Victoria ..... 94 55 .631 —
Spokane ...... 91 64 .587 6
Vancouver .... 72 69 .511 18
Salem ........ 73 78 .483 22
Yakima ....... 71 79 .472 23½
Lewiston ..... 71 82 .464 25
Tri-City ..... 67 78 .462 25
Wenatchee .... 58 92 .387 36½
VICTORIA [Colonist, Sept. 14]—Victoria baseball fans gave the pennant-winning Tyees a fine send-off last night. A crowd of more than 2,200 turned out at Royal Athletic Park for “Player Appreciation Night” as the Tyees shared gifts from the club, fans, business firms and the Booster Club. Unfortunately, the Tyees failed to leave the right kind of memory.
Minus regulars Cec Garriott, Granny Gladstone and Jim Clark, the W.I.L. champions looked anything but as they blew a 4-0 decision to the Spokane Indians. They could only manage three hits off three Spokane pitchers, each working three innings, and they were charged with seven errors, their worst defensive display of the season. Missing was the dash and hustle which carried them to the top and kept them there.
It was different in the afternoon, when about 1,000 paying customers saw the Tyees take a 3-2 decision in a 10-inning game playing in an hour and 27 minutes to assure themselves of a series split and a 13-9 margin over the second-place Indians for the season.
The split left the Tyees six games ahead of Spokane, six places and 30 games ahead of the dismal showing of 1951 Athletics.
A comparison of 192 and 1951 standings shows that Spokane, Vancouver and Salem retained their first-division status. The Tyees replaced the Wenatchee Chiefs, who slumped from fourth to last, in the top four.
With players of both clubs invariably going for the first good pitch, the afternoon game moved along at the fastest pace of the season as Carl Gunnarson and Dick Bishop hooked up in an interesting mound battle.
BIG PUZZLE
The Tyees twice took one-run leads but the Indians tied it in their next turn both times. Bishop finally lost it because regular third-baseman Sam Kanelos was given a rest and his replacement, Pat Simmons, found the hot corner a bit of a puzzle.
Simmons, who had previously made two errors, played Lu Branham’s high hopper into a hit to put the first Tyee on the bags in the 10th. Bob Moniz sacrificed and Branham raced all the way to third when Simmons left the bag uncovered. Don Pries broke it up by blooping a single over a drawn-in infield.
Jehosie Heard went after his 21st win under the lights and wound up with his 12th setback.
The Indians won it in the first inning, when singles by Sam Kanelos and Bill Sheets around a walk to George Huffman plated their only earned run. An outfield error gave them a second run in the same inning and they added two more in the sixth, when three errors followed a lead-off single. Heard contributed the first, and crucial, boot.
John Marshall pitched the first three for Spokane and had almost a gay time before manager Don Osborn sent him packing, evidently not at all pleased with the clowning. Jack Spring and Gordon Palm divided the other six innings. The victory went to Spring because of the rule which states that the starting pitcher must work five innings to be credited with a win.
First Game
Spokane .... 001 001 000 0—2 8 2
Victoria ..... 010 010 000 1—3 11 1
Bishop and Sheets; Gunnarson and R. Bottler.
Second Game
Spokane .... 200 002 000—4 5 2
Victoria ..... 000 000 000—0 3 7
Marshall, Spring (4), Palm (7) and Sheets, Hinz; Heard, B. Bottler (9) and R. Bottler.
VANCOUVER [Dick Beddoes, Sun, Sept. 15]—Vancouver Caps Saturday finished the Western International League season largely as they began it—on a losing note.
They were beaten 9-6 by Wenatchee Chiefs when the schedule opened last April, and were dumped 4-1 and 10-0 by Lewiston Broncs in Saturday’s finale.
Between April and September they won oftener than they lost—72 to 69—but that record was a shabby one for a team which Cap officials touted as “the best in Vancouver history” in the spring. Caps again led the WIL in attendance, if it’s any consolation (and it is). When final figures are in, general manager Bob Brown expects the total to nudge 125,000. It might have been as high as 150,000, he claims, if 10 rained-out games had been played.
