Monday, July 14, 1952

W L Pct. GB
Victoria .... 53 29 .646 —
Spokane ..... 47 39 .547 8
Vancouver ... 40 37 .513 10½
Salem ....... 39 44 .470 14
Lewiston .... 38 43 .469 14
Yakima ...... 40 46 .465 14½
Tri-City .... 38 46 .432 15½
Wenatchee ... 37 48 .435 17

VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, July 15]—Exactly two hours after he made his debut as the new Capilanos baseball manager, Edo Vanni stil had the same problem to settle as his predecessor, Bill Schuster.
The Caps lost their third straight to the steaming hot Victoria Tyees Monday, 3-0. It was Cal McIrvin’s second shutout of the series, Victoria’s third in four starts and hardly the way Edo would have like to break in as manager had he written the script himself.
“That guy was great,” Edo exclaimed, referring to McIrvin. “They tell me he goes back to Portland tomorrow. I sure hope so. You can’t squawk at losing to a pitcher like that, nor can you do very much about beating him.”
WERT PATHETIC
The Caps showed their same lack of punch in the clutch. Jim Wert, who swings their biggest “rbi” bat, was particularly pathetic with men on base. In the fourth there were men on second and third with one out and Jim managed only a weak tap to the mound.
If nothing else, the series was a huge financial success. There were another 3300 on hand last night and the series attendance for the four days and five games was 16,300.
“There will be no drastic changes in the lineup,” Vanni announced. “I put Duretto on third base tonight because I feel he’ll be better defensively and offensively than anyone else we have. When Ray Tran gets back, that’s a different story.
I won’t be playing Ed Locke in the outfield much more, if injuries allow me to rest him. Ed is a pitcher in my book. He needs his rest and he needs bullpen duty.
“Jim Moore, the young infielder, joins us in Spokane Tuesday. If he’s in shape, I might put him at third base and restore Duretto to the outfield and give Locke his rest.”
DIAMOND DUST—Van Fletcher was the losing pitcher, his seventh setback against nine losses … Van put together a string of 18 successive innings without a walk, then he gave up a free pass to Granny Gladstone in the eighth … Fletcher was also warned by umpire Mickey Hanich for throwing beanballs … Vanni has managed a ball club before, when he was in the Navy … He bossed a Seattle Naval Air Station club to 67 wins and two losses … Edo, incidentally, broke in with the Seattle Rainiers the same season as pitcher Freddie Hutchinson … Schuster, the deposed boss, will be in town until Thursday at least.
Victoria …….. 100 000 110—3 11 1
Vancouver … 000 000 000—0 7 0
McIrvin and Martin; Fletcher and Ritchey.

LONGVIEW, July 14 — The Longview Aborigines of the semi-pro Portland City League scored three runs in the last of the ninth Monday night to defeat the Tri-City Braves of the Western International League 6-5 in an exhibition game.
Four singles, an error and a walk provided Longview with the margin of victory. Toots Bailey's line single with two down drove in the tying and winning runs for the locals.
Tri-City ...... 202 010 000—5 5 2
Longview .... 000 100 203—6 12 3
Kostenbader, Brittain (4), Pesut (7), Marier (9) and Carr; LaRoy, Rector (4), Tooley (6), Signer (8) and Smith.

