W L PCT GB
Salem ....... 15 7 .682 ½
Spokane ..... 17 8 .680 —
Vancouver ... 13 11 .542 3
Lewiston .... 11 10 .524 3½
Yakima ...... 12 12 .500 4
Calgary ..... 11 12 .478 4½
Tri-City .... 11 14 .440 5½
Edmonton ..... 9 13 .409 6
Victoria ..... 9 15 .375 7
Wenatchee .... 8 14 .364 7
VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, July 23]—Baseball put on its best bib and tucker Wednesday as the Capilanos swept a doubleheader from Tri-City in one of the best one-two offerings of the 1953 season.
The scores were 4-2 and 5-4, the latter accomplishment taking 11 tense and torrid innings. Van Fletcher won his no. 11 in the opener and Dale Thomason, in relief, his no. 3 in the latter. And the second packed most of the drama.
BOBBLED HOPPER
Behind 4-1 going into the eighth, the Capilanos got starting pitcher Bobby Roberts off the hook as K. Chorlton opened with a single. Then Vancouver got its biggest break when Terry Carroll bobbled home two runs and Bob Duretto singled in the Moose with the big one.
It stayed that way until the 11th with Bob Snyder and Thomason hooked up in a frantic duel. Thomason won it almost by his lonesome by leading off the 11th with a 415-foot triple and scoring on Chorlton’s liner.
The game had bits of everything. There had been a brush between Bob Roberts and Edo Vanni which smelled of a first-class rhubarb; there were some spectacular plays afield with Bukowatz and Len Tran coming up with the best; and there were daring base running and interesting inside baseball by both sides which made it a complete evening.
BEAT RALLY
Fletcher had no easy task in his victory in the opener. Vancouver scored a couple for him in the first and two more in the sixth, but even then “Doc” had to put down a last inning Brave rally to reach No.11 after three unsuccessful tries.
Tonight the same clubs wind up the series with a single game. Carl Gunnarson, replete with his new boyish crew-cut, takes a 4-7 record out to the mound in an attempt to make it three straight for the Caps. Spokane comes into town Friday night for a doubleheader.
- - -
VANCOUVER — An 11th-inning run by Dale Thomason, who also did some fancy pitching, Wednesday night gave Vancouver a 5-4 win over Tri-City in the second game of a Western International League baseball doubleheader.
The Caps also won the seven-inning opener, 4-2.
Tri-City was leading 4-1 going into the eighth inning on hits off Bob Roberts when Caps tied the score on four hits and an error at shortstop by Terry Carroll.
Thomason pitched the last four innings, allowing only one hit. In the 11th, he hit a long triple and then scored the winning run, coming in after the catch when K Chorlton hit a fly to left field.
First Game
Tri-City .......... 010 000 1—2 5 0
Vancouver ...... 200 002 x—4 8 1
Robertson and Warren; Fletcher and Duretti.
Second Game
Tri-City .......... 000 210 100 00—4 8 1
Vancouver ...... 010 000 030 01—5 13 3
Snyder and Pesut; Roberts, Thomason (8) and Leavitt.
CALGARY — Yakima made a clean sweep of its three-game Western International League baseball series with the Calgary Stampeders Wednesday night as the Bears won 16-3 on a 21-hit attack that included five out-of-the-park home runs. Stampeders, held to four hits by Danny Rios, got two of their three runs by similar homers.
Stamps held a brief lead when Rocky Tedesco homered over the left-field fence in the first but Bears combined two doubles and a pair of singles with a Stampeder error to save three runs in the second and were never headed. Bob Bonebrake homered over the fence in the second for Stamps, but Len Noren's three-run homer in the fifth and Rios two-run home run clout in the sixth put Bears far but in front.
In the seventh, Don Hunter rounded the bases on a walk, wild pitch, an infield out and Gus Stathos' long fly.
Bears got the run back with interest in the eighth as Anderson singled and Steinberg, Al White and Bob Wellman followed with homers'. Anderson put the ball out of the park with one on in the ninth and a pair of Stampeder errors and three singles produced two more runs to finish the Yakima scoring.
Yakima ........... 030 032 044—16 21 2
Calgary .......... 110 000 100— 3 4 3
Rios and Novick; Hittner, Wisneski (6), Lillard (9) and Bricker.
VICTORIA [Colonist, July 23]—Home runs by Dwane Helbig and Don Pries gave the Victoria Tyees a 3-2 victory over Spokane in the second game of a Western International League double-header at Royal Athletic Park last night after the league-leading Indians clouted five of the eight round-trippers hit in the opening game while romping to a 14-6 triumph.
SERIES ALL EVEN
Last night’s split gave each club two wins in their current series which winds up tonight with a single contest at Royal Athletic Park. Tri-City Braves follow the Indians, meeting the Tyees in a “family night” game tomorrow and a twin-bill Saturday.
Bill Prior went the route for the Tyees in the nightcap, allowing the Indians five hits while striking out eight and walking four as he raped up his 10th win of the season. Bill Franks, who took his sixth loss in 14 decisions, gave the winners but four hits.
