bremerton ..... 68 57 .544 10½
Tacoma ........ 70 62 .530 12
Yakima ........ 64 65 .496 16½
Vancouver ..... 59 69 .461 21
Spokane ....... 53 69 .434 24
Victoria ...... 46 85 .351 35½

SPOKANE, Aug 31—Yakima Stars tonight crowded 12 runs into two home-run studded innings to defeat Spokane, 13-5, in a Western International League game.
Hugh McConnell's triple in the fourth inning scored Bill Garbe with the first run of the flurry. McConnell trotted home when Gene Thompson hit a homer run and Bob Moore followed with another homer.
In the fifth inning Garbe climaxed with a three-run homer. Three more singles, a walk and an error accounted for the rest of Yakima's eight runs for the inning.
Yakima .......... 001 480 000—13 16 2
Spokane ........ 101 200 100— 5 8 1
McHugh and McConnell; Faria and Varrelman.

BREMERTON, Aug 31—Six pitchers beat a weary trail to the mound as Salem's Senators walloped the Bremerton Bluejackets 11 to 7.
Bremerton's starting flinger, John Pintar, was touched for three singles and a double beforee he had a man out. Ted Gullic, Salem manager, greeted Bill Ahearn, relief tosser, with a three-run homer. Gullic batted in six of the Salem runs.
Hal Summers homered in the ninth with two aboard for Salem—his fourth round-tripper of the current series—and Joe Gedzius made the circuit for the losers in the fourth with a mate aboard.
Salem .............. 300 100 005—11 15 3
Bremerton ........ 022 200 100— 7 13 1
Gunnarson, Soderburg (3), Kowalski (5) and Salmon; Pintar, Ahearn (1), Medeghini (9) and Leovich.

Victoria at Vancouver, double-header, postponed rain.
Tacoma at Wenatchee, postponed.

Kuper Leads W.I.L. Hitters
[Sept. 1, 1946]
Earl Kuper, Tacoma catcher-outfielder, maintained his steady pace in the Western International League while his closest opponant fell off slightly and holds a four-point bulge over Glen Stetter, Wenatchee second baseman, latest averages released yesterday by the Howe News Bureau reveal.
Kuper has bashed in 92 hits in 254 trips for a mark of .362. Woody Salmon, Dick Kemper, Ray Orteig, Duane Crawford and Bill Barisoff are all within distance of the leader and a late spurt by any of the leading seven hitters could give them the bat crown.
Barisoff yielded the runs batted in to Wenatchee's Dick Adams, 143 to 145, but continues to lead in most offensive departments, showing the way in home runs, 38, total bases, 323, and triples, 17 and sharing the scoring lead with Stettler at 120.
Ed Murphy of Victoria still held a 34-30 margin over Vancouver's Al Kretchmar in their duel for stolen base honours. Bob Jensen's record-breaking total of 279 strikeouts give him the lead with Al Yaylian's 193 next in line.

Friday, August 30, 1946

2007-06-10T01:33:00.002-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 82 50 .621 —
Salem ......... 72 58 .554 9
Bremerton ..... 68 56 .548 10
Tacoma ........ 70 62 .530 12
Yakima ........ 63 65 .492 17
Vancouver ..... 59 69 .461 21
Spokane ....... 53 68 .438 23½
Victoria ...... 46 85 .351 35½

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, Aug. 31]—Next Wednesday at Capilano Stadium there will be a “Bill Brenner Night” to honor the rugged young catcher who has had nothing but success since he took over as manager of the Capilanos about three weeks ago.
The fiery backstop doesn’t make many mistakes, but Bill seemed just a little mixed up last Friday. He seemed to think last night was his night, for he slapped two home runs and a single to bat home seven runs and lead his club to a 14-5 triumph over Victoria Athletics.
The triumph was the fifth straight for Bill’s crew—the third time they’ve reached the five-in-a-row mark in three weeks—and the 17th victory for the locals in their last 20 starts.
REG MISSES BOAT
The win, incidentally, was accomplished without Outfielders Reg Clarkson and Charley Mead. Reg missed a boat, or something, and arrived late, and Charley has a cold. Bill Wright and Watts Gulan plugged the gaps admirably, and after the fourth frame, Vancouver had no trouble.
Victoria was leading 2-1 as a result of Pete Hughes’ homer in the fourth, but Mr. Brenner went to town in the Caps’ half of the inning, his single with two on putting us in front, 3-2.
Bill dropped his sixth four-bagger into Sixth Avenue in the fifth, scoring two ahead of him, and slammed out homer number two in the eighth, after his boys had worked Tony Chapetta for another four runs in the sixth.
TWELVE FOR SNYDER
Bob Snyder was warmish on the Caps’ hillock, Hughes’ round-tripper and a three-run four-ply smash by Beans Marionetti being his only mistake as he registered his 12th win.
Victoria winds up its stay here with a pair of doubleheaders over the long weekend, and the Caps will be trying for a new season record—nine straight. Alex Palica, who shut the A’s out on the islanders [sic] with four hits earlier this week, will hurl one game tonight, with Ronnie Bryant handling the other.
Tonight’s twin bill starts at 7:30, but there’ll be a change on Monday, Labor Day, with an afternoon tilt at 2:30 and a night game at 8. Hunk Anderson and Pete Jonas will likely work Monday.
- - -
VANCOUVER, Aug. 30—Vancouver Capilanos continued their winning streak tonight as they trounced Victoria Athletics 14-5 in the first of a five-game Western International League series here.
The Caps' manager and catcher, Bill Brenner, sparked the Vancouver victory as he chalked up three hits for five and accounted for seven runs batted in, two of them being homers in the fifth and eighth.
Losing pitcher Tony Chapetta didn't help any as he gave up 17 hits to Vancouvers sluggers compared with six allowed by Bob Snyder.
Victoria's king of swat, Pete Hughes, playing a starry game in right field, came through with a circuit smash in the fourth, although the sacks were empty.
Beans Marionetti, hitting two for four, was the mainstay of the A's rally in the ninth as he pounded one over the fence bringing in Ed Murphy and Hughes for three runs.
The Caps have now won 17 of their last 20 games since Brenner took over managing the club.
Victoria ......... 001 100 003— 5 6 4
Vancouver ..... 001 234 04x—14 17 1
Chapetta and Paulson; Snyder and Brenner.

