[Victoria Colonist, April 13]
Victoria Tyees yesterday scored their third successive victory of their pre-season exhibition schedule by edging San Jose semi-pro team, 13-11, at Salinas.
The Tyees nipped Visalia of the California League, 8-7 on Friday and defeated the semi-pro Santa Cruz team on Thursday.
San Jose hit Gil Villarreul hard for seven runs in the first inning yesterday and added to their margin against Larry King, who took over Victoria mound duties in the second. Ben Lorino got credit for the victory, allowing but two runs over the final five innings while his mates steadily cut into the San Jose lead.
Dick Bartle, who shared first base duties with Chuck Abernathy, poled a 400-foot triple with two on for the longest blow of the game.
Abernathy hit a three-run homer Friday as the Tyees also came from behind for the victory. George Randolph picked up the win after Jim Propst was tagged for three runs in the first inning.
Tyees added to their roster yesterday by signing John Treece, infielder on the 1951 All-American semi-pro team. He is reported to be a long-ball hitter with a .350 average last season.
Tyees will meet Salinas Brownies again today and Fort Ord tomorrow, breaking camp on Tuesday for the move north.
Caps Gain Decision But Chiefs Unlucky
By BILL DUNFORD [Vancouver Province, April 12, 1952]
PENTICTON—One spring training victory, like one swallow, doesn’t make a summer.
But for the records, Vancouver Capilanos did make their initial starts in the Okanagan version of the grapefruit league a winning one. They topped the Wenatchee Chiefs, for chilly Good Friday 12-11.
The fact Caps came from behind in the seventh inning and were caught in the ninth and had to win on the strength of a ground-rule double that actually was caught, won’t mean a thing when the season starts.
But Ed Locke, who turned out to be the winning pitcher, is likely to mean something when his club hits Capilano Stadium.
DENTAL DELIGHT
Locke is the color of the inside of a coalbin during a blackout. But when he smiles, he snaps off s sharp curve, and fools the batter, there’s a flash of white that outdoes any toothpaste ad.
Locke gave up six hits in the four innings he worked. Starter Gerry Barta had been touched for seven runs in his last two innings but the Caps stormed on run ahead in the seventh thanks to four walks by the second Chiefs hurler, Mike Kanshin.
RULING HELPS
Locke also found himself tied at 11-all in the ninth. But thanks to a double that was caught but ruled okay—a rough deal on Wenatchee centrefielder Mike Budin, who dodged trees, kids and dogs near the fence to haul it down—he won out. Joe Scalise, whom the Caps bought from Flint, Mich., and who entered the game in the seventh, singled home the winner.
Wenatchee ....... 010 340 201—11 5 0
Vancouver ....... 106 000 401—12 9 2
Garrett, Kanshin (5) and Pocekay; Barta, Locke (6) and Wilburn.
IT BEATS ME
By Jim Tang [Victoria Colonist, April 13, 1952]
Writing about baseball with the rampant Cougars on the prowl may be the height of folly but after two weeks at Salinas with the Tyees, it does seem that a report of some sort is in order.
It is still a bit early to come to many definite conclusions about the eventual calibre of the team which it is hoped will restore the Victoria W.I.L. entry to financial stability this season and the author, with the over-optimism of six previous training camps in black and white in the files, has vowed to be more conservative.
The team that has worn Victoria flannels in the exhibition games is not the team that will be on hand when the season is a month old. Manager Cece Garriott, who keeps any opinions he may have as his own personal property, has been giving his rookies a chance to make the club and is not too concerned with the result of exhibition games and not too much stock should be put in losses to clubs which are on lower rating in the baseball world. It is necessary to find two rookies and six limited-service players and this was the object of the early training start.
At this writing, the infield is the only part of the club which appears set although two positions could be termed in doubt.
Luther Branham, the 28-year-old colored speedster who could become a prime favorite with fans, seems to have sewn up the second base job and the ever-hustling Don Pries is a fixture at third. Chuck Abernathy, the big redhead obtained from Vancouver in exchange for pitcher Jim Hedgecock, and Dick Bartle, with the club part of last season, are battling it out for the first-base berth and Granville Gladston is still listed as a shortstop candidate although Jimmie Clark is on hand.
At first base, the odds appear to be with Abernathy. He is a long-ball threat and swings from the first-base side, two items which the Tyees need. Abernathy batted .274 in 123 games with the Caps last season while Bartle hit .248 in 101 games at Victoria and Salem. Abernathy is rated better defensively but Bartle can not be counted out yet.
Clark or Gladstone
Only Garriott’s apparent determination to convert Granville Gladstone into an infield leaves the shortstop position in doubt. The colored outfielder, possessor of a strong arm and an aptitude for infield play, has looked good but Clark will only have to play up to last season’s form to hold his job. The little fellow hit .275 last season and was a defensive standout. It would certainly appear that the Tyees will be better off with Clark in the infield and Gladstone in the outfield, where there in no outstanding strength after you get past Garriott.
Garriott intends to play centre field, which takes care of that spot adequately. He will choose his other picketmen from Gladstone, Harvey Allen, a colored player who may have possibilities; Bob Moniz, who played for Garriott at Visalia last season, and Ernie Sites, a veteran who was signed as a free agent. In early games, neither Sites nor Moniz showd the type of hitting usually demanded from an outfielder but both have experience and can fill in at third base if an infield emergency should arise.
Milt Martin has the first-string catching job to himself at the moment and will do if he can improve his .256 batting average. However, Lilio Marcucci’s return would be welcome.
Pitching is doubtful at the moment with only Jim Propst and Ben Lorino, both in fine shape, as experienced workmen. Several of the rookies may do and it is expected that Portland will soon ship down two or there who could make the mound staff pass muster.
At the moment, the Tyees appear to need a solid fourth-place hitter and battery help. They have good speed and defensive ability and hustle. Three or four players in the right spot could make the club a contender.
Much depends on the strength of the league. With regulations limiting clubs to nine veterans, the clubs that make the first division will be the ones which have the best veterans or the ones who have been lucky enough to find the right kind of youngsters. But one thing is certain. This club will have hustle and there wont be many of those painful exhibitions of the past two seasons which almost killed the sport in one of the best baseball towns in the league. Speed and determination make baseball interesting and the Tyees have them. Maybe they can win, too.
By Jim Tang [Victoria Colonist, April 13, 1952]
Writing about baseball with the rampant Cougars on the prowl may be the height of folly but after two weeks at Salinas with the Tyees, it does seem that a report of some sort is in order.
It is still a bit early to come to many definite conclusions about the eventual calibre of the team which it is hoped will restore the Victoria W.I.L. entry to financial stability this season and the author, with the over-optimism of six previous training camps in black and white in the files, has vowed to be more conservative.
The team that has worn Victoria flannels in the exhibition games is not the team that will be on hand when the season is a month old. Manager Cece Garriott, who keeps any opinions he may have as his own personal property, has been giving his rookies a chance to make the club and is not too concerned with the result of exhibition games and not too much stock should be put in losses to clubs which are on lower rating in the baseball world. It is necessary to find two rookies and six limited-service players and this was the object of the early training start.
At this writing, the infield is the only part of the club which appears set although two positions could be termed in doubt.
Luther Branham, the 28-year-old colored speedster who could become a prime favorite with fans, seems to have sewn up the second base job and the ever-hustling Don Pries is a fixture at third. Chuck Abernathy, the big redhead obtained from Vancouver in exchange for pitcher Jim Hedgecock, and Dick Bartle, with the club part of last season, are battling it out for the first-base berth and Granville Gladston is still listed as a shortstop candidate although Jimmie Clark is on hand.
At first base, the odds appear to be with Abernathy. He is a long-ball threat and swings from the first-base side, two items which the Tyees need. Abernathy batted .274 in 123 games with the Caps last season while Bartle hit .248 in 101 games at Victoria and Salem. Abernathy is rated better defensively but Bartle can not be counted out yet.
Clark or Gladstone
Only Garriott’s apparent determination to convert Granville Gladstone into an infield leaves the shortstop position in doubt. The colored outfielder, possessor of a strong arm and an aptitude for infield play, has looked good but Clark will only have to play up to last season’s form to hold his job. The little fellow hit .275 last season and was a defensive standout. It would certainly appear that the Tyees will be better off with Clark in the infield and Gladstone in the outfield, where there in no outstanding strength after you get past Garriott.
Garriott intends to play centre field, which takes care of that spot adequately. He will choose his other picketmen from Gladstone, Harvey Allen, a colored player who may have possibilities; Bob Moniz, who played for Garriott at Visalia last season, and Ernie Sites, a veteran who was signed as a free agent. In early games, neither Sites nor Moniz showd the type of hitting usually demanded from an outfielder but both have experience and can fill in at third base if an infield emergency should arise.
Milt Martin has the first-string catching job to himself at the moment and will do if he can improve his .256 batting average. However, Lilio Marcucci’s return would be welcome.
Pitching is doubtful at the moment with only Jim Propst and Ben Lorino, both in fine shape, as experienced workmen. Several of the rookies may do and it is expected that Portland will soon ship down two or there who could make the mound staff pass muster.
At the moment, the Tyees appear to need a solid fourth-place hitter and battery help. They have good speed and defensive ability and hustle. Three or four players in the right spot could make the club a contender.
Much depends on the strength of the league. With regulations limiting clubs to nine veterans, the clubs that make the first division will be the ones which have the best veterans or the ones who have been lucky enough to find the right kind of youngsters. But one thing is certain. This club will have hustle and there wont be many of those painful exhibitions of the past two seasons which almost killed the sport in one of the best baseball towns in the league. Speed and determination make baseball interesting and the Tyees have them. Maybe they can win, too.
NON WIL MINOR LEAGUE NEWS
Still Waiting
VENTURA, Calif., April 12—An experiment to fly baseball results via racing pigeons appeared Friday night to have been a fowled up idea.
The plan was to send inning by inning details of an exhibition game between the Ventura and Fresno teams of the California League from Ontario, 100 miles away, to a radio station here.
The station hoped to compile the details for a re-created broadcast for Ventura fans, using the pigeons in lieu of Western Union's missing facilities.
But two hours before the broadcast, and five hours after the game began, only one bird had put in an appearance—and he bore tidings of the second inning.
What happened in the first, or the other seven innings, remained undetermined at that hour.
Anyhow, only two more of the birds put in belated appearances, one with the results of the first inning and the other with the fourth.
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