Third-baseman Don Pries gave Prior a 1-0 lead with [a] line-drive homer in the second inning, but the Indians went ahead in the top of the fifth on Bob Donkersley’s two-run single. Chuck Abernathy opened the Victoria fifth with a base on balls and Helbig, hitless in the opener, belted the 10th home run of the night to end the scoring.
Sparkling catches by Bob Moniz and Granny Gladstone helped Prior over a couple of rough spots. Moniz came up with a lunging backhand grab against Jim Command in the second frame and Gladstone took Stan Palys’ drive off the fence in the fourth and doubled a surprised Jim Brown off second base.
MURPHY STARTS
Spokane’s Ed Murphy gave an indication of what was to come in the first game when he slapped starter Zeb Walker’s second pitch out of the park. Before Walker was relieved by Berlyn Hodges in the fifth, Donkersley, Carl Bush and Jim Command had clouted homers. Command’s was an inside-the-park drive that skipped past Gladstone in right field.
Hodges gave up a circuit clout to Palys while the Tyees scored all their tallies on a pair of homers by Gladstone and a two-run blast by Moniz. Gladstone’s were hit second and third in two games.
First Game
Spokane ........... 200 340 131—14 12 2
Victoria ............ 002 202 000— 6 8 4
Spring and Sheets; Walker, Hodges (5) and Martin.
Second Game
Spokane ............ 000 020 0—2 5 1
Victoria ............. 010 020 x—3 4 1
Franks and Ogle; Prior and Martin.
LEWISTON — Salem widened the gap between second and third place in the Western International League Wednesday night by walloping Lewiston 18-7 in a 32-hit game.
The Senators climbed within a half game of the first-place Spokane Indians by whacking 20 hits.
Gene Tanselli's home run in the first inning gave Salem a 1-0 lead and the Senators carried on in the second frame by scoring seven times.
Salem ......... 173 303 010—18 20 0
Lewiston ..... 001 010 302— 7 12 0
Roenspie and Nelson; Perez, Kime (2), Ruddell (5), Richardson (7) and Cameron, Garay ( ).
Wenatchee at Edmonton, double-header, postponed, wet grounds.
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Tuesday, July 21, 1953
W L PCT GB
Spokane ..... 16 7 .696 —
Salem ....... 14 7 .667 1
Lewiston .... 11 9 .550 3½
Yakima ...... 12 12 .500 5
Calgary ..... 11 11 .500 4½
Vancouver ... 11 11 .500 4½
Tri-City .... 11 12 .478 5
Edmonton ..... 9 13 .409 6½
Wenatchee .... 8 14 .364 7½
Victoria ..... 8 14 .364 7½
VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, July 22]—It was, as someone suggested, a fine night for a baseball game. It was a pity, as a few of the 1400-odd fans suggested sometime later, that very little baseball was played on this weird, uncanny evening.
Tri-City won the “thing”, 9-5, bursting out with more base hits at the right time than the Capilanos and many, many less errors.
A steady parade of pitchers was put on view for the fans, and if nothing else, they got a full look at both staffs. Jess Dobernic, an old Coast League reliever, did a great job of relieving for the Braves and rightfully picked up the win. Pete Hernandez, who had one of his infrequent bad nights, got his fourth setback.
5 STRAIGHT HITS
Tri-City stamped Hernandez out of the game in the third inning when they made five straight hits good for five runs. In so doing the Braves overcame a 2-1 Vancouver lead and made the Caps come to them—which the townies attempted to do in gallant, but insignificant manner.
Vancouver touched Don Robertson, the second Tri-City pitcher, for two runs in the fourth and put him on the hook for keeps in the fifth with another run and bases loaded and one out situation.
GREAT IN RELIEF
That was when Jess Dobernic came out of the bullpen, and it was an unfortunate sight for Vancouver, for Jess once appeared in 55 Coast League ball games as a reliever and did such a tremendous job of it that he earned himself a shot with the Chicago Cubs. In other words, the guy is great at picking up where somebody else couldn’t finish off.
Jess stopped the Caps cold with four and two-thirds innings of one-hit relief ball. It was enough for the old timer’s 10th win of the year and Vancouver’s first loss in this series.
Tonight the clubs mix it again in a pair of games starting at 7 o’clock and for the first time this season a favorite ex-Capilano, Bob Snyder, will be appearing against his old club.
Bob will pitch in the second game with Don Robertson going in the other for the Braves. Van Fletcher and Bobby Roberts will offer the local opposition. The Little Leaguers will be on view, too, with a baseball school between games by Milwaukee Braves’ chief West Coast scout, Bill Marshall.
- - -
VANCOUVER — Six pitchers saw action Tuesday night as the Tri-City Braves, collecting five runs in a big third inning, grabbed a 9-5 Western International League baseball victory over the Vancouver Capilanos.
Pete Hernandez was tagged with the loss, his fourth against 11 wins. He gave up a four straight hits, starting with a double and a triple, in the third inning. Before it was over, five runs had scored.
