Tuesday 8 January 2008

Saturday, June 14, 1952

W L Pct. GB
Victoria .... 34 15 .693 —
Spokane ..... 33 22 .600 4
Vancouver ... 25 20 .556 7
Lewiston .... 25 27 .481 10½
Salem ....... 23 28 .451 12
Tri-City .... 24 30 .444 12½
Wenatchee ... 23 30 .434 13
Yakima ...... 20 35 .364 17


LEWISTON, Idaho, June 14 — The Yakima Bears made it two in a row over Lewiston Saturday, downing the Broncs 8-2 in a Western International League baseball slug-fest.
It was the only WIL game played Saturday in the rain-plagued Northwest.
Jerry Zuvela paced the Yakima hitters with a triple, a single and a fifth-inning home run with one man on base. The Bears' cause was helped by five Lewiston errors.
The Bears led off with two runs in the first inning. Charlie Malmberg singled and ran home when Zuvela tripled and Zuvela scored when Sal Taormina pounded out a single for the winning hit.
Lewiston countered in the third with two runs scored on two singles, a walk, a fielder's choice and two Yakima errors.
Taormina doubled in the fourth and scored on Dario Lodigiani's single for the winning run.
Tom Del Sarto gave up 8 hits in pitching the victory. Lewiston pitcher-manager Bill Brenner, who hurled the first six innings, was charged with the loss, his fourth against seven wins.
The two teams will wind up their four-game-series with a Sunday doubleheader.
Yakima ....... 200 121 101—8 12 2
Lewiston .... 002 000 000—2 8 5
Del Sarto and Donahue; Brenner, Powell (7) and Lundberg.

Victoria at Salem, postponed, rain.
Vancouver at Tri-City, postponed, rain.
Wenatchee at Spokane (2 games), postponed, rain.

UNDATED, June 14—Wenatchee catcher Walt Pocekay has taken over the Western International batting lead with a .357 average, Howe News Bureau statistics showed today.
Pocekay displaced Victoria's player-manager, Cecil Garriott, who was tied with Mel Wasley of Spokane for second place with a .353 mark.
Wasley continued to lead in runs batted in with 43, and Garriott led in runs scored with 48 and in doubles with 33.
Bill Andring, Yakima first baseman, who Thursday night was assigned to the parent San Francisco club of the Pacific Coast League, was third in hitting with .348. and had the most hits with 72.
Milt Smith of Lewiston took over the lead in the home run department with seven while Des Charouhas of Tri-City had the most triples with six.
Pocekay continued to lead in total bases with 100 while Vic Buccola of Tri-City was the stolen base leader with 14.
Cal McIrvin of Victoria was the leading pitcher with a 7-1 record. Victoria led the league in team batting with .284 average and Salem had the best team defense
with a .971 average.

ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor [from June 15, 1952]
Seven clubs can now quit worrying about which one is going to wind-up the dank, drafty cellar of the Western International League. Paul Fagan, who owns 75 per cent of the team, has sentenced Yakima to that position. The Bears were already writhing around down there when Fagan came along the other day with a blowtorch and welded their chains to the wall.
Fagan, whose knowledge of baseball seems to be bounded by Market and Geary Streets in San Francisco and a pineapple plantation in Hawaii, has recalled Yakima's only two better-than-.300 hitters. Fagan practically second guessed himself right out of the Coast League last year, and now he’s doing it to the up-valley Bears. Seems that San Francisco, another chattel of Fagan’s, is plunging into the nether depths of the PCL. So, he's called up two of Yakima’s too-few ball players to halt the slump.
Yakima fans are burning too. Fagan hasn’t even offered much in the way of replacement that couldn't be bettered right out of the local Junior Legion team. At the last count Yakima was skidding still further in their attendance figures. . .and unless Fagan is careful they might skid right out of the circuit.
JOTS AND DOTS. . .THIS AND THAT
The way Charlie Gassaway was serving up that ball Friday night he could still be doing some Coast League club a lot of good. . .of the four runs scored against him, two were the result of errors.
It was the front office boys doing the voting. . .not the managers. . .when the WIL nixed the plan to up the veteran limit by one last week. We personally contacted four pilots who left no doubt about their positive stand on the matter. Yet the vote was 6-2. Bob Brown of Vancouver, and the Victoria Tyees were all for the raise. . .both incidentally will now have to cut vets from their teams. . .all others were within the league limit. Vancouver has a big park to fill while Victoria needs plenty of fans to get off that financial hook they're on. But as one manager remarked, “Don't be too surprised if the decided to up the limit before the season is over.”
Salem’s Senators are said to be miffed at Tri-City because Manager Charlie Gassaway wouldn’t okay a base-circling race between the Solon’s Andy Anderson and the Brave’s John Kovenz. . .they figure their boy is the fastest in the league. Gassaway wouldn’t okay the race because he didn't want to chance an injury to Kovenz. . .good outfielders are pretty rare you know. At that Jess Williams of Vancouver looks to be fastest than either and probably the swiftest in the league. . .he scored from second Friday night on a dinky single into centerfield that made his effort look impossible when he started. . .but it wasn’t.
Bill Brenner had to explain twice to the customs officials on a recent Canadian trip. The first time came when the official asked Brenner if his team had any non-Americans. “Yep,” said Bill, “One Cuban.” As the team streamed through the gates the customs man spotted swarthy Connie Perez. Just to satisfy his curosity the asked, “Are you the Cuban?” He hardly had time to clear his words when Perez shot back, “Yep, San Diego.”

No comments: