What's New For 1946 and 1947

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.