Frank Mascaro was a bright spot for Vancouver, with a couple of doubles.
Tri-City ............ 015 100 110—9 14 1
Vancouver ........ 110 210 000—5 9 3
Hedgecock, Robertson (2), Dobernic (5) and Warren; Hernandez, MacKay (3), Gunnarson (9) and Leavitt.
EDMONTON — The Edmonton Eskimos launched their first home stand in the second half of the Western International League baseball schedule Tuesday night with an 11-5 victory over the Wenatchee Chiefs.
The win gave Esks eighth place, a position they had shared with Chiefs. Paid attendance was 2,868.
Credit for the victory went to Ray McNulty, hurling his 10th win of the season against five losses. He needed help in the ninth inning afier Ross McCormack hit a three-run homer over the right-field wall.
Edmonton routed Wenatchee's starting pitcher, Keith Bowman, with two runs in the second inning and a six-run splurge in the third.
Dick Morgan and Dan Prentice paced Edmonton's 15-hit attack with three blows each. Lyle Palmer and Don Stanford each hit three for the Chiefs.
Wenatchee .... 000 020 003— 5 10 3
Edmonton ...... 026 000 03x—11 15 0
Bowman, De Carolis (3) and Bartolomei; McNulty, Day (9) and Morgan.
CALGARY — Despite a blast by Calgary Stampeders which saw three home runs off the first five pitched balls, Yakima Bears edged the Cowboys 4-3 Tuesday night in a Western Internaonal Baseball League game.
Bears counted singles in the first and second innings, then completed the score with Herman Lewis' two-run homer in the third. Great defensive play protected the slim lead.
Ken Whitehead put the first ball pitched by Ted Edmunds of Yakima over the centre-field fence to start the Stampeders. Jim Mellinger connected for the second, driving it out of the park in about the same direction. Rocky Tedesco let two pitches go by and then slammed the third over the centre wall.
Yakima ......... 102 110 000—4 7 2
Calgary ......... 300 000 000—3 11 0
Edmunds, Del Sarto (9), Rial (9) and Novick; Kapp and Bricker.
LEWISTON, Idaho— The first division race of the Western International League tightened up here Tuesday night as third-place Lewiston beat second-place Salem 6-3.
Broncs were outhit by the Senators nine to eight but Lewiston combined extra base hits with Salem errors to jump to an early lead.
Lewiston manager Bill Brenner's knuckle ball was working well as he scattered Salem's runs and then pitched shutout ball for the final four innings. His record is now 15-6.
Gene Tanselli accounted for two of Salem's three runs, getting on base with a triple in the first and a single in the fifth inning.
Salem ........... 100 110 000—3 9 3
Lewiston ....... 230 000 01x—6 8 2
Collins, Borst (2) and Nelson; Brenner and Cameron.
VICTORIA—The hit-happy Victoria Tyees slammed 22 hits off four Spokane pitchers in racking up a 23-9 triumph over the Spokane Indians in WIL baseball on Wednesday.
The hits included six doubles, a triple and three home runs as Bob Drilling coasted to his eighth win in 20 decisions.
Each of the starting players picked up at least one hit and shortstop Jim Clark was the only starter not gaining credit for an RBI.
Outfielders Dwane Helbig and Granny Gladstone each added six RBIs to their totals. Gladstone had a pair of singles, a double and a bases-loaded homer. Helbig blasted home runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings and barely missed another with a double in the second that just failed to clear the centre field fence.
Lu Branham poked three singles in five trips and Don Pries poled two doubles and a single in six trips. Drillling doubled his hit total for the season with a single and a double.
Spokane .......... 003 040 002— 9 19 2
Victoria ........... 191 063 03x—23 22 1
New, Nemes (2), Osborn (3), Command (5) and Sheets, Ogle (5); Drilling and Martin.
Spokane ..... 16 7 .696 —
Salem ....... 14 7 .667 1
Lewiston .... 11 9 .550 3½
Yakima ...... 12 12 .500 5
Calgary ..... 11 11 .500 4½
Vancouver ... 11 11 .500 4½
Tri-City .... 11 12 .478 5
Edmonton ..... 9 13 .409 6½
Wenatchee .... 8 14 .364 7½
Victoria ..... 8 14 .364 7½
VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, July 22]—It was, as someone suggested, a fine night for a baseball game. It was a pity, as a few of the 1400-odd fans suggested sometime later, that very little baseball was played on this weird, uncanny evening.
Tri-City won the “thing”, 9-5, bursting out with more base hits at the right time than the Capilanos and many, many less errors.
A steady parade of pitchers was put on view for the fans, and if nothing else, they got a full look at both staffs. Jess Dobernic, an old Coast League reliever, did a great job of relieving for the Braves and rightfully picked up the win. Pete Hernandez, who had one of his infrequent bad nights, got his fourth setback.
5 STRAIGHT HITS
Tri-City stamped Hernandez out of the game in the third inning when they made five straight hits good for five runs. In so doing the Braves overcame a 2-1 Vancouver lead and made the Caps come to them—which the townies attempted to do in gallant, but insignificant manner.
