Monday, August 31, 1953

W L Pct. GB
Lewiston .... 37 25 .597 ½
Spokane ..... 41 28 .594 —
Salem ....... 36 29 .554 2½
Yakima ...... 34 30 .531 4
Vancouver ... 34 34 .500 7
Edmonton .... 32 32 .500 6
Calgary ..... 30 33 .476 7½
Wenatchee ... 27 36 .429 10½
Tri-City .... 28 38 .421 11
Victoria .... 27 39 .409 12

CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders opened their final home stand of the Western International Baseball League on a victorious note Monday night, downing Tri-City Braves 4-7.
Tri-City ........... 120 002 200— 7 10 2
Calgary ........... 242 040 20x—14 16 2
Michelson, Stoffell (5) and Warren; Orrell and Bricker.

SPOKANE — Jack Spring collected his second straight shut-out and his third for the year as the Spokane Indians blanked the Wenatchee Chiefs 13 to 0 in their Western International League tilt Monday.
His previous win was over Calgary by an identical score.
Will Hafey backed Spring's six-hitter with two doubles, two singles and four RBIs, raising his season total to 103.
Wenatchee ........ 000 000 000— 0 6 2
Spokane ........... 501 000 06x—13 12 0
Monroe, Klein (1) and Bartolomei; Spring and Sheets.

EDMONTON — Ray McNulty pitched and batted the Edmonton Eskimos to a 6-1 victory Monday night over the Salem Senators in the opener of a three-game Western International Baseball League series here.
The game attracted 2,305 customers Monday night to bring Edmonton season's total to 89,506.
Rookie Salem outfielder Chuck Essegian batted his first home run in professional baseball in the seventh inning for his team's only run.
Salem .............. 000 000 100—1 6 1
Edmonton ........ 101 020 21x—6 12 2
Hemphill, Collins (5) and Nelson; McNulty and Morgan.

VANCOUVER [Sun, Sept. 1]—Tonight at Cap Stadium still another hurler will say goodbye from the mound. This time, it’ll be Lonnie Myers who will be tossing his last for Vancouver and the WIL
Robert Roberts pitched a four-hit farewell Monday night for Caps before starting on what he hopes will be a long climb up the baseball ladder.
Both boys are headed for Seattle Rainiers of the Coast League, where they will finish the season. Caps get cold, hard cash in return.
Roberts made his exit gracefully. He was in charge just about all the way as he hog-tied Lewiston’s bucking Broncos on just four hits.
Despite the face the hopes of ever catching up have faded from view, the students of Storey looked their sharp selves of a few weeks back when they were breathing down the necks of the leaders. Then, as we know, they just about stopped breathing.
The games from here on in may not mean too much to Caps. But they sure mean an awful lot to Broncs. Bill Brenner’s charges are in the middle of a hectic scramble for the pennant.
But they didn’t look like winners last night. Veteran Manny Perez didn’t have any fun at all on the mound. He had plenty of troubles. They started in the third when Bob Duretto doubled to score Gale Taylor and Jack Bukowatz.
Then in the fourth Caps made sure. A rash of three runs and Manny was on his way to the showers, to be relieved by Dean Kime.
Wednesday night, Kewpie Barrett will make his first mound start for Vancouver. The veteran tosser claims he still has plenty of that old stuff that made him the scourge of the Pacific Coast League.
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VANCOUVER — Bob Roberts gave up hits to the first two batters Monday night then barred the door on the Lewiston Broncs as the Vancouver Capilanos rolled to a 6-2 Western International League win.
Lewiston ............. 100 000 001—2 4 1.
Vancouver .......... 002 300 10x—6 10 1.
Perez, Kime (5) and Garay; Roberts and Duretto.