BREMERTON, Aug. 30—With homers accounting for two of the game's three runs, Bremerton defeated Salem, 2-1, in their Western International League baseball game tonight by converting three ninth-inning singles into the winning run.
Salem scored first in the second inning on Hal Summers' homer over the left field wall. Walt Bliss tied it with the same for Bremerton in the fourth.
Salem .......... 010 000 000—1 8 0
Bremerton .... 000 100 001—2 9 1
Porter, Schubel (7) and Salmon; Federmeyer and Leovich, Volpi (8)

Spokane ...... 001 000 600—7 9 3
Yakima ........ 043 000 032—12 11 1
Rompel, Strait (7), and McConnell; Hallbourg, Collins (8) and Varrelman.

Tacoma ......... 301 010 022— 9 10 1
Wenatchee .... 030 (10)02 60x—21 21 3
Jungbluth, Gerkin (4), Jimmick (4), Greco (7) and Kemper; Green and Pesut.

(stories unavailable)

Thursday, August 29, 1946

2007-06-10T01:33:00.001-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 81 50 .618 —
Salem ......... 72 57 .558 8
Bremerton ..... 67 56 .545 10
Tacoma ........ 70 61 .534 11
Yakima ........ 62 65 .488 17
Vancouver ..... 58 69 .457 21
Spokane ....... 53 67 .442 22½
Victoria ...... 46 84 .354 34½

VICTORIA, Aug. 29—The Vancouver Capilanos sent 17 batters to plate off three Victoria pitchers in the fifth inning to score 11 times in a 22-7 Western International League thrashing of the Victoria Athletics.
Bill Brenner got Vancouver first circuit-clout in the second inning, boosting one of Bob Jensen's fast ones over the centre field fence to bring in Al Kretchmar and Charlie Mead.
Then came the big inning, which saw Jensen yanked after eight scored with only one out. He was placed by sore-armed Tommy Musgrave.
Jim Hedgecock's solo homer smacked a solo homer in the sixtht, and Ray Orteig's home run brought in Jimmy Estrada in the eighth.
Hedgecock, who scattered ten hits, had four RBIs, as did Lou Estes.
Eddie Murphy and Jake Suytar each homered twice for Victoria.
Vancouver ........ 030 0(11)1 223—22 16 1
Victoria ............ 000 031 201— 7 10 3
Hedgecock and Brenner, Spurgeon; Jensen, Musgrave (5), Bass (5) Oliver (6) and Stumpf.

Yakima ........ 010 240 422—15 11 0
Spokane ...... 000 000 001— 1 4 2
Yaylian and Gibb; Glane and Varrelman.

Tacoma ......... 110 031 005—11 16 4
Wenatchee .... 200 040 501—12 13 2
Colombo, Hedington (5) and Kemper; McCollum, Cronin (9) and Pesut.

Salem .......... 023 013 330—15 16 1
Bremerton .... 002 002 020— 6 7 1
Wyatt and Kerr; Sullivan, Marshall (6) and Volpi.
(stories unavailable)

WIL All Stars Picked
TACOMA, Aug. 30—Compiled by the National Association Press Bureau from the votes of writers in the circuit, the 1946 All-Star team for the Western International Baseball League was released yesterday.
Widely diversified opinions marked the selections, especially in the pitching department. Victoria's number one moundsman, popular Bob Jensen, got the nod for the club's right-handed hurler by a single vote over Spokane's Milt Cadinha. The left-hander, Cy Greenlaw of Tacoma, also had rugged opposition and won his berth by one vote over Ken Wyatt of Salem and Al Yaylian of Yakima.
There was not a single unanimous choice, but second baseman Glen Stetter of Wenatchee, outfielder Bill Barisoff of Bremerton and manager Buddy Ryan of Wenatchee won their places handily, missing only two of the first-chance ballots.

Wednesday, August 28, 1946

2007-06-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 80 50 .615 —
Salem ......... 71 57 .555 8
Bremerton ..... 67 55 .549 9
Tacoma ........ 70 60 .538 10
Yakima ........ 61 65 .484 17
Vancouver ..... 57 69 .452 21
Spokane ....... 53 66 .445 21½
Victoria ...... 46 83 .357 33½

VICTORIA—Hunk Anderson and Pete Jonas, two ex-members of the Seattle Rainiers now doing their hurling for Vancouver, pitched the Capilanos to a double win over the Victoria Athletics at Royal Athletic Park Wednesday.
Anderson limited the A's to three hits in the seven-inning opener and singled in the winning run in the seventh for a 3-2 victory over Tony Ferrara.
Jonas was given an early inning lead to notch his sixth straight triumph, 9-5 in the finale.
Walt Raimondi drove Eddie Murphy over with the first score in the third inning of the opener but the Caps put together three base hits to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth after Ferrara had held them hitless for the first four frames.
A bad throw to first base by catcher Bill Brenner allowed Bob Cherry to score from second to tie the game in the sixth but Ferrara's wildness set the stage for the winning run in the seventh. He walked Al Kretchmar and Lou Estes to open the iunning, The former was cut down at the plate on Brenner's infield roller but Anderson singled Estes over with the winner.
Doug Oliver started out in a blaze of glory for Victoria in the second game, retiring the first four batters, but walks to Charley Mead and Kretchmar in the second were followed by Lou Estes' long home run and the Caps took an early 3-0 lead.
Reg Clarkson doubled to open the third and Jim Estrada followed with another over-the-fence wallop. Oliver walked two more, gave up a single to Kretchmar and uncorked a wild pitch before Joe Blankenship was called in.
Jonas ran into trouble only in the third when Clarkson's muff on a fly ball by Blankenship set the stage for four unearned runs. Pete Hughes' home run clout over the right field wall accounted for two of them.
First Game
Vancouver ............ 000 020 1—3 5 1
Victoria ................ 001 001 0—2 3 2
Anderson and Brenner; Ferrara and Stumpf.
Second Game
Vancouver ........ 034 001 100—8 13 1
Victoria ............ 004 000 010—5 10 1
Jonas and Spurgeon; Oliver, Blankenship (3) and Stumpf.