Vancouver touched Don Robertson, the second Tri-City pitcher, for two runs in the fourth and put him on the hook for keeps in the fifth with another run and bases loaded and one out situation.
GREAT IN RELIEF
That was when Jess Dobernic came out of the bullpen, and it was an unfortunate sight for Vancouver, for Jess once appeared in 55 Coast League ball games as a reliever and did such a tremendous job of it that he earned himself a shot with the Chicago Cubs. In other words, the guy is great at picking up where somebody else couldn’t finish off.
Jess stopped the Caps cold with four and two-thirds innings of one-hit relief ball. It was enough for the old timer’s 10th win of the year and Vancouver’s first loss in this series.
Tonight the clubs mix it again in a pair of games starting at 7 o’clock and for the first time this season a favorite ex-Capilano, Bob Snyder, will be appearing against his old club.
Bob will pitch in the second game with Don Robertson going in the other for the Braves. Van Fletcher and Bobby Roberts will offer the local opposition. The Little Leaguers will be on view, too, with a baseball school between games by Milwaukee Braves’ chief West Coast scout, Bill Marshall.
- - -
VANCOUVER — Six pitchers saw action Tuesday night as the Tri-City Braves, collecting five runs in a big third inning, grabbed a 9-5 Western International League baseball victory over the Vancouver Capilanos.
Pete Hernandez was tagged with the loss, his fourth against 11 wins. He gave up a four straight hits, starting with a double and a triple, in the third inning. Before it was over, five runs had scored.
Frank Mascaro was a bright spot for Vancouver, with a couple of doubles.
Tri-City ............ 015 100 110—9 14 1
Vancouver ........ 110 210 000—5 9 3
Hedgecock, Robertson (2), Dobernic (5) and Warren; Hernandez, MacKay (3), Gunnarson (9) and Leavitt.
EDMONTON — The Edmonton Eskimos launched their first home stand in the second half of the Western International League baseball schedule Tuesday night with an 11-5 victory over the Wenatchee Chiefs.
The win gave Esks eighth place, a position they had shared with Chiefs. Paid attendance was 2,868.
Credit for the victory went to Ray McNulty, hurling his 10th win of the season against five losses. He needed help in the ninth inning afier Ross McCormack hit a three-run homer over the right-field wall.
Edmonton routed Wenatchee's starting pitcher, Keith Bowman, with two runs in the second inning and a six-run splurge in the third.
Dick Morgan and Dan Prentice paced Edmonton's 15-hit attack with three blows each. Lyle Palmer and Don Stanford each hit three for the Chiefs.
Wenatchee .... 000 020 003— 5 10 3
Edmonton ...... 026 000 03x—11 15 0
Bowman, De Carolis (3) and Bartolomei; McNulty, Day (9) and Morgan.
CALGARY — Despite a blast by Calgary Stampeders which saw three home runs off the first five pitched balls, Yakima Bears edged the Cowboys 4-3 Tuesday night in a Western Internaonal Baseball League game.
Bears counted singles in the first and second innings, then completed the score with Herman Lewis' two-run homer in the third. Great defensive play protected the slim lead.
Ken Whitehead put the first ball pitched by Ted Edmunds of Yakima over the centre-field fence to start the Stampeders. Jim Mellinger connected for the second, driving it out of the park in about the same direction. Rocky Tedesco let two pitches go by and then slammed the third over the centre wall.
Yakima ......... 102 110 000—4 7 2
Calgary ......... 300 000 000—3 11 0
Edmunds, Del Sarto (9), Rial (9) and Novick; Kapp and Bricker.
LEWISTON, Idaho— The first division race of the Western International League tightened up here Tuesday night as third-place Lewiston beat second-place Salem 6-3.
Broncs were outhit by the Senators nine to eight but Lewiston combined extra base hits with Salem errors to jump to an early lead.
Lewiston manager Bill Brenner's knuckle ball was working well as he scattered Salem's runs and then pitched shutout ball for the final four innings. His record is now 15-6.
Gene Tanselli accounted for two of Salem's three runs, getting on base with a triple in the first and a single in the fifth inning.
Salem ........... 100 110 000—3 9 3
Lewiston ....... 230 000 01x—6 8 2
Collins, Borst (2) and Nelson; Brenner and Cameron.
VICTORIA—The hit-happy Victoria Tyees slammed 22 hits off four Spokane pitchers in racking up a 23-9 triumph over the Spokane Indians in WIL baseball on Wednesday.
The hits included six doubles, a triple and three home runs as Bob Drilling coasted to his eighth win in 20 decisions.
Each of the starting players picked up at least one hit and shortstop Jim Clark was the only starter not gaining credit for an RBI.
Outfielders Dwane Helbig and Granny Gladstone each added six RBIs to their totals. Gladstone had a pair of singles, a double and a bases-loaded homer. Helbig blasted home runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings and barely missed another with a double in the second that just failed to clear the centre field fence.