VICTORIA [Colonist, Sept. 1]—If manager Walt Novick of the Yakima Bears had chosen to leave Bob Wellman at home while the Bears visited Victoria, the decision would undoubtedly have met with the full-hearted approval of the Victoria Tyees.
The husky six-footer who patrols left field for the Bears ruined a good bid by the Tyees to end a five-game Yakima win streak by smashing two home runs out of Royal Athletic Park Monday night to power the visitors to a 9-5 triumph over Victoria in the first game of their three-game WIL series.
“NIGHTS” PLANNED
The result left the Bears with a 12-3 advantage in their 15 meetings with the Tyees this season. The two clubs wind up their season’s hostilities with a “ladies’ night” contest tonight and a “family night” encounter Wednesday.
Wellman, although hitting below his season’s average with a .333 mark, gained from 13 hits in 39 trips to the plate during nine games at Athletic Park, has six homers in those nine games and driven in 18 runs.
Held hitless in his first three appearances by Bob Drilling, who took his 16th loss in another route-going performance, the Bears’ clean-up hitting broke a 5-5 tie with a bases-empty circuit smash in the seventh inning and made the result almost certain when he hit his second, with Len Noren on base, in the ninth. Gordon Hernandez singled in John Albini with the final Bear tally.
HAS WON 14
Drilling, winner of 14 games, gave up 15 hits and walked two while striking out six. Dick Young, coming to the rescue of starter Don Carter with two on and none out in the sixth inning, blanked the Tyees without a hit the rest of the way to pick up the victory.
Drilling allowed only a lost-in-the-sky double as he stopped the power-laden Bears over the first four frames. In the fifth double for one run [sic] and then went in front, 5-2, with four runs on five hits in the sixth.
The Tyees, who had scored twice in the second frame on singles by Granny Gladstone and Don Pries, a double by Dwane Helbig and Milt Martin’s fly, came back to tie it up in the bottom of the sixth on successive singles by Bob Moniz, Pries and Gladstone and Jim Harford’s foul pop-up to third base on which Gladstone scampered across the unprotected plate after the catch.
Yakima .......... 000 014 103—9 15 1
Victoria ......... 020 003 000—5 10 2
Carter, Young (6) and Albini; Drilling and Harford.

Monday, August 17, 1953

W L Pct. GB
Spokane ..... 34 19 .642 —
Salem ....... 30 20 .600 2½
Vancouver ... 30 24 .556 4½
Lewiston .... 26 22 .542 5½
Yakima ...... 26 23 .531 6
Edmonton .... 24 25 .490 8
Calgary ..... 22 26 .458 9½
Wenatchee ... 20 29 .409 12
Victoria .... 21 31 .404 12½
Tri-City .... 20 32 .385 13½
AP has different standings for Lew, Edm and Vic

CALGARY — Grand-slam homers by Charley Mead and Gus Stathos gave the Calgary Stampeders an 11-7 victory over the Victoria Tyees in a Western International League game here Monday night.
Trailing 5-2 going into their half of the inning, the Cowboys unloaded five hits, including Mead's homer, and took advantage of two Victoria errors, to go ahead for the first time in the game.
Stathos slammed his in the eight put the issue beyond doubt. Don Hunter also homered for the Stamps, his 22nd of the season. Granny Gladstone hit a round-tripper for Victoria.
Earl Dollins, who was relieved by Bill Bottler in the eighth, was the loser.
Victoria ............ 000 013 102— 7 10 2
Calgary ............ 000 011 54x—11 15 4
Dollins, Bottler (8) and Martin; Kapp and Bricker.

(only game scheduled)

Soriano Holds Talks With Bob Roberts
[Vancouver News Herald, August 18, 1953]
While the Capilanos rested easily in Edmonton, enjoying their first off-day from baseball after 42 successive assignments, club general manager Dewey Soriano hurried to Richland, Washington to meet pitcher Bobby Roberts. Roberts left the club suddenly Thursday.
Soriano insisted the little right-hander was not a “jumper” and had asked permission to make the trip.
“His wife is going to have a serious operation,” Soriano said. “Bob wanted to be with her for a few days before she went under the knife. He did not say he might not rejoin the club and that’s why I’m making this trip to clarify the issue.”
Roberts has won eight and lost two since joining Vancouver from Calgary in July, He has pitched great ball and his loss would be felt by the slim-sized staff which is presently trying to carry the Caps to a second-half WIL championship.
However, Soriano feels that Roberts will rejoin the team. He reasons that Bobby will need the money to pay for such an operation and therefore will have to work out the remainder of the season. Besides which, Soriano now smells the blood of a second-half title and does not want to risk a chance of losing just because he is short-staffed.