SPOKANE, Aug. 28—A home run smashed over the centre-field fence by Warren Sandell tonight gave Spokane a 4-3 victory over Yakina in the ninth inning of a Western International League baseball game.
The homer, which provided the tying and winning runs in the last half of the ninth, climaxed a five-hit pitching performance by Spokane's Milt Cadinha, who chalked up his 16th victory against five defeats.
Yakima .......... 100 011 000—3 5 0
Spokane ........ 000 010 012—4 7 2
Bohnen and McClelland; Cadinha and Varrelman.

Salem ............ 110 031 200— 8 11 0
Bremerton ...... 121 030 40x—11 15 1
Kowalski, Soderburg (7) and Salmon; Lowman, Medeghini (7) and Volpi.

Tacoma ........... 001 001 100—3 11 0
Wenatchee ...... 000 000 40x—4 6 0
Greenlaw and Kuper; Orphan, Babbitt (9) and Pesut.
(other stories unavailable)

Salem Call-Ups - 1946

2007-06-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

Portland Beavers Send for Seven Salem Players
PORTLAND — The Portland Pacific Coast League club has recalled seven players from the Salem farm club, General Manager William Klepper announced Wednesday night.
All seven will don Portland uniforms for the Portland-Hollywood series at Hollywood starting September 10.
Klepper listed catchers Hank Souza and Woody Salmon; infielders Duane Crawford, Vern Reynolds, Wally Flager and Eddie Wheeler and outfielder Dick Wenner.
The Portland club previously had recalled George Vico, hard-hitting first baseman who has since been sold to the Detroit Tigers.
- Thursday, August 29, 1946

More Spokane Widow Help

2007-06-10T01:19:00.000-07:00

SPOKANE, - Mrs. Christian Hartje of San Francisco, widow of one of the Spokane baseball players fatally injured in a bus crash last June 24, was awarded $17,500 and her unborn child $500 under a settlement with the Washington State Motor Coach company approved in Superior Court Wednesday.
- Thursday, Aug. 29, 1946

Tuesday, August 27, 1946

2007-06-10T00:23:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 79 50 .612 —
Salem ......... 71 56 .559 7
Bremerton ..... 66 55 .545 9
Tacoma ........ 70 59 .543 9
Yakima ........ 61 64 .488 16
Vancouver ..... 55 69 .444 21½
Spokane ....... 52 66 .441 21½
Victoria ...... 46 81 .362 32

WENATCHEE, Aug. 27—Pitcher Joe Vivalda won his 18th game of the season as the Wenatchee Chiefs defeated the Tacoma Tigers, 7-2, in the first game of a seven-game Western International League series here Tuesday night. Vivalda, who has lost eight games this year, limited the Tigers to eight hits and walked but one man.
Five home runs accounted for all of Wenatchee's scoring. Jim Warner, centre fielder, connected for three homers in four trips to bat in five runs. Nick Pesut added another and Dick Adams hit his 34th of the year.
Tacoma ............. 101 000 000—2 8 0
Wenatchee ......... 210 010 30x—7 11 0
Gerkin, Sostre (5) and Kemper; Vivalda and Pesut.

BREMERTON, Aug. 27—Salem defeated Bremerton 2-1 in the opening game of their Western International League series tonight to widen its second-place lead over the Bluejackets.
Hub Kittle held Salem to seven hits, but his wildness led to the winning tally in the sixth when he filled the bases with three walks.
Wally Flager scored both Salem runs.
Bremerton's only run canme on Bill Reese's homer in the second, his 27th of the season.
Salem .............. 100 001 000—2 7 0
Bremerton ........ 010 000 000—1 8 0
Schubel and Salmon; Kittle and Volpi.

VICTORIA—18-year-old Alex Palica surrendered only four singles as the Vancouver Capilanos handed a 14-0 whitewashing to the Victoria A's Wednesday night.
He was never in serious trouble except in the eighth, when the A's loaded the bags with two out. He got out of that when catcher Bill Brenner scooped up a low grounder and threw to first.
John Carpenter started for the A's and stuck around until the fourth when he left in the middle of a five-run rally. He failed to receive the support of his batterymate as Bob Paulson allowed Ray Orteig to go from first to third when he kicked the ball back to the mound after dropping a pitch. Carpenter was replaced by Tommy Musgrave, who went out in the ninth when a line drive from the bat of Charlie Mead literally hit him on the pitching arm and knocked him out of the contest. Only two of the seven runs against him were unearned.
Jim Estrada, Vancouver shortstop, led the hitters with four singles in six trips, while Reggie Clarkson contributed a triple and a double.
Victoria's six errors translated into seven unearned runs. The A's shortstop, Bill Dunn, completed the sad showing by being bounced by Umpire Hughie Day after an argument about a decision at first base.
Vancouver .......... 021 500 033—14 14 1
Victoria .............. 000 000 000— 0 4 6
Palica and Brenner; Carpenter, Musgrave (4), Raimondi (9) and Paulson.

SPOKANE, Aug. 27—The Spokane Indians tonight clouted 11 hits to defeat Yakima, 6-3, in the opener of a seven-game struggle for sixth place in the Western International League.
Yakima .......... 000 010 003—3 7 2
Spokane ........ 030 003 00x—6 11 2
Strait, Simon (7) and McConnell; Faria and Varrelman.