Lu Branham poked three singles in five trips and Don Pries poled two doubles and a single in six trips. Drillling doubled his hit total for the season with a single and a double.
Spokane .......... 003 040 002— 9 19 2
Victoria ........... 191 063 03x—23 22 1
New, Nemes (2), Osborn (3), Command (5) and Sheets, Ogle (5); Drilling and Martin.
Monday, July 20, 1953
W L PCT GB
Spokane ..... 16 6 .727 —
Salem ....... 14 6 .700 1
Lewiston .... 10 9 .526 4½
Calgary ..... 11 10 .524 4½
Vancouver ... 11 10 .524 4½
Tri-City .... 10 12 .455 6
Yakima ...... 10 12 .455 6
Edmonton ..... 8 13 .381 7½
Wcnatchee .... 8 13 .381 7½
Victoria ..... 7 14 .333 8½
VICTORIA, July 20—Spokane Indians opened a four-game series here Monday night with a 6-5 victory over Victoria Tyees.
A home run by pitcher Art Worth to start off the ninth inning gave the Indians a 6-4 lead and proved to be the decisive blow as Tyees pushed across their last run in the bottom of the inning.
Although continuously in trouble, Worth was the winning pitcher.
Victoria left 15 men stranded as Worth gave up 10 walks and 11 hits. Only in the seventh inning was he able to retire the side in order.
Spokane ........ 002 210 001—6 7 0
Victoria ......... 210 001 001—5 11 1
Worth, Nemes (9) and Sheets; Bottler and Harford.
VANCOUVER, July 20—Tri City hurler Ken Michelson limited Vancouver to four hits but the Capilanos converted three of them into runs and emerged with a 4 to 3 victory in the opener of a three game series in Vancouver.
K Chorlton and Jack Bukowatz pumped out singles off Michelson in the first inning and Chorlton scored on an infield out. After Gene Petralli was hit by a pitched ball, Bob Duretto brought in two more runs with a triple.
- - -
VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, July 21]—The Capilanos, who have erred mentally quite often this season, Monday reaped the harvest of somebody else’s mis-placed thinking in a 4-3 conquest of the Tri-City Braves. Or, as you will, the ex-Capilanos.
Vancouver led all the way in Lonnie Myers’ sixth win of the year, but they might have been playing yet had it not been for a sixth-inning blunder by Del Charouhas, a usually alert Tri-City centre fielder.
FORGOT TO SLIDE
It was in the sixth that the Braves put on a bit of a spurt and cut a 4-1 Capilano lead to 4-2. They had something dangerous brewing, too, with a man on third and Charouhas on first and two outs. Ernie Hockaday hit a weak tap down to Harvey Storey and Harv made his play for second base and the force on Charouhas. It was a bad play. Charouhas had the throw well beaten and would have been in there safe as a church, with a slide. As it was, Des didn’t slide and the difference was an out instead of a safe and the end of a promising rally.
Edo Vanni, the Tri-City skipper, yanked Charouhas out of the game right away. Edo was plainly ready to eat nails and as it turned out, he had reason to because that was the run which his Braves needed to stay in the hunt.
TRIPLE BELTED
Vancouver got 75 percent of its hits in the first inning with Bob Duretto’s two-run triple the big one. That stood up until the fifth when Myers walked and scored all the way from first on K. Chorlton’s sacrifice. As three players gathered around K’s bunt, Lonnie noticed that nobody had covered third. He kept right on running and made it home as Len Tran threw wildly to third in the hope that one of his teammates might get there before the bal.
DIAMOND DUST – Eddie Malone, the Hollywood catcher, was at the game as a guest of Dewey Soriano’s … He and Dewey are old buddies, although Ed did confess he was told to look for a right-handed reliever for the Stars … Tonight the same clubs meet in a single at 8:30 with Pete Hernandez going for the Caps.
Tri-City ....... 000 101 010—3 5 1
Vancouver ... 300 010 00x—4 4 0
Michelson and Warren; Myers and Leavitt.
CALGARY, July 20—Yakima and Calgary produced 40 hits between them in a wild affair in Calgary, won by Yakima, 19 to 12. The visiting Bears outslugged the Stampeders 23 to 17. The barrage included seven home runs.
Yakima got to starting hurler Jerry Levinson for six runs in the second inning and after that the game was a romp.
Yakima ...... 061 120 333—19 23 1
Calgary ...... 001 221 114—12 17 5
Flinn and Novick; Levinson, Francis (3), Wisneski (8) and Lillard.
ONLY GAMES SCHEDULED
Eskimos Plan Big Night for 100-Game Winner
EDMONTON, July 20 — Edmonton Eskimos plan "A Night" for John Conant, their winningest pitcher, Thursday night. The club directors will make a presentation to the Tennessee righthander, who recently became a 100-game winner in the Western International League. Thursday, he is scheduled to pitch against Yakima Bears.