ONLY GAMES SCHEDULED

Bill Schuster Fired As Caps’ Manager,
Veteran Edo Vanni Named Pro-Tem Boss
Brown Dismisses Manager For Publicly Riding Club
By KEITH MATTHEWS
[Vancouver News-Herald, July 15, 1952]
Bill Schuster relinquished command of the Capilano Baseball Club Monday afternoon in a stormy session with general manager Bob Brown.
Schuster was handed his outright release as an outcome of the meeting and outfielder Edo Vanni became acting manager of the Capilanos.
Brown, in announcing the change, said Schuster had forced his hand by publicly announcing his lost hope for the team’s championship changes. “He gave the players an undeserved dressing-down for their performance,” Bob said. “If he’d done it privately, it might have been different. When he made it public knowledge, it put the players, the club and myself on the spot. I just couldn’t see the team playing heads-up, hustling nall for Bill any more. I had to make the change.”
BILL BITTER
Schuster was bitter when Brown called him to his office for a mid-afternoon meeting. What exactly went on between the two, neither faction would say, but Bob did indicate that Schuster was “sore.”
“I will meet with the directors shortly and we shall make some financial arrangement to pay off Bill,” Bob explained. “He will not be paid for the entire season. His contract doesn’t call for it. But we feel bound to pay him something extra because of the knee injured while playing for us.”
Actually, Schuster made three visits to the Stadium Monday. He was there in the morning for a meeting with Brown during which routine club problems were discussed.
Later,. After lunch, Brown called him back. This was when the firing took place.
BILL BIDS GOODBYES
Again during Vancouver’s batting practice, Schuster showed up. He said a few good-byes to fellow players, wishes his successor, Vanni, luck then left before the game even started.
“I still say this team can’t win with their present attitude,” Bill repeated.
“What am I going to do now? I don’t know, probably take the wife and kids to Buffalo, my birthplace. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a complete holiday together. I have no immediate ideas about another baseball job. This one isn’t yet completed.”
What Schuster referred to in his last statement was the salary which is still coming to him. It might be there will be a difference of opinion here, too, for Schuster maintains he should receive full reimbursement as long as his knee is sore.
EDO NOT SURPRISED
Vanni was hardly surprised to receive the news.
“I’m sorry it had to happen this way,” he said. “I’ve always wanted a job as a manager, but I’ve played alongside Bill. I like him. I hope he doesn’t feel I solicited his job. I’ll just go along and do the best I can.”
Brown, in his announcement, made it definite that Vanni’s was purely a pro-tem appointment.
“We haven’t made up our minds if he’s the one to fill the bill or whether it will be somebody else. It all happened too quickly. Edo will get every chance.”
BRENNER RUMORED
There was some rumor about Bill Brenner returning to the scene of his former triumphs. Brown quickly denied this.
Vanni is a 15-year veteran of Organized Baseball. He broke in as a high school boy wonder with the Seattle Rainiers in 1941. In his first season, he batted .311, then started an amazing string of championship years which has stayed with Vanni ever since. In 1939, ’40 and ’41, the Rainiers won three flags, then the little outfielder called ‘time’ on his activities to spend the next four years in the US Navy.

Eric Whitehead’s
FAN FARE
[Vancouver Province, July 13, 1952]
Before we go any further, there is no truth to the rumor that Bill Schuster has bought a half-interest in Murph Chamberlain’s dairy farm.
Time Marches On!
July 4, 1952: Sez we, pointing to the handwriting on the ball:”Are you content to string along the rest of the season with Schuster as manager?”
Sez Bob Brown earnestly: “No question, no question.”
July 14, 1952; Sez we, pointing to Edo Vanni:”Who dat man?”
Sez Bob Brown earnestly: “That’s our new manager.”No question, no question.
However, in all fairness to Bob Brown, he is not trying to out-shine Coley Hall. Agter all, Schuster is the first manager he has ever fired in 54 baseball years.
Wait for Me, Kewpie!
And in all fairness to Schuster, we might also say that here was a man who had everything it takes to make a great manager: spirit, hustle, daring, color and plenty of baseball savvy. Everything, that is, except the ability to mould those qualities into the one basic essence of good leadership: the ability to get the most out of his players.
Thus ends part two of an ill-fated twin experiment initiated in the winter of 1950-51, when two of the Coast League’s most flamboyant players, Schuster and ex team-mate Kewpie Barrett, were given their skipper’s papers in organized ball.
Barrett, you remember, went to Victoria and was practically chased out of town midway theough the ’51 season. Kewpie was fired and second-baseman Bob Spurgeon took over. And now, just about a year later, Schuster is fired and outfielder Edo Vanni takes over.
Both men suffered from a sort of ego virus: they just simply refused to be more business-like at the expense of being less “colorful.”
Our baseball seer Clancy Loranger tells us that Barrett, pudgy, aging, but still Barrett, applied this spring for a pitcher’s job with Bill Brenner’s Lewiston club, but was turned down. Kewpie, still dreaming of the past, wanted too much money.
But Schuster should be all right. Back home in Hollywood he’s a carpenter, and carpenters in Hollywood make almost as much as plumbers, who make almost as much as Louis B. Mayer, who makes.
Open Season on Managers
He is also in excellent company.
This has been a lethal year for managers, from the bottom up. Particularly up. So far in the majors, it’s (or rather “they’ve”) gone this way. Tommy Holmes was fired as boss of the Boston Braves, replaced by Charley Grimm; Rogers Hornsby of the Browns was fired and replaced by Marty Marion; the Phillies tossed Eddie Sawyer out on his ear and brought in Steve O’Neill; and Red Rolfe of Detroit bowed out to Fred Hutchinson.And in respect to this tumultuous situation on the international sports scene, you might note one rather startling phenomenon:In not on single