Monday, August 26, 1946

2007-06-09T23:55:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 78 50 .609 —
Salem ......... 70 56 .556 7
Bremerton ..... 66 54 .550 8
Tacoma ........ 70 58 .547 9
Yakima ........ 61 63 .492 15
Vancouver ..... 54 69 .439 21½
Spokane ....... 51 66 .436 21½
Victoria ...... 46 80 .365 31

VICTORIA—Unable to hit in the clutches, Vancouver Capilanos went down to a close 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Victoria Athletics Monday night in the opener of a five-game series between the two Canadian entries in the Western International League.
Vancouver's hard-hitting batting order found Pee Wee Bass no puzzle and picked up single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings and one more off Joe Blankenship in the sixth, but left 11 runners stranded through the first six innings.
The Athletics counted all their runs in two big innings, then held on for the win.
Ed Murphy's triple in the third was followed by Frank Cirimele's single, doubles by Bob Cherry and Beans Marionetti, and a costly error by first baseman Ray Orteig on a high ball behind the mound to account for four Victoria runs. Final tallies for the winners came in the fourth when Bass walked, and Murphy and Cirimele singled to load the bags. Outfield flies by Cherry and Hughes sent two runners in from third.
Feature of the contest was the clouting of Al Kretchmar and Reg Clarkson, Caps second baseman and centre fielder, respectively. The former cracked out three doubles and a pair of singles in five trips, while Clarkson tripled, doubled and singled in five appearances.
There was a little trouble before the game started. Failure of the league's umpires to show up forced the teams to nominate one player apiece, Ronnie Bryant of the Caps and Bob Jensen of Victoria, to handle calls on the bases.
Vancouver ....... 011 111 000—5 13 3
Victoria ........... 004 200 00x—6 11 1
Snyder and Brenner; Bass, Blankenship (5) and Stumpf.

YAKIMA, Aug. 28—The Yakima Stars outscored the Spokane Indians 12-9 tonight to take their sixth win in their current Western International League series against two losses.
Fritz Romple was credited with his seventh victory against no defeats, but had to call on Jerry Bohnen in the seventh inning to finishe out the game on the mound.
Spokane ........ 012 013 101— 9 12 6
Yakima .......... 002 233 20x—12 11 2
Collins, Sadlish (7) and Varrelman; Romple, Bohnen (7) and Gibb.

(only games scheduled)

Sunday, August 25, 1946

2007-06-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 78 50 .609 —
Salem ......... 70 56 .556 7
Bremerton ..... 66 54 .550 8
Tacoma ........ 70 58 .547 9
Yakima ........ 60 63 .488 15½
Vancouver ..... 54 68 .443 21
Spokane ....... 51 65 .440 21
Victoria ...... 45 80 .360 31½

SALEM, Aug. 25—The Salem Senators wound up their home season Sunday by setting an all-time home attendance record in a doubleheader split with Tacoma.
The club drew 103,000 for the year, after 3,500 turned out to watch the Senators win the opener, 4-1, and lose the second game, 9-4.
First game:
Tacoma ....... 000 000 1—1 7 2
Salem ......... 400 000 x—4 8 0
Edington and Kuper; Porter and Salmon.
Second game:
Tacoma ....... 000 130 014—9 12 1
Salem ......... 120 000 100—4 9 1
Jungbluth and Kemper; Wyatt and Kerr.

First Game
Spokane ...... 000 000 0— 0 2 5
Yakima ........ 210 106 x—10 3 2
Glane and Varrelman; Yaylian and Gibb.
Second Game
Spokane ...... 200 040 010— 6 10 5
Yakima ........ 000 901 02x—12 15 2
Hallbourg, Sadlish (5) and Varrelman; McHugh and McConnell.

(no stories unavailable)

Saturday, August 24, 1946

2007-06-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 78 50 .609 —
Salem ......... 69 55 .556 7½
Bremerton ..... 66 54 .550 8
Tacoma ........ 69 57 .548 8
Yakima ........ 58 63 .479 16½
Spokane ....... 51 63 .447 20
Vancouver ..... 54 68 .443 21
Victoria ...... 45 80 .360 31½

VICTORIA, Aug. 24—3,300 fans crowded Royal Athletic Park on Bob Jensen Night tonight, and got to see the Victoria ace toss a three-hitter and strike out 18 in a 4-0 win over the Wenatchee Chiefs Friday night.
Jensen raised his strikeout total this season to 279. He struck out the first four batters of the game.
Wenatchee came from behind to win the free-hitting matinee attraction, 11-7, with a four-run rally in the ninth.
In a pre-game presentation at home plate, Jensen was presented with a wrist watch for winning the most popular player contest and gifts from his teammates, the club management and Victoria business firms and fans.
Then, as if to show his appreciation, the popular hurler took the mount to turn in his outstanding game of the season. He struck out the first four Wenatchee batters to come to the plate and never let down.
Since August 4, he has struck out 77 men in 46 innings, winning four games and losing two.
The only hits he allowed were singles to Jim Warner and Dick Adams and a double to Doug Williams.
Frank Cirimele doubled and rode home with the first run on Bob Cherry's vicious double. Pete Hughes dropped a bloop double to right to score Cherry, who scored ahead of Beans Marionetti when he looped a long one over the centre field wall.
Hughes was ejected by umpire Tuma in the fifth inning for tossing his bat after a called strike.
In the matinee, Tommy Musgrave, hoping for his second win, was leading 5-1 but was sent to the showers in the sixth after losing control and the Chiefs scored five runs. Home runs by Nick Pesut and Eddie Barr accounted for all the scoring after bases on balls filled the bags.
Wenatchee picked up a run in the seventh but Cherry and Marionetti homered to tie it at 7-7. Pesut off with his second circuit-blow in the ninth and three more runners hit pay dirt before John Carpenter retired the side after relieving Joe Blankenship, who took over for Musgrave in the sixth.
First Game
Wenatchee ...... 001 005 104—11 19 2
Victoria ........... 000 410 200— 7 12 1
McCollum and Pesut; Musgrave, Blankenship (6), Carpenter (9) and Stumpf.
Second Game
Wenatchee ...... 000 000 000—0 3 4
Victoria ........... 004 000 00x—4 7 0
Greene and Pesut; Jensen and Paulson.