Spokane ..... 16 6 .727 —
Salem ....... 14 6 .700 1
Lewiston .... 10 9 .526 4½
Calgary ..... 11 10 .524 4½
Vancouver ... 11 10 .524 4½
Tri-City .... 10 12 .455 6
Yakima ...... 10 12 .455 6
Edmonton ..... 8 13 .381 7½
Wcnatchee .... 8 13 .381 7½
Victoria ..... 7 14 .333 8½
VICTORIA, July 20—Spokane Indians opened a four-game series here Monday night with a 6-5 victory over Victoria Tyees.
A home run by pitcher Art Worth to start off the ninth inning gave the Indians a 6-4 lead and proved to be the decisive blow as Tyees pushed across their last run in the bottom of the inning.
Although continuously in trouble, Worth was the winning pitcher.
Victoria left 15 men stranded as Worth gave up 10 walks and 11 hits. Only in the seventh inning was he able to retire the side in order.
Spokane ........ 002 210 001—6 7 0
Victoria ......... 210 001 001—5 11 1
Worth, Nemes (9) and Sheets; Bottler and Harford.
VANCOUVER, July 20—Tri City hurler Ken Michelson limited Vancouver to four hits but the Capilanos converted three of them into runs and emerged with a 4 to 3 victory in the opener of a three game series in Vancouver.
K Chorlton and Jack Bukowatz pumped out singles off Michelson in the first inning and Chorlton scored on an infield out. After Gene Petralli was hit by a pitched ball, Bob Duretto brought in two more runs with a triple.
- - -
VANCOUVER [Keith Matthews, News-Herald, July 21]—The Capilanos, who have erred mentally quite often this season, Monday reaped the harvest of somebody else’s mis-placed thinking in a 4-3 conquest of the Tri-City Braves. Or, as you will, the ex-Capilanos.
Vancouver led all the way in Lonnie Myers’ sixth win of the year, but they might have been playing yet had it not been for a sixth-inning blunder by Del Charouhas, a usually alert Tri-City centre fielder.
FORGOT TO SLIDE
It was in the sixth that the Braves put on a bit of a spurt and cut a 4-1 Capilano lead to 4-2. They had something dangerous brewing, too, with a man on third and Charouhas on first and two outs. Ernie Hockaday hit a weak tap down to Harvey Storey and Harv made his play for second base and the force on Charouhas. It was a bad play. Charouhas had the throw well beaten and would have been in there safe as a church, with a slide. As it was, Des didn’t slide and the difference was an out instead of a safe and the end of a promising rally.
Edo Vanni, the Tri-City skipper, yanked Charouhas out of the game right away. Edo was plainly ready to eat nails and as it turned out, he had reason to because that was the run which his Braves needed to stay in the hunt.
TRIPLE BELTED
Vancouver got 75 percent of its hits in the first inning with Bob Duretto’s two-run triple the big one. That stood up until the fifth when Myers walked and scored all the way from first on K. Chorlton’s sacrifice. As three players gathered around K’s bunt, Lonnie noticed that nobody had covered third. He kept right on running and made it home as Len Tran threw wildly to third in the hope that one of his teammates might get there before the bal.
DIAMOND DUST – Eddie Malone, the Hollywood catcher, was at the game as a guest of Dewey Soriano’s … He and Dewey are old buddies, although Ed did confess he was told to look for a right-handed reliever for the Stars … Tonight the same clubs meet in a single at 8:30 with Pete Hernandez going for the Caps.
Tri-City ....... 000 101 010—3 5 1
Vancouver ... 300 010 00x—4 4 0
Michelson and Warren; Myers and Leavitt.
CALGARY, July 20—Yakima and Calgary produced 40 hits between them in a wild affair in Calgary, won by Yakima, 19 to 12. The visiting Bears outslugged the Stampeders 23 to 17. The barrage included seven home runs.
Yakima got to starting hurler Jerry Levinson for six runs in the second inning and after that the game was a romp.
Yakima ...... 061 120 333—19 23 1
Calgary ...... 001 221 114—12 17 5
Flinn and Novick; Levinson, Francis (3), Wisneski (8) and Lillard.
ONLY GAMES SCHEDULED
Eskimos Plan Big Night for 100-Game Winner
EDMONTON, July 20 — Edmonton Eskimos plan "A Night" for John Conant, their winningest pitcher, Thursday night. The club directors will make a presentation to the Tennessee righthander, who recently became a 100-game winner in the Western International League. Thursday, he is scheduled to pitch against Yakima Bears.
Sunday, July 19, 1953
W L Pct GB
Spokane ..... 15 6 .714 —
Salem ....... 14 6 .700 ½
Calgary ..... 11 9 .550 3½
Lewiston .... 10 9 .526 4
Vancouver ... 10 10 .500 4½
Tri-City .... 10 11 .476 5
Yakima ....... 9 12 .429 6
Edmonton ..... 8 13 .381 7
Wenatchee .... 8 13 .381 7
Victoria ..... 7 13 .350 7½
SALEM — Salem and Spokane split a Western International League doubleheader here Sunday, Spokane winning the opener 4-2 but dropping the nightcap 3-1.
That left Spokane with a half game lead in league standings.
