Monday 14 January 2008

Monday, June 16, 1952

W L Pct GB
Victoria ..... 36 16 .693 —
Spokane ...... 34 24 .586 5
Vancouver .... 26 21 .553 7½
Lewiston ..... 26 28 .481 11
Tri-City ..... 26 31 .456 12½
Wenatchee .... 25 31 .446 13
Salem ........ 23 30 .434 13½
Yakima ....... 21 36 .345 17½


VICTORIA, June 16 — Victoria Tyees failed in a ninth-inning bid Monday night and dropped the opener of a three-game series to the Tri-City Braves, 6-5.
Trailing 6-1 entering the final frame, the Tyees got a break when the Tri-City shortstop booted twice in succession after pitcher Ralph Romero walked the opening batter.
Don Pries singled in two runs and Charlie Gassaway came on to pitch to Victoria manager Cece Garriott, who promptly singled in the third run of the inning.
A sacrifice moved Pries to third and Garriott to second and Pries scored to make it 6-5 as Granny Gladstone grounded out.
Garriott moved to third and was out at the plate on a close play as he tried to steal home before Gassaway made his first pitch to Bob Moniz.
Shortstop Don Lopes' homer in the top of the ninth off relief pitcher Bill Wisneski provided Tri-City winning margin.
Tri-City ...... 200 100 111—6 8 2
Victoria ...... 000 001 004—5 10 2
Romero, Gassaway (9) and Pesut; Gard, Wisneski (8) and Marcucci.

SPOKANE, June 16—Errors continued to plague the Spokane Indians Monday night as the Tribe bowed 6-1 to the Wenatchee Chiefs in a Western International League baseball game.
Capitalising on four Spokane bobbles for four hits, the Chiefs, lead by the effective five-hit pitching of Chuck Oubre, evened their four-game series with the Indians at 2-2.
Frank Chase allowed only one hit during the first six innings but collapsed in the seventh and eighth when five runs were scored on four hits.
The game made up Saturday's rained out contest.
Wenatchee ..... 010 000 320—6 5 1
Spokane ......... 000 000 003—5 4 4
Oubre and Robinette; Chase, Spring (9) and Sheets.
WP-Oubre. LP-Chase.

SALEM, June 16 — Seattle, which has won 13 out of its last 14 Pacific Coast League games, Monday night was defeated 3-1 by Salem which has lost its last six consecutive Western International League games.
Seattle's lone run in the exhibition game came in the fourth inning when K. Chorlton, who had bunted and advanced to third on Rocky Krsnich's single, scored on Clarence Maddern's hit to left field.
Connie Perez scored Salem's first inning run when he and two other Salem batsmen singled. Salem scored two more in the third.
Charlic Schanz, Seattle starter, struck out seven, walked one and igave up 12 hits. Sal DeGeorge walked two and struck out four.
Seattle was the second Coast League team in a week to taste defeat in the Class A Western International circuit. A week ago, the Yakima Bears reared up from the cellar to smack the San Francisco parent club, Seals, the Bears' 7-4 at Yakima.
Seattle (PCL) .... 000 100 000—1 6 0
Salem (WL) ...... 102 000 00x—3 12 0
Schanz and Christie; DeGeorge and Nelson.

Pocatello Nine Sells Ernie Schuerman
[Idaho State Journal, June 17, 1952]
Popular Ernie Schuerman, who started his fourth season of Pioneer Baseball league play this year, has been sold to Yakima of the Western International Class "A" league by the Pocatello Bannocks.
Business Manager Walt Mails, who made the announcement late Tuesday, said that the Bannocks really had no choice in the matter. "The St. Louis Browns sent infielder Russ Rosburg and we had to let one fielder go in order to balance our salary anf player limit," Mails added. Schuerman was owned by the Pocatello Baseball club.
The sale was completed late Monday evening between Mails and Dario Lodigiani, business and playing manager for Yakima. Yakima is partly owned by the Sail Francisco Seals.
Schuerman is an old figure in the Pioneer league. Ernie, who started his career an a fielder came to Pocatello in 1948. He was also a member of the great 1950 club and the 1951 Pocatello squad.

ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor [from June 16, 1952]
Latest prediction out of the Western International League sewing circle is that Bill Schuster won't last the season as Vancouver's manager. Big beef apparently is because the Capilanos aren't holding down first place, particularly in view of the hard hitting talent the Rooster has corraled. However, if he can stall the day of doom until Vancouver starts making up some of those rained out home games (there are nine of them) he may be able to salvage his job.
Bob Brown, owner of the Vancouver club, has been under considerable fire from Canadian sportswriters for the lack of fight his team has been showing. And of course that criticism has extended to Schuster. We hear the sportswriters there never step into the Capilano dressing room. Instead they get their questions answered either in the dugout, on the playing field, or outside the dressing room door.


Eric Whitehead’s
FANFARE
[Vancouver Province, June 17, 1952]
Seems as though young Arne Hallgren, our $????? bonus baby, knew where he was headed all along. As long ago as last December, when the shrewd young “newly-rich” was working behind a Woodward’s meat counter, Arne told this writer that his heart was with the Boston Braves, and that because of his high regard for Braves scout Bill Marshall that’s where he’d likely land come bonus-picking time.
No matter how much Hallgren actually got for his signature—and you can take your pick from ten to twenty thousand—he was still picked up at bargain-basement prices. Compared, that is, to past bonuses to many Yankee prodigies.
Chances are that if Hallgren had strutted his stuff in say California or Texas he’d have commanded at least double his actually selling price.
But now that Hallgren is part of the Boston chain system, what are his chances of moving up to HQ in Beantown or adjacent big league pastures?
The First Bonus Baby
Well let’s put it this way. The odds against his reaching the big time have dropped from 10,000 to one to about 100 to one. Some drop. But still some odds.
But if you care for a comment from a more qualified critic, here’s one from Edward A. Robertson of Angus drive, Vancouver:
“Hallgren has a very good chance to make it . . . as long as he sticks with it and refuses to be discouraged.”
Who is this pontificator? You know him better by his tag of “Sandy” Robertson, a lad who was this town’s number one all-round prodigy long before Hallgren tried on his first pair of long pants.
Sandy in fact was Vancouver’s first baseball “bonus baby” and the last until Hallgren came along. There was no mystery over Sandy’s bonus back in 1946. The Boston Red Sox paid Sandy $2000 cash and signed him to a triple-A contract. He went immediately to Louisville in the American Association.
In Carolina in the Morning
“That’s where Hallgren got his first big break,” said Robertson Monday, commenting on Arne’s shipment to the Class C Ventura club.
“In Class C ball, if he¨s as good as he figures to be, he’ll really look good. He’ll get confidence and he’ll make the all-important impression on the head office.”
“Up in Class B or better, he might play just as well but not look near so good in comparison.”
However, Robertson himself was an exception to prove that rule.
In ’46, Robertson was shipped right straight from local City League ball to Louisville. He landed there in mid-summer, with the team set and no chance of breaking in. He played out his brand new Triple A contract on the bench and was then sent to Durham of the Class A Carolina League.
This was still fast ball, several jumps up from the Vancouver amateur days. But if Hallgren looks as good in Class C as Robertson did that ’47 season in Class A, he’ll be on his way.
Ticket Back to Vancouver
Starting the ’47 season with Durham a month and half late, he posted a 17-9 win record. Plenty good enough to rate a pleased double-take from the Boston office.
But there were intangibles that didn’t show up in the averages, intangibles that were to halt Robertson’s career while it was still on the rise.
“I couldn’t get along with the heat,” recalls Sandy. “I went down from 173 to 150 pounds.”
Robertson was also eyeing five years university training to be a structural engineer and a potentially prosperous future back home.
Which is why he asked to be optioned to Vancouver, and why after reporting here he nixed a further Boston order to move to Lynn, Mass. That’s where the Caps’ Bob Brown moved in and bought Robertson’s contract from the Red Sox. And where Robertson made his choice between big league thrills and home town security.
And now starts the Hallgren Story . . . the saga of Vancouver Bonus Baby Number Two. But with ambitious Arne, it’ll be a simple story of ‘Big League or Bust.’ Good luck, kid.

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