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, August 26]—How does the travelogue go?
And so the Capilanos left beautiful, fruitful Vancouver, in search of further adventure. But they will long remember the two glorious weeks spent on the banks of lovely old False Creek.
And well they might, for in their two-week home stand again W.I.L. rivals, they won 12 games and lost just two, easily their season’s best record, and one that any previous edition of the Caps would have been proud of.
After their five-game winning streak against Spokane and Salem, Bill Brenner’s boys teed off on second-place Bremerton Bluejackets for six straight victories, the desperate Blues finally stopping or rampaging forces in the first game Saturday night, 5-2. But the Brownies bounced back in the nightcap to win handily, 11-3, to grab the series seven games to one and send the overflow crowd home happy.
Unable to stop the Vancouver crew with the material on hand, Bremerton boss Sam Gibson sent a rush call for Joe Sullivan at Bremerton. Sullivan, a former Detroit Tiger and Boston Brave, has a good job and usually just pitches in the “Jackets” home games.
ESTES LENDS HAND
The strategy paid off as southpaw Sullivan, with a lot of help from Cap first-sacker Lou Estes, kept the locals guessing for most of the seven innings of the opener.
But it might have been different if Estes had been on his toes, because big Hunk Anderson was matching Sullivan pitch for pitch.
After Reg Clarkson had pounded Sullivan’s first pitch for a homer, Bill Reese lofted one over in the second to even the score. Then with two out in the third, Estes booted Elwood Curtis’ blow, and the visitors went on to score twice.
Again in the sixth, with two out, Estes failed to stop a drive by Frankie Plouf, and though it went as a base hit, officially, the general consensus of the experts was that a “professional” first-baseman would have got it. Again, Bremerton went on to score twice, and that was the ball game.
SULLIVAN TRIES AGAIN
Flushed with success, Gibson held a short conference with Sullivan, and though John Marshall had been originally slated for the afterpiece, Sad Sam decided to throw Sullivan back in the second game.
This time Gibson guessed wrong, because Sullivan didn’t last three innings. The boys jumped on him for seven hits, including homers by Frank Mullens and Ray Orteig, to drive him to the showers early.
Clarence (Cousin) Federmeyer, who’s taken a lot of punishment from the locals recently, and who worked Friday night, guttily finished up. He didn’t have any better success. Charley Mead and Estes helped sink him with further four-masters. Estes redeemed himself by parking his round-tripper over the left field wall.
Tonight the Brennermen are in Victoria where they battle the Athletics until Friday, when they return home for their last home stand against the A’s and Tacoma.
[WILfan note: Mead had three hits for Vancouver in the second game, Hooks Devaurs did the same for Bremerton … There was only one walk in the first game. It was by Anderson].
First Game
Bremerton ............ 012 002 0—5 7 1
Vancouver ........... 100 001 0—2 8 2
Sullivan and Volpi; Anderson and Brenner.
Second Game
Bremerton ............ 001 200 000— 3 12 0
Vancouver ........... 204 110 30x—11 15 0
Sullivan, Federmeyer (3) and Volpi; Bryant and Spurgeon.

SALEM, Aug. 24—Salem Senators protected their second-place position in the Western International League from the encroaching Tacoma Tigers here tonight as they stopped the Tigers 4-3 in ten innings.
The Solons pushed across the winning counter when manager Ted Gullic singled and scored on Vern Stephens' long fly.
Tacoma ......... 010 100 001 0—3 9 1
Salem ........... 100 002 000 1—4 10 0
Columbo, Gerkin (9) and Kemper; Kowalski and Kerr.

Spokane ............ 040 023 010—10 12 7
Yakima .............. 000 300 041— 8 8 5
Cadinha and Varrelman; Strait, Simon (5), Bohnen (6), Thompson (9) and McConnell.

Bob Jensen
[from Victoria Colonist, Sat., Aug. 24, 1946]
Property of the San Francisco Seals, the 24-year-old hurler has racked up 15 wins and would have been at least five or six games better with a few good breaks. Earlier in the season he was used in an out of turn and in relief roles, which further handicapped his season mark.
He joined the club in Wenatchee on the second day of the season from San Francisco training camp, arriving in the morning and taking the mound that night. In an epic performance, he struck out 19 and registered his first win, although walking 14.
Since then Jensen has shown consistent improvement and has added an effective curve to his blazing fast ball. Qualified observers rate him the best pitching prospect in the league and a little more experience in holding men on the bags and the developmennt of a change of pace is all that he needs to move up into faster company to stay.
First Baseball With Semi Pros at 14
Born in San Francisco on August 30, 1921, Jensen is of Norwegian descent, although he has been tagged with the moniker 'Swede.' His first baseball experience was for the Mill Valley semi-pro nine when he was 14 as an outfielder.
He attracted the attention of Justin Fitzgerald, scout for the Detroit Tigers, who signed him to a contract. He went to Alexandria in the Evangeline League, but was cut loose following the 1939 Spring Training session and rejoined the Mill Valley colub.
Walter Mails, publicity agent for San Francisco, was impressed with his ability to thrown and arranged to have him work out with the Seals. He was signed to a contract and stayed with the club all of the 1940 season, winning two games and losing three, mainly in relief roles.
Jensen was optioned to Salt Lake City in the Pioneer League in 1941, where he won ten and lost 12. He joined the navy in January 1942 and was discharged in November, 1945.
During his 46-month hitch in the navy, he played no baseball and his first start in four-and-a-half years was at Wenatchee after being optioned to Victoria following the San Francisco spring training session.