Jim Brown scored Spokane's lone run in the nightcap. He singled, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on a single by Carl Bush. Salem scored in the first on three hits and a bases loaded walk. Bob Nelson drove in Salem's third inning run with a single. Les Witherspoon singled in Jerry Ballard, who had doubled for Salem's final run in the fifth.
First Game
Spokane ......... 200 001 1—4 6 0
Salem ............. 000 000 2—2 5 1
Franks, Cordell (7) and Sheets; Dahle and Masterson.
Second Game
Spokane ........ 000 000 100—1 5 0
Salem ............ 101 010 00x—3 8 0
Romero and Ogle; Nicholas and Nelson.
KENNEWICK — Len Tran blasted out a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning Sunday night to give the Tri-City Braves an 8-6 Western International League decision over the Victoria Tyees.
The Tyees looked like sure winners as they pushed across six runs in the second frame to grab a 6-1 lead, but the Braves came back with two in the bottom of the second and singles in the fourth, seventh and eighth to throw the game into overtime.
Six Victoria errors paved the way for three of Tri-City's runs.
The win went to Jess Dobernic, who took over mound chores for Dale Bloom in the third and blanked the Tyees on three hits the rest of the way.
Victoria .......... 060 000 000 0— 6 8 6
Tri-City .......... 120 010 110 2— 8 13 2
Dollins, Prior (8) and Martin; Bloom, Dobernic (3) and Warren.
YAKIMA — The Calgary Stampeders swept both ends of a Western International League doubleheader from the Yakima Bears Sunday night, 6-0 and 3-1.
Stites won the opener for Stamps with a one-hitter.
The only safety earned off Stites was Andy Anderson's hot line single to left field in the third inning Stites fanned five and walked three.
The Stampeders got one run in the second and added five more in the seventh on two walks, three singles and Rocky Tedesco's two-run triple.
Unearned runs in the sixth and seventh innings decided the second game in Calgary's favor.
Jim Whitehead led off the sixth inning with a single. Yakima pitcher Don Carter fielded Jim Mellinger's bunt but threw late to second trying to nab Whitehead. Then Tedesco hit a short grounder which went through the shortstop's legs into the outfield and Whitehead scored from second.
In the second, Bob Bonebrake's long fly to center was dropped by Al White and Bonebrake wound up on second. He went to third on Joe Orrell's single and scored on Whitehead's single.
First Game
Calgary ............ 010 000 5—6 12 9
Yakima ............ 000 000 0—0 1 0
Stites and Bricker; Del Sarto, Tanner (7) and Novick.
Second Game
Calgary ............ 100 001 100—3 9 0
Yakima ............ 010 000 000—1 6 3
Orrell and Bricker; Carter and Novick.
LEWISTON — The Lewiston Broncs and the Eskimos from Edmonton split a Western International League doubleheader Sunday, the Eskimos taking a 7-0 victory in the second game and the Broncs winning the quickie opener 4 to 1.
It was Edmonton all the way In the second game as they opened up with one run in the first inning when Bobby Thompson singled, moved to second on a single by Sam Kanelos. and scored on a fielder's choice.
Dan Prentice singled to open up the five run second inning. He scored on a single by Bob Sturgeon. Thompson walked, and Vern Campbell doubled, sending in Sturgeon and Thompson. Clint Weaver doubled in Kanelos and Campbell.
Prentice ended the scoring in the third inning when he singled and scored on a fielder's choice.
Bill Brenner was the losing pitcher.
First Game
Edmonton .......... 000 010 0—1 5 1
Lewiston ............ 000 310 x—4 8 0
Conant and Morgan; Kime and Garay.
Second Game
Edmonton ......... 151 000 000—7 13 0
Lewiston ........... 000 000 000—0 4 0
Tisnerat and Morgan; Brenner, Butler (2) and Cameron.
WENATCHEE — Van Fletcher had a cosy 3-0 lead for Vancouver in the first game but saw it evaporate as the Wenatchee Chiefs pulled out a 4-3 win before taking the nightcap, 5-3.
He gave up three runs in the sixth inning before Bob Roberts came on to stop the damage.
Bob Duretto singled in two Vancouver runs.
In the finale, Dale Thomason and Rod MacKay struggled for Vancouver as Thomason was saddled with the loss. Frank Mascaro's singled was responsible for two Vancouver runs in the third inning.
First Game
Vancouver ....... 003 000 0— 3 5 1
Wenatchee ...... 000 013 x— 4 8 1
Fletcher, Roberts (6) and Leavitt; Monroe, Beamon (3) and Bartolomei.
Second Game
Vancouver ....... 000 200 000—2 4 1
Wenatchee ...... 012 011 00x—5 10 0
Thomason, MacKay (9) and Leavitt; Botelho and Bartolomei.
Spokane ..... 15 6 .714 —
Salem ....... 14 6 .700 ½
Calgary ..... 11 9 .550 3½
Lewiston .... 10 9 .526 4
Vancouver ... 10 10 .500 4½
Tri-City .... 10 11 .476 5
Yakima ....... 9 12 .429 6
Edmonton ..... 8 13 .381 7
Wenatchee .... 8 13 .381 7
Victoria ..... 7 13 .350 7½
SALEM — Salem and Spokane split a Western International League doubleheader here Sunday, Spokane winning the opener 4-2 but dropping the nightcap 3-1.
That left Spokane with a half game lead in league standings.
Jim Brown scored Spokane's lone run in the nightcap. He singled, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on a single by Carl Bush. Salem scored in the first on three hits and a bases loaded walk. Bob Nelson drove in Salem's third inning run with a single. Les Witherspoon singled in Jerry Ballard, who had doubled for Salem's final run in the fifth.
First Game
Spokane ......... 200 001 1—4 6 0
Salem ............. 000 000 2—2 5 1
Franks, Cordell (7) and Sheets; Dahle and Masterson.
Second Game
Spokane ........ 000 000 100—1 5 0
Salem ............ 101 010 00x—3 8 0
Romero and Ogle; Nicholas and Nelson.
KENNEWICK — Len Tran blasted out a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning Sunday night to give the Tri-City Braves an 8-6 Western International League decision over the Victoria Tyees.
The Tyees looked like sure winners as they pushed across six runs in the second frame to grab a 6-1 lead, but the Braves came back with two in the bottom of the second and singles in the fourth, seventh and eighth to throw the game into overtime.
Six Victoria errors paved the way for three of Tri-City's runs.
The win went to Jess Dobernic, who took over mound chores for Dale Bloom in the third and blanked the Tyees on three hits the rest of the way.
Victoria .......... 060 000 000 0— 6 8 6
Tri-City .......... 120 010 110 2— 8 13 2
Dollins, Prior (8) and Martin; Bloom, Dobernic (3) and Warren.
YAKIMA — The Calgary Stampeders swept both ends of a Western International League doubleheader from the Yakima Bears Sunday night, 6-0 and 3-1.
Stites won the opener for Stamps with a one-hitter.
The only safety earned off Stites was Andy Anderson's hot line single to left field in the third inning Stites fanned five and walked three.
The Stampeders got one run in the second and added five more in the seventh on two walks, three singles and Rocky Tedesco's two-run triple.
Unearned runs in the sixth and seventh innings decided the second game in Calgary's favor.
Jim Whitehead led off the sixth inning with a single. Yakima pitcher Don Carter fielded Jim Mellinger's bunt but threw late to second trying to nab Whitehead. Then Tedesco hit a short grounder which went through the shortstop's legs into the outfield and Whitehead scored from second.
In the second, Bob Bonebrake's long fly to center was dropped by Al White and Bonebrake wound up on second. He went to third on Joe Orrell's single and scored on Whitehead's single.
First Game
Calgary ............ 010 000 5—6 12 9
Yakima ............ 000 000 0—0 1 0
Stites and Bricker; Del Sarto, Tanner (7) and Novick.
Second Game
Calgary ............ 100 001 100—3 9 0
Yakima ............ 010 000 000—1 6 3
Orrell and Bricker; Carter and Novick.
LEWISTON — The Lewiston Broncs and the Eskimos from Edmonton split a Western International League doubleheader Sunday, the Eskimos taking a 7-0 victory in the second game and the Broncs winning the quickie opener 4 to 1.
It was Edmonton all the way In the second game as they opened up with one run in the first inning when Bobby Thompson singled, moved to second on a single by Sam Kanelos. and scored on a fielder's choice.
Dan Prentice singled to open up the five run second inning. He scored on a single by Bob Sturgeon. Thompson walked, and Vern Campbell doubled, sending in Sturgeon and Thompson. Clint Weaver doubled in Kanelos and Campbell.
Prentice ended the scoring in the third inning when he singled and scored on a fielder's choice.
Bill Brenner was the losing pitcher.
First Game
Edmonton .......... 000 010 0—1 5 1
Lewiston ............ 000 310 x—4 8 0
Conant and Morgan; Kime and Garay.
Second Game
Edmonton ......... 151 000 000—7 13 0
Lewiston ........... 000 000 000—0 4 0
Tisnerat and Morgan; Brenner, Butler (2) and Cameron.
WENATCHEE — Van Fletcher had a cosy 3-0 lead for Vancouver in the first game but saw it evaporate as the Wenatchee Chiefs pulled out a 4-3 win before taking the nightcap, 5-3.
He gave up three runs in the sixth inning before Bob Roberts came on to stop the damage.
Bob Duretto singled in two Vancouver runs.
In the finale, Dale Thomason and Rod MacKay struggled for Vancouver as Thomason was saddled with the loss. Frank Mascaro's singled was responsible for two Vancouver runs in the third inning.
First Game
Vancouver ....... 003 000 0— 3 5 1
Wenatchee ...... 000 013 x— 4 8 1
Fletcher, Roberts (6) and Leavitt; Monroe, Beamon (3) and Bartolomei.
Second Game
Vancouver ....... 000 200 000—2 4 1
Wenatchee ...