Edmonton Has 3,659 Allies
EDMONTON — General Manager John Ducey of the Western International League Eskimos says he has 3,659 allies for the cause of legalized Sunday baseball in Edmonton.
A banner adorning the entrance to Renfrew Park Sunday afternoon mellowed the fans as they passed through the gates to see the Eskimo-Vancouver Caps game, first WIL game held here on the sabbath.
It said, in a gently kidding vein: "We think that this game is worth $1. What do you think?"
It developed that many of the bleacher bugs thought likewise, for the take amounted to a substantial $1,777.50. That averaged 48½ cents a head.
This was something like 12½ cents better than the Caps did recently when they staged a similar WIL offering on a Sunday collection basis. Vancouver fans turned out 5,000 strong for that game.
The Edmonton and Vancouver ball moguls would like to have Sunday ball as a regular diet, like they have it in Toronto, Montreal and in the United States.
Ducey said the best Sunday collection for baseball ever was an average 36 cents a head for a semi-professional playoff game in 1950 in the days of the defunct Calgary-Edmonton Big Four League. Before that, 25 cents a head was about tops.

Players on the Go

Pete Younie to Lewiston
[Vancouver Province, Dec. 17, 1952]
Vancouver baseball player Pete Younie will get to visit his home town more next summer. He’s joining a Western International League team.
Younie, former King George High School pitcher who played for Visalia in the California State League last season, has been sold to the Lewiston Broncs.

Tribe Sell Pair
SPOKANE, Dec. 18—The Spokane Indians announced the sale Thursday of pitchers Dick Bishop and Bob Roberts to Calgary, the new Canadian entry in the Western International Baseball League. Purchase price was not disclosed.

Spokes Buy Catcher
SPOKANE, Dec. 19—The Spokane Indians of the Western International Baseball League Friday announced the purchase of catcher George Triandos from Terre Haute of the Class B Three-I League.
Owner Roy Hotchkiss said Triandos, 22, will be counted on as the No. 2 catcher, indicating last year’s regular, Bill Sheets, will be kept in the first spot. Triandos played the 1951 and 1952 seasons with Salt Lake of the Class C Pioneer loop, on option from Terre Haute.
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Spokane Buys Three-I Catcher
SPOKANE, Dec. 20—George Triandos, 28-year-old catcher was purchased Friday by the Spokane Indians of the Class A Western International league from Terre Haute of the Class B Three-I League.
Triandos was with Salt Lake City of the Class C Pioneer League the past two seasons on option from Terre Haute. In 1950 he played for Klamath Falls of the defunct Far West League.
With Salt Lake City last year, he hit at a .270 clip and slammed out 10 home runs.
[WILfan note: the wires seem to have their Triandoses confused. George was signed by Spokane, not Gus]

Tyee Players Draw Interest
[Victoria Colonist, Dec. 20, 1952]
Directors of the Victoria Baseball and Athletic Co. Ltd. were informed at a meeting Thursday that inquiries have been received regarding the purchase of third baseman John Treece and pitcher Bill Wisneski.
Approve was given for their sale if a deal can be made.
It was also disclosed that Portland has received a tempting offer for rookie pitcher Leroy Han, who is expected to return to Victoria next season.
Toronto Maple Leafs, who are reportedly interested in pitcher Ben Lorino, have offered to sell third baseman Sam Kanelos, who was with Spokane last year, and Adam Young, a .382 hitter at Tampa, to the Tyees.