Friday, August 23, 1946

2007-06-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 77 49 .602 —
Salem ......... 68 55 .553 7½
Tacoma ........ 69 56 .552 7½
Bremerton ..... 65 53 .551 8
Yakima ........ 58 62 .483 16
Spokane ....... 50 63 .442 20½
Vancouver ..... 53 67 .442 21
Victoria ...... 44 79 .358 31½

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, August 24]—Everybody, except of course Bremerton Bluejackets, is happy about the current Vancouver Capilanos’ winning streak, which now stands at six straight following last night’s relatively easy 9-3 triumph over (Very) Sad Sam Gibson’s men at Cap Stadium.
Leading the happiness department are the lads who comprise the Cap pitching staff, especially the fellows like Jim Hedgecock, who pitched their heart out at the start of the year, but who picked up mostly losses for their efforts.
You can take it from Jim, life is much sweeter for the present hustling ball club, which can’t seem to do a thing wrong, behind you. A few figures in that “win” column don’t do a man any harm either, and last night’s triumph, the fifth straight for the easy-going lefthander, gave him a 9-11 mark for the season.
Hedgecock ran into trouble on a couple of occasions last night, but there was a time when a Vancouver chucker needed to make just one mistake to lose a ball game.
RECORD FOR BARISOFF
For the first time, Jim hit Hooks DeVaurs with a southpaw slant, then big Bill Barisoff, the league’s home run king, parked a record-breaking four master into Sixth Avenue. It was No. 38 for Barisoff, and broke Mory Abbott’s league mark.
But just to let Hedgecock know he wasn’t alone, the Caps roared back in their half of the first with three runs, two singles, two walks and Charley Mead’s double doing the damage.
Reggie Clarkson, who continued his lusty clouting with three blows, slammed out a round-tripper in the second to make is 4-3.
Then when Bremerton shoved another counter in the fifth on a single, an error, a balk and an infield hit, to move within one run, our lads set to work again to widen the gap.
TWIN BILL TONIGHT
They climbed aboard the offerings of Beak Federmeyer for four counters in the seventh, and added another for luck in the eighth to let Hedgecock sail home.
Hunk Anderson and Ronnie Bryant will be out to pad their winning percentages tonight, when the Brownies will attempt [to sweep the] eight game series from the Bluejackets by taking both ends of a doubleheader.
The season’s record crowd is expected, so you better bring your camp stools just in case. First game is at 7:30.
[WIL notes: Clarkson was a triple shy of the cycle … DeVaurs was on base every time up, adding three singles to his grazing by Hedgecock … Ray Orteig and Al Kretchmar joined Mead in plating a pair of Capilanos]
Bremerton ....... 200 010 000—3 9 0
Vancouver ...... 310 000 41x—9 11 1
Federmeyer and Volpi; Hedgecock and Brenner.

VICTORIA [Colonist, August 24]—Playing scintillating defensive ball behind the brilliant hurling of Tony Ferrara, who turned in his best mound effort of the season here, Victoria Athletics turned back the Wenatchee Chiefs, 5-3, at Royal Athletic Park last night to register their first win of the series after three defeats.
Ferrara gave up one run in the second with Williams’ screaming double following a walk to Stetter and two in the fourth when Haskell homered with one aboard put pitched shutout ball from there. He got out of a bad jam in the fifth and then struck out the dangerous Dick Adams with two on in the ninth to end the game. Ferrara also contributed to his own cause with two great putouts at first base.
Held at bay by Chuck Cronin for the first four innings, the A’s hit the slim righthander hard in the latter stages to take the verdict.
Ed Murphy, who drove in there runs with as many hits, doubled the first two Victoria runs over in the fourth. Stumpf’s single scored the tying marker in the sixth. Winning run scored in the seventh after two were out when Cherry doubled and Hughes cracked a hard single through the centre. Murphy’s single accounted for the fifth run in the sixth.
DIAMOND DUST: With both clubs playing heads up baseball, last night’s game was the best played of the series. Sparkling defensive play was a feature with Dunn, Marionetti and Ferrara for the A’s and Pesut and Wasley for the Chiefs coming up with some neat work … Wenatchee has been steady defensively throughout the series, being charged with only one bobble in the four games … Tommy Musgrave will likely hurl the afternoon game today for Victoria with JoeVivaldi on the opposition mound. Eddie Greene will probably hook up with Bob Jensen tonight and another great duel is expected … A new attendance mark for the season seems to be in prospect for “Bob Jensen Night” with almost all reserved seats already sold ... Wenatchee received a rude blow yesterday when the Sacramento Solons, hard pressed for catching help, recalled Eddie Fitzgerald, top receiver in the W.I.B.L. … Vancouver Capilanos play a five-game series here starting Monday with a double-header billed Wednesday night.
- - -
VICTORIA - Ed Murphy drove in three runs with as many hits as the Victoria Athletics took a Thursday night WIL contest, 5-3, over the Wenatchee Chiefs.
With Wenatchee leading 3-0, Murphy doubled the first two Victoria runs over in the fourth. Bob Stumpf's single scored the tying run in sixth. The winning run came in seventh after two were out when Bob Cherry doubled and Pete Hughes cracked a sharp single through to centre.
Murphy's single accounted for the fifth run in the eighth.
Tony Ferrara gave up one run in the second on Doug Williams' screaming double following a walk to Glen Stetter. Clyde Haskell homered with one aboard in the fourth.
Ferrara struck out Dick Adams with two base on to end the game.
After the game, the Sacramento Solons recalled catcher Eddie Fitzgerald from Wenatchee.
Wenatchee ...... 010 200 000—3 7 0
Victoria ........... 000 021 11x—5 13 1
Cronin and Pesut; Ferrara and Stumpf.

Tacoma .......... 020 133 001—10 14 3
Salem ............. 000 030 120— 6 10 2
Martin, Gerkin (8) and Kemper; Soderburg, Fallin (6), Gunnarson (6) and Kerr.

Spokane ........ 000 020 020—4 10 2
Yakima .......... 031 100 01x—5 11 2
Faria and Varrelman; Romple and McConnell.

(stories unavailable)

Money for Spokane Ball Widows

2007-06-09T23:19:00.002-07:00

Widows of Spokane Ball Players Get Settlement
SPOKANE — The widows of two of the nine Spokane Western International league baseball players killed in a bus crash in the Cascade mountains last June 24 received settlements amounting to $30,300 in probate court Thursday from the Washington Motor Coach system.
Mrs. Frederick Martinez of San Diego, Calif., widow of infielder Fred Martinez, was granted $16,000 and an additional $300 was allotted her unborn child. Mrs. Robert Patterson of San Francisco, widow of Outfielder Bob Patterson, will receive $14,000 under the settlement.
Owner of the Spokane team, Sam Collins, was named administrator of the estates of the two players.
Both Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Patterson will share in the $80,000 fund raised by Spokane business men to aid the families of the players who were killed. Mrs. George Lyden, widow of pitcher George Lyden, received an earlier settlement last week amounting to $20,000.
Friday, August 23, 1946

Thursday, August 22, 1946

2007-06-09T23:19:00.001-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 77 48 .616 —
Salem ......... 68 54 .557 7½
Bremerton ..... 65 52 .556 8
Tacoma ........ 68 56 .548 8½
Yakima ........ 57 62 .479 17
Spokane ....... 50 62 .446 20½
Vancouver ..... 52 67 .437 22
Victoria ...... 43 79 .352 32½

VANCOUVER,[Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, August 23]—Bremerton Bluejackets’ plan to stop the Vancouver Capilanos this week—if their atomic bomb arrives before Saturday. It doesn’t look as if the Jackets will slow our boys down by the orthodox method.
Last night at Cap Stadium our win-happy warriors added two more victories to their list, winning 3-1 and 10-9, to run this week’s string to five straight games.
That equally last week’s five-in-a-row mark, gave the Brownies 10 triumph in 11 starts, and left them just a game and one-half behind sixth-place Spokane.
PLOUF HOMERS
The capacity house had a few misgivings about the nightcap last night, but little Petey Jonas left no doubt in the opening tilt. Peter allowed the visitors just three safeties, one a home run by Frankie Plouf, as he registered his fifth win against no losses.
His mates, held to two hits by Hub Kittle for four frames, exploded for two doubles (Bill Brenner and Jimmy Estrada), a triple by Frank Mullens, and a singe by Ray Orteig to sew things up in the fifth stanza.
Alex Palica, the lad who suffered the club’s only loss last week, appeared well beaten in the nightcap as Sad Sam Gibson’s desperate ladies fell on his offerings early and often.
CLARKSON, TOO
But the locals kept within hailing distance all the time, mostly through the courtesy of Reg Clarkson (two triples, home run) and Lou Estes (two doubles, single) and were just down just 8-7 when Ernie Kershaw took over for us in the seventh.
The Brownies wasted no time giving Kershaw a lead, four straight singles producing three runs in the seventh and sending John Pintar to the showers. Bremerton got one back in the eighth, but Ernie stopped ‘em again in the ninth for his first victory.
Tonight Jim Hedgecock, who tossed brilliant ball in relief roles the last couple times out, gets a starting job. He’ll be out to chuck the club to a new season high, six wins in a row.
[WILfan note: Eddie Curtis and Bill Resse got the other hits off Jonas in the first game … Plouf hit a two-run homer in the second game … Kershaw gave up a hit an inning (he worked three) striking out one and walking one … Pintar, the loser, allowed 10 runs on 12 hits in six and a third innings].
- - -
VANCOUVER, Aug. 22 - Pete Jonas tossed a three hitter in the seven-inning opener, while Reggie Clarkson and Lou Estes stood out in the night game as the Vancouver Capilanos swept a pair Thursday from the Bremerton Bluejackets.
The only real mistake Jonas made, as he raised his record to 5-0, was a fastball to Frank Plouf, which he parked on Sixth Avenue for the Jackets' only run.
Hub Kittle, meanwhile, limited Vancouver to one hit in the first four frames. But Bill Brenner opened with a double, and after two were out, Jim Estrada singled him home and scored as Frank Mullens tripled. Mullens pattered in as Ray Orteig followed with a single.
In the finale, Estes brought in a pair of runs in the seventh inning when he singled in Charley Mead and Al Kretchmar.
Clarkson socked a pair of triples and a homer to bring in four runs.
Plouf hit a two-run homer for the Tars in the fifth inning.
Ernie Kershaw picked up his first win as he took over when Alex Palica was pulled for a pinch hitter in the sixth.
First Game
Bremerton ..... 010 000 0—1 3 0
Vancouver .... 000 030 x—3 5 0
Kittle and Volpi; Jonas and Brenner.
Second Game
Bremerton ..... 330 020 010— 9 14 2
Vancouver .... 210 202 30x—10 12 3
Pintar, Medeghini (7) and Volpi; Palica, Kershaw (7) and Spurgeon.

VICTORIA, Aug. 22 - The Wenatchee Chiefs powered their way to a 14-5 victory over the Victoria Athletics in WIL baseball on Thursday night. It was their third straight win.
Doug Oliver was ahead 2-1 going into the fourth inning, then the Chiefs unloaded for five runs in that inning, four coming on Eddie Barr's grand slam. Wenatchee touched Oliver for six runs in the fifth before relief hurler John Carpenter could retire the side. Barr and Dick Adams each connected for doubles with the bases loaded to account for five of the tallies.
Doug Williams homered in the second for the first Wenatchee runs and Jim Warner dropped one over the centre field wall for their last two counters in the ninth.
Beans Marionetti capped Victoria's scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth.
Wenatchee .... 010 560 002—14 15 0
Victoria ......... 101 000 020— 4 8 0
Orphan and Pesut; Oliver, Carpenter (5) and Paulson.

First Game
Tacoma ....... 010 010 0—2 5 0
Salem .......... 002 000 1—3 8 0
Gerkin and Kemper; Porter and Kerr.
Second Game
Tacoma ....... 010 010 211—6 12 0
Salem .......... 000 020 000—2 5 1
Sostre and Kuper; Schubel and Kerr.

YAKIMA, Aug. 22—The Yakima Stars defeated the Spokane Indians for the second consecutive night tonight, 11-2, amidst a flurry of fisticufs and high tempers that culminated in a free-for-all fight behind the plate in the ninth inning.
In the ninth, Mike Sabena, called out on a third strike, protested to umpire Harris that the Stars' catcher, Hugh McConnell, was tipping his bat. Sabena swung, McConnell swung, and the remaining players on both sides joined in the battle.
After the game, base umpire Jack Rice said he was fining Yakima's first baseman Bill Garbe $10 and possibly more for egging on the fans into razzing the umpires. Eddie Gibb, the Stars' catcher, was ousted from the game in the sixth inning for using language which umpire Rice considered unbecoming.
Spokane ..... 101 000 000— 2 8 2
Yakima ....... 600 002 12x—11 12 2
Glane, Sandell (3), Raimondi (7) and Varrelman; Yaylian and Gibb, McConnell (7).
(stories unavailable)

Wednesday, August 21, 1946

2007-06-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

W L Pct GB
Wenatchee ..... 76 48 .613 —
Bremerton ..... 65 50 .565 6½
Salem ......... 67 53 .558 7
Tacoma ........ 67 55 .549 8
Yakima ........ 56 62 .475 17
Spokane ....... 50 61 .450 19½
Vancouver ..... 50 67 .427 22½
Victoria ...... 43 78 .355 31½

VANCOUVER, Aug. 21—In a tight pitchers battle, the Vancouver Capilanos continued their winning streak tonight, making it three straight with a 3-1 victory over the Bremerton Bluejackets in the Western International League.
The Caps got to Jim Lowman early with three runs in the first, thanks to mental lapses. With Reg Clarkson on second base, Jim Estrada bounced a ball down to Bill Reese at first, who threw wild to Lowman covering allowing Clarkson to whip across with the first run. Frank Mullens then singled to right and Estrada came in when right fielder Bill Barisoff threw the ball a few dozen feet wide trying to catch the runner at third. Mullens scored when Charley Mead popped a fly to deep left.
The Jackets got their run one inning later when Frank Plouf and Frank Volpi hit back-to-back singles off Bob Snyder to put runners at the corners and Frank Curtis lined a towering ball to Clarkson in centre to bring in Plouf.
- - -
VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, News-Herald, August 21]—Bob Snyder dusted off his won-loss record today, preparatory to putting it on public view. Bob’s been more or less keeping this valuable property under lock and key this season, but it should stand inspection from now on.
The lanky Capilano righthander edged Bremerton Bluejackets’ Jim Lowman 3-1 in a bright hurling duel at Cap Stadium last night to register his 11th win in as many losses. So every win from now on is gravy for the popular chucker.
Snyder should be mighty proud of his .500 average, because in early June, you wouldn’t have found many people who’d have bet he’d eventually reach that mark.
Bob came to the locals with a record of 21 wins in his last year in pro ball before joining the army in 1942. And for a month and a half, that record was the only proof Snyder had that he was a hurler. But in the middle of June, Bob started to roll, and he’s been gaining momentum ever since.
LOST TOUGH ONE
Last night’s win was the Capilanos’ third straight over Bremerton, was also the third in a row for the Reno righthander, and his fourth triumph in five starts. Last time out, Bob stopped Salem on five hits, and that one loss we mentioned was a tight 3-1 duel he dropped to Carl Gunnarson.
After the second inning last night, when the visitors scored their lone counter on singles by Frankie Plouf and Frank Volpi, and Fats Curtis’ long fly, Snyder didn’t allow a man to reach second base.
TWIN BILL TONIGHT
But Bob had to be at his best, because Lowman tossed nothing but goose-eggs at our boys after the first frame, when we got our trio on singles by Reg Clarkson and Frank Mullens, errors by Bill Reese and Bill Barisoff, and Charley Mead’s outfield fly. Lowman allowed just three safeties after that as the two clubs went the route in an hour and 25 minutes.
The folks will get a little longer run for their money tonight, with a doubleheader scheduled, starting at 7:30. Pete Jonas and Alex Palica have been nominated by Manager Bill Brenner to try and equal last week’s five-game winning streak.
Snyder improved his record to 11 and 11.
Bremerton ....... 010 000 000—1 8 3
Vancouver ...... 300 000 00x—3 5 2
Lowman and Volpi; Snyder and Brenner.

VICTORIA, Aug. 21—Dick Adams, Wenatchee first baseman, stole the spotlight at Athletic Park Wednesday night as he clouted three home runs to lead his teammates to a 9-5 win over the Victoria Athletics.
Adams now has 33 homers, four less than the league's round-trip king, Bill Barisoff of Bremerton.
The Chiefs started their scoring in the third when Eddie Barr lifted one out of the park with one on to give them a 2-0 lead. The A's got one back in their half of the inning on Bob Cherry's triple and Beans Marionetti's sacrifice fly.
Adams made it 3-1 with his first homer in the fourth, but the Athletics tied the game as Frank Cirimele doubled to centre to bring in two runs.
Wenatchee scored five times in the fifth, two on Adams' second round-tripper, to chase Tony Chapetta in his first start for the A's. Joe Blankenship came in to relieve and the only run he surrendered was Adams' third homer in the sixth.
Gene Babbitt was never in serious trouble as he improved his record to 16-6.
Wenatchee ...... 002 151 000—9 10 1
Victoria ........... 001 200 101—5 9 2
Babbitt and Fitzgerald; Chapetta, Blankenship (5) and Paulson.

Tacoma ..... 010 010 221—7 15 1
Salem ....... 000 100 001—2 7 3
Jungbluth and Kemper; Gunnarson and Kerr.

Spokane ..... 202 310 000— 8 13 3
Yakima ....... 040 140 01x—11 10 1
Sadlish, Cadinha (6) and Varrelman; McHugh, Strait (9) and Gibb.

(stories unavailable)