Ritchey Makes Strong Bid
Saturday’s skirmishing meant little to anyone, except Johnny Ritchey, who was bidding for his second straight WIL batting title.
His bid was a strong one on [unreadable]unting to three-for-six of the doubleheader. Final averages won’t be available for a week, but Ritchey’s bulge, if any, over Wenatchee’s Walt Pocekay, will be slight.
It meant something, too, to Lewiston manager Bill Brenner. He pitched the last seven innings of the night game, gaining credit for his 21st win. No other righthander in the league won that many games.
FROM OUR TOWER—Veteran Ray Tran drew his outright release before the Caps closed shop last Saturday … Ed Locke and Jesse Williams plan to play winter ball in Santo Domingo.
[NOTE.. There was no “all position” stunt in either of the last two games. Duretto played left field in both and Brenner didn’t appear in the first game.]
First Game
Lewiston ...... 100 030 000—4 9 0
Vancouver ... 100 000 000—1 6 1
De George and Lundberg; Locke, Lovrich (2) and Leavitt.
Second Game
Lewiston ...... 016 200 100—10 17 0
Vancouver ... 000 000 000—0 6 1
Schulte, Brenner (3) and Lundberg; Fletcher, Aubertin (3), Locke (5) and Leavitt.
YAKIMA, Sept. 13—Yakima laced the hapless Wenatchee Chiefs 6-1 in a Western International League base ball game Saturday night, piling up the wide margin despite getting only one more hit than the Chiefs.
Wenatchee got its lone run in the first inning when Ross McCormack singled and Walt Pocekay, the league's leading hitter, tripled.
Pocekay got a triple and a double in three at bats.
Wenatchee .... 100 000 000—1 7 1
Yakima .......... 121 000 11x—6 8 1
Stites, Dasso (5) and Robinet; Shandor and Donahue.
KENNEWICK [Tri-City Herald, Sept. 14]—The Tri-City Braves split a doubleheader with Salem Saturday night. They won the first game 6-3 and lost the second, 6-2.
The second game loss dropped the Braves to seventh place after they had enjoyed an overnight stand in sixth. The Braves had moved to sixth place Friday night by defeating Salem in the series opener.
The loss also ended any chance of tying for fourth place position. Lewiston pumped ahead of Tri-City by one-half same when they defeated Vancouver twice Saturday night.
If the Braves win today they can take sixth by two percentage points.
First Game
A triple by John Kovenz and a homer by Des Charouhas in the fifth inning gave the Braves the victory in the first game against Salem Saturday night.
Salem was leading 3-1 when the Braves came up to bat. Glen Lewis then drew a base on balls. Vic Buccola got his second hit of the evening to send Lewis to second. Satalich's sacrifice advanced the runners.
Lewis scored when Don Lopes grounded out. Ray Hamrick was hit by a pitched ball to again put two men on. Then Kovenz hit boomed a triple out to left-centre field to score both runners.
The clincher runs came when Charouhas hit his homer scoring Kovenz. Although Charouhas leads the league in triples wilh 15, it was his first home run ol the season.
Salem had started the scoring in the second inning with Jim Deyo doubling and Ray MeNulty also getting a double to score him.
In the third they added one when Hugh Luby walked, was sent to third on Connie Perez' single and scored when Art Thrasher hit into a double play.
Their other run came in the fifth. Luby doubled and came home when Perez tripled.
It was the ninth win for pitcher Ad Satalich.
Second Game
In the second game Salem jumped into an early lead and never was headed as they coasted to a 6-2 victory behind the five-hit pitching of Bud Francis.
The lead was threatened once and then a Brooklyn-like play pulled him out of the hole.
Salem had a 2-0 lead going into the last of the fourth when Don Lopes singled for the Braves' first hit. Ray Hamrick then tripled down the right field line scoring Lopes. Kovenz was out and Charouhas walked.
Marier attempted a squeeze bunt but Hamrick did not break for home. Marier was thrown out at first and on the return throw Hamrick was trapped. He eventually beat the ball back to third only to find Charouhas there ahead of him. Hamrick was ruled safe but Charouhas was tagged for the final out.
Salem moved up 3-1 in the fifth, had the margin cut to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth and then salted the game away with two runs in the seventh and one in the ninth.
Bob Greenwood went the route for the Braves and gave up 11 hits walked six and struck out four. It was his 10th loss, to go with 16 victories.
First Game
Salem ...... 011 010 0 3 8 0
Tri-City .... 001 050 x 6 6 0
Collins, Edmunds (5) and Nelson; Satalich and Lewis.
Second Game
Salem ...... 001 110 201 6 11 1
Tri-City .... 000 101 000 2 5 1
Francis and Nelson; Greenwood and Pesut.
Walt Pocekay, Wenatchee, with a .352 average, again is the leading batter in the Western International League, according to statistics compiled by Howe News Bureau.
Pocekay also continues to lead in hits with 193, in total bases with 268 and in doubles with 44.
Other departmental leaders also held their positions. They are: Milt Smith, Lewiston, 123 runs; Des Charouhas, Tri-City, 14 triples; Cecil Garriott, Victoria, 17 home runs; Grannie Gladstone, also of Victoria, 120 runs batted in, and Ed Murphy, Spokane, 45 stolen bases.
Ben Lorino, Victoria, the league's leading pitcher, received credit for two more victories during the week to give him a record of 24 wins and only six losses.
TEAM BATTING
G AB R OR H TB 2b 3b HR SH SB BB SO Pct.
Victoria
143 4833 803 699 1347 1821 256 31 52 92 131 754 635 .279
Lewiston
147 4952 802 822 1367 1900 232 38 75 81 92 713 636 .276
Spokane
149 4877 752 625 1328 1688 184 49 26 127 136 646 722 .272
Vancouver
137 4571 700 604 1244 1621 178 62 25 96 95 668 487 .272
Yakima
145 4828 752 774 1281 1734 213 57 42 112 118 748 740 .265
Salem
146 4781 620 626 1230 1624 206 58 24 75 96 632 669 .257
Tri-City
141 4684 655 715 1166 1523 173 44 32 105 123 755 778 .249
Wenatchee
145 4778 622 841 1178 1489 187 35 18 71 65 598 647 .247
TEAM FIELDING
W L T DP TP PB PO A E Pct.
Salem ....... 70 75 0 161 0 17 374? 1721 168 .970
Vancouver ... 70 66 1 147 0 15 3543 1560 189 .964
Tri-City .... 62 77 2 112 1 19 3659 1398 201 .962
Victoria .... 90 52 1 126 0 18 3748 1504 213 .961
Yakima ...... 69 76 0 145 0 23 3755 1624 227 .960
Spokane ..... 88 61 0 158 0 11 3824 1658 233 .959
Lewiston .... 68 79 0 117 0 40 3748 1579 255 .954
Wenatchee ... 57 88 0 105 0 19 3697 1451 252 .953
Club Sale Pledges Grow
More Than $10,000 Pledged
[Tri-City Herald, Sept. 14, 1952]
The Buy-the-Braves Movement leaped ahead during the last of the week and sponsors of the drive said, about $10,000 is known to be pledged.
The figure does not include all the amounts pledged since no effort has been made so far to call the sheets in.
The move is sponsored by the Tri-City Athletic Association. They hope to get enough money pledged to show the directors of the Western International League that the people of the area will buy the baseball club. The Association directors will meet with the League at Seattle, September 26.
No definite figure has been set but it is believed that about $60,000 will be needed to buy the club and provide necessary operating capital.
If the drive nets that amount it will be possible to not only buy stock held by the present owners but will also pay for obligations that must be assumed if the
minimum cash amount is obtained.
Connoll, the smallest of the four cities seeking pledges to buy the club, is way out in front on a per capita basis.
Harold Matheson, president of the Athletic Association, said Steve Johnson of Connell has received pledges totaling $4,000, But since Matheson talked to Johnson, it has been reported that the amount collected there is considerably higher.
In Kennewick, no move has been made to collect the pledge sheets but reports put the amount there at well over $2,000.
Richland, which kicked off with an initial $1,700 has added another $2,800 bringing their total up to $4,500.
In Pasco, the first pledge sheet turned in contained more than $1,000. Amounts varied from the minimum price per share of $50 up to $500.
[list of names not re-posted]
Tyees Hurry to Get Home; All Would Like To Return
[Victoria Colonist, Sept. 14, 1952]
It’s been a long W.I.L. season and Victoria’s championship Tyees are wasting no time in getting started for home, although they agreed to a man they enjoyed playing here and would not mind another season if they don’t get a chance to move up the baseball ladder.
By Tuesday only Don Pries, who left last night with Bill Prior on an up-Island trip in search of some big salmon, will be left on Vancouver Island. A few of the more-leisurely type will stay as long as ’48 hours after the season.
On their way to join the Portland Beavers for the last week of the Coast League season are southpaws Jehosie Heard and Ben Lorino and outfielder Bob Moniz. Teammate Granny Gladstone preceded them last week but it is doubtful if they will see too much action. The Beavers are in a tough struggle for fourth place and may only rely on their regulars.
OFF TO CARACAS
Heard will leave immediately for Caracas after the Coast League season ends to pitch winter ball in the Venezuelan League. He may be joined later by Lorino and Lu Branham, both contemplating the trip. Lorino, however, will head for his North Hollywood home as soon as possible and may yet be on the spot when he becomes a father for the first time. Branham goes straight to his Los Angeles home, leaving Tuesday with Bill Wisneski and Chuck Abernathy. The little colored speedster is also considering a job and winter baseball in the Los Angeles area.
Abernathy has nothing definite planned for the off-season. “I’m just going to play the horses,” he said when asked. Wisneski, who resides in Bel, Cal., has nothing definite planned but hopes to get a winter job helping in playground activities.
BACK TO SCHOOL
It’s back to school for Ron and Bill Bottler, Dwane Helbig and LeRoy Han, all planning to major in physical education. Helbig will spend some time at his Portland home before going back to Oregon State College. Bill Bottler will continue his studies at Portland Univesity so he can stay at home but brother Ron with return to the University of Oregon. Han, who finished his senior high school season just before reporting to Victoria, will enroll at Clark Junior College in his home town of Vancouver, Wash.
Milt Martin leaves today for his home in Vancouver, Wash. He places to take a week or more off to “catch some of those big salmon in the Columbia River” before going to work for an oil company.
Pries will leave for his Alameda home later this week. He may again play winter baseball and is undecided whether to work for a beverage company or take employed at Golden Gate race track.
CAR SALESMAN
Manager Cec Garriott leaves by plane with his family for his home in Gardena. He plans to got back to work as a car salesman for the winter, will probably be back next season if Victoria still has a club and if he doesn’t get a chance to move up the managerial pole. The latter, off his fine work this season, must be said to be a definite possibility.
Moniz will probably play winter baseball in Oakland, is undecided about winter employment.
John Treece leaves today for Salinas, where he will work until Christmas. The Treece family will then take up residency in Seattle, where Treece will be employed as a pattern-maker for an automobile company.
HELPS VANCOUVER
Carl Gunnarson and Bill Prior won’t be far away. Prior will soon be back as a pressman at the Queen’s Printers, while Gunnarson will be a frequent Victoria visitors this winter. The veteran has been appointed trainer for the Vancouver Canucks and will be applying the liniment instead of receiving it. He doesn’t know about next season. “This is a young man’s game,” he said last night but one would need healthy odds to bet that he won’t be wheeling that baseball up to the plate next season.
Business manager Reg Patterson will probably spend the winter figuring out how to pay the club’s bills.
It Beats Me
By Jim Tang
[Victoria Colonist, Sept. 14, 1952]
You can’t judge a team, particularly a team like the Victoria Tyees, by the players it takes to its spring training camp.
The Tyees started training at Salinas in late March. On April 2, they had 25 players in camp. Only eight were left when it clinched its first pennant last Monday. What happened to the others? Let’s start at the beginning and review the building of a championship team.
On April 2 the Victoria players included the following: Catchers Milt Martin, Joe Yanchuk and Maisoe Bryant; pitchers Ignacio Villareull, George Randolph, Don Troy, Ben Lorino, Jim Propst, John Valerie, Bill Wisneski and Larry King; infielders Don Pries, Lu Branham, Cliff Prelow, Dick Bartle and Bill Barron; outfielders Cec Garriott, Bob Moniz, Rufus Johnson, Harvey Allen, Ernie Sites, George Dargel and Granny Gladstone and unknown quantities Walter Towns and John Healy, willing to try any position.
Villareull, Troy, Bryant, Prelow, Johnson, Barron, Dargel, Healy, Yanchuk and King didn’t get out of Salinas with the Tyees. Bartle was told to Salem where he was a good season; Randolph, Allen, Sites and Valerie were released after the season opened and Jim Propst went home with a sore arm after being sold to Salt Lake City conditionally and returned.
Martin, Pries, Lorino, Moniz, Gladstone, Branham, Wisneski, Towns and Garriott stayed with the club, although Wisneski saw his last action on July 18, and Towns, who left last month to join the armed forces, never broke into a box score after July 8.
Picked from 43
Since April 2, the Tyees have had 18 other players and the present roster was selected from a total of 43 players.
The club began to take shape gradually. First-baseman Chuck Abernathy and catcher John Wilburn were obtained from Vancouver in exchange for pitcher Jim Hedgecock, who never reported. Wilburn didn’t stick around long but Abernathy, although bothered with injuries throughout the season, made a valuable contribution.
At about the same time, the club made the deal which probably helped the most of all. It came to terms with shortstop Jim Clark and received special permission from the National Association to sign him. Permission was needed because Clark was given his release at the end of the 1951 season and never went through the baseball draft.
Just before the club broke camp, it signed John Treece, a Salinas resident, to round out the infield. Portland Beavers sent along southpaw Jehosie Heard and catcher Lilio Marcucci in time for the opener, Cal McIrvin in time to pitch his first game on May 3.
Southpaw Eric Gard was signed on and chipped in with four straight route-going pitching jobs before he slumped and was released. Outfielders Bernie Anderson and Dane Pettit got a chance and were released. The same thing happened to pitchers Joe Rajeski and Len Chenard.
When Portland recalled McIrvin, the Tyees moved to plug the gap by signing righthander Bill Prior and purchasing Carl Gunnarson, veteran lefty, from Vancouver Capilanos. Marcucci was released in mid-season and replaced by Ron Bottler, 18-year-old college rookie. Along with him came brother Bill, a righthander, Dwane Helbig and, a little later, LeRoy Han, another youngster, fresh out of high school.
With the club today are: Martin, Ron Bottler, Abernathy, Branham, Clark, Pries, Treece, Garriott, Moniz, Helbig, Lorino, Heard, Gunnarson, Prior, Bill Bottler and Wisneski. Gladstone left to support Portland early last week.
One Never Knows
That’s quite a change from April 2 but just as hard to judge in training camp as the final make-up of a team is what to expect from that make-up. There are bound to be surprises—pleasant and disappointing.
Who could tell that Jim Propst, expected to be the mound leader and sought by almost every club in the W.I.L., and several other leagues, would win two games? Or that Lilio Marcucci would turn out to be a rather disinterested player, only a shadow of the catcher who started so well the previous season?
On other other hand, no one looking at past record could figure that Ben Lorino would lead the league in pitching 25 wins. Or that Bob Moniz would consistently hit around .333 and wind up at .330. There was no pre-season line on Heard, who won 20.
Looking back is always interesting and I couldn’t resist the urge to see what I had written about the club last April. This was the year I had determined to be more subdued—the lessons of three previous training-camp trips still fresh—but it didn’t quite last. The say the season opened my enthusiasm got a bit out of control: “Don’t sell the Tyees short,” I wrote. “The outfit assembled by manager Cec Garriott at Salinas definitely has possibilities. The addition of two or three of the right kind of players in the right spots could put it up among the leaders or, maybe, at the top.”
Yep, it sounds good now. But it wouldn’t sound too bad if we had finished with Lewiston, either. I guess I’m learning.
The Tyees started training at Salinas in late March. On April 2, they had 25 players in camp. Only eight were left when it clinched its first pennant last Monday. What happened to the others? Let’s start at the beginning and review the building of a championship team.
On April 2 the Victoria players included the following: Catchers Milt Martin, Joe Yanchuk and Maisoe Bryant; pitchers Ignacio Villareull, George Randolph, Don Troy, Ben Lorino, Jim Propst, John Valerie, Bill Wisneski and Larry King; infielders Don Pries, Lu Branham, Cliff Prelow, Dick Bartle and Bill Barron; outfielders Cec Garriott, Bob Moniz, Rufus Johnson, Harvey Allen, Ernie Sites, George Dargel and Granny Gladstone and unknown quantities Walter Towns and John Healy, willing to try any position.
Villareull, Troy, Bryant, Prelow, Johnson, Barron, Dargel, Healy, Yanchuk and King didn’t get out of Salinas with the Tyees. Bartle was told to Salem where he was a good season; Randolph, Allen, Sites and Valerie were released after the season opened and Jim Propst went home with a sore arm after being sold to Salt Lake City conditionally and returned.
Martin, Pries, Lorino, Moniz, Gladstone, Branham, Wisneski, Towns and Garriott stayed with the club, although Wisneski saw his last action on July 18, and Towns, who left last month to join the armed forces, never broke into a box score after July 8.
Picked from 43
Since April 2, the Tyees have had 18 other players and the present roster was selected from a total of 43 players.
The club began to take shape gradually. First-baseman Chuck Abernathy and catcher John Wilburn were obtained from Vancouver in exchange for pitcher Jim Hedgecock, who never reported. Wilburn didn’t stick around long but Abernathy, although bothered with injuries throughout the season, made a valuable contribution.
At about the same time, the club made the deal which probably helped the most of all. It came to terms with shortstop Jim Clark and received special permission from the National Association to sign him. Permission was needed because Clark was given his release at the end of the 1951 season and never went through the baseball draft.
Just before the club broke camp, it signed John Treece, a Salinas resident, to round out the infield. Portland Beavers sent along southpaw Jehosie Heard and catcher Lilio Marcucci in time for the opener, Cal McIrvin in time to pitch his first game on May 3.
Southpaw Eric Gard was signed on and chipped in with four straight route-going pitching jobs before he slumped and was released. Outfielders Bernie Anderson and Dane Pettit got a chance and were released. The same thing happened to pitchers Joe Rajeski and Len Chenard.
When Portland recalled McIrvin, the Tyees moved to plug the gap by signing righthander Bill Prior and purchasing Carl Gunnarson, veteran lefty, from Vancouver Capilanos. Marcucci was released in mid-season and replaced by Ron Bottler, 18-year-old college rookie. Along with him came brother Bill, a righthander, Dwane Helbig and, a little later, LeRoy Han, another youngster, fresh out of high school.
With the club today are: Martin, Ron Bottler, Abernathy, Branham, Clark, Pries, Treece, Garriott, Moniz, Helbig, Lorino, Heard, Gunnarson, Prior, Bill Bottler and Wisneski. Gladstone left to support Portland early last week.
One Never Knows
That’s quite a change from April 2 but just as hard to judge in training camp as the final make-up of a team is what to expect from that make-up. There are bound to be surprises—pleasant and disappointing.
Who could tell that Jim Propst, expected to be the mound leader and sought by almost every club in the W.I.L., and several other leagues, would win two games? Or that Lilio Marcucci would turn out to be a rather disinterested player, only a shadow of the catcher who started so well the previous season?
On other other hand, no one looking at past record could figure that Ben Lorino would lead the league in pitching 25 wins. Or that Bob Moniz would consistently hit around .333 and wind up at .330. There was no pre-season line on Heard, who won 20.
Looking back is always interesting and I couldn’t resist the urge to see what I had written about the club last April. This was the year I had determined to be more subdued—the lessons of three previous training-camp trips still fresh—but it didn’t quite last. The say the season opened my enthusiasm got a bit out of control: “Don’t sell the Tyees short,” I wrote. “The outfit assembled by manager Cec Garriott at Salinas definitely has possibilities. The addition of two or three of the right kind of players in the right spots could put it up among the leaders or, maybe, at the top.”
Yep, it sounds good now. But it wouldn’t sound too bad if we had finished with Lewiston, either. I guess I’m learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment