Tuesday, August 12, 1952

W L Pct. GB
Victoria .... 76 38 .667 —
Spokane ..... 66 51 .564 11½
Vancouver ... 57 51 .528 16
Salem ....... 54 59 .478 21½
Lewiston .... 54 61 .470 22½
Yakima ...... 53 63 .457 24
Tri-City .... 49 64 .434 26½
Wenatchee ... 46 68 .411 31

VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, Aug. 13]—When a ball player isn’t hitting, they say he’s not much good for anything. However, Jim Wert, sort of disproved the theory Tuesday at Cap Stadium when his one defensive gem saved a 2-0 victory for the Capilanos.
Wert has been having trouble in spades with his bat. For him this has been a year he would just as soon forget. A .330 hitter with 115 rbi’s in Spokane last season, Jim stands at .275 and 61 rbi’s with the Caps right now, and neither figure is impressive.
But Jim hasn’t let down in the field. There was a situation in the seventh inning last night which threatened the Caps 2-0 lead dangerously.
The Tyees had the bases loaded with only one out and cleanup hitter Granny Gladstone at the plate. Ed Locke had been called in from the bullpen to relieve a tiring Bud Guldborg and the first two pitches Ed tossed were balls.
Then he came through the middle with a fastball. Gladstone swung and hit a grounder right at shortstop Jesse Williams. It had double play written all over it as Jesse flipped to Len Tran for one. Then Tran wheeled and threw to first, and 2100 fans gasped. His throw was low, and into the dirt, One run was already across, and another rounding third on the way.
Wert reached way out and down, dug his gloved hand out of the dirt and came up with half a pound of gravel—and the ball. That one play, more than any other, saved the Caps and a great 2-0 victory.
The two runs had come in the sixth inning after Guldborg and Bill Bottler had duelled impressively all the way. Bottler allowed Edo Vanni to reach third and Williams second, and it was the closest the Caps had come to scoring all night.
Along came Gordie Brunswick and he smoked a double down the left field line and it was good for both runs. It only remained for Wert’s one great play and a touch of classy relief pitching by Locke to preserve that win.
DIAMOND DUST—The win was Guldborg’s 13th … Tom Lovrich, the sensational collegian, goes tonight against the Tyees while Cece Garriott counters with his ace, Jehosi Heard … Carl Gunnarson pitches for Victoria Thursday. Len Tran kept pace with Brunswick and hitting streak with a perfect two-for-two night.
Victoria ..... 000 000 000—0 8 3
Vancouver .... 000 002 00x—2 5 1
Bottler, Prior (7) and Martin; Guldborg, Locke (7) and Ritchey.

LEWISTON, Idaho, Aug. 12 — Spokane pitcher John Conant brought his total wins to a baker's dozen Tuesday night, pitching four-hit ball as the Indians downed Lewiston 3-1 in Western International League baseball.
The Broncs took the lead in the first inning with one run on two singles and two errors, their only run of the game.
Spokane ...... 000 110 001—3 7 3
Lewiston ..... 100 000 000—1 4 1
Conant and Sheets; Nicholas and Lundberg.

YAKIMA, Aug. 12 — The Yakima Bears cashed in on the wildness of starting pitcher Ted Collins Tuesday night to defeat Salem's Senators 6-5 in the first game of a Western International League baseball series.
Collins, who shut out the Bears on his last appearance here, walked ten men in five innings on the mound, and set the stage for five Yakima runs.
Salem whittled at the lead but the Bears scored what proved to be the winning run in the eighth on a pair of singles and a sacrifice.
Salem ...... 000 020 102—5 11 1
Yakima ..... 203 000 01x—6 10 1
Collins, Edmunds (5), Rick (8) and Nelson; Savage and Donahue.

WENATCHEE, August 12 — The Wenatchee Chiefs, wallowing deep in the Western International League cellar, outlasted Tri-City 10-6 in a slugfest opening a three-game baseball series here Tuesday night.
Led by catcher Walt Pocekay, who had three singles and a double in five trips, the Chiefs tagged Brave hurler Ralph Romero for 17 base hits.
But the Braves racked up 15 hits off Wenatchee's Dave Dahle, who earned his 14th victory of the season.
The Chiefs had two big innings.
In the fifth, they scored four times on consecutive singles by Ben Guerrero, Lyle Palmer, Pocekay, Bud Jones, Dick Adams and Laurie Monroe.
The Braves tied the game with single runs in the fifth and eighth innings but the Chiefs put it beyond reach with another four run splurge in the bottom of the eighth.
Tri-City ......... 110 021 010— 8 15 1
Wenatchee .... 200 040 04x—10 17 3
Romero and Pesut; Dahle and Pocekay.

Chiefs' Fans Aid Club
WENATCHEE, Aug. 12 — Baseball fans chipped in $2,800 Monday night in opening a drive to save the Wenatchee club from a financial strikeout. The cash is to meet the Friday payroll.
The fans were told $40,000 will be needed to assure Wenatchee's team in the Western International League in 1953.
Mayor Art Pohlman, who also is club president, described the Wenatchee Chiefs as just about as low financially as in the WIL standings — where they are in last place, 30 games off the leader's pact.
$14,000 In Debt
He said the baseball corporation is $14,000 in debt. Manager Dick Adams said it will take $40,000 to clear the club's debts and handle the signing of the class A league caliber of players for 1953.
Pohlman said all debts will have to be paid by the first of the year or the club will be out of business in this city of 14,000.
About 200 fans attended the open meeting with the stockholders. After expressing support of the baseball team, they filed up to drop $2,000 into the kitty. Most of them took preferred stock for their cash.
Not First Time
In addition, a $1-a-year club was started. Fans will get membership by payment of a dollar yearly.
Contributors came from many walks of life. A garage mechanic chipped in $100. A grandmother joined the $1 club for herself and four children.
The average attendance at Wenatchee games has been around 600.
It isn't the first time Wenatchee has been plagued by baseball finance headaches. Its WIL franchise was lost to Tri-Cities in 1949. Fans raised $39,600 in 1950, at a time when apple market conditions were poor, to pick up the Bremerton franchise and re-enter the league.

Richards Trial Date Is Set
[Tri-City Herald, Aug. 12, 1952]
Dick Richards, general manager of the Tri-City Braves, will face third degree assault charges August 22 in the justice of the peace court of C. T. Morbeck in Kennewick.
The charges were filed by Laury Monroe, Wenatchee ball-player, after he and Richards got in a fight over some pauet in Richard's office.
The trial date is the day the Wenatchee Chiefs open a three-game series with the Tri-City Braves at Sanders Field. The fight took place July. 24 in the office of the Braves manager.
Richards is free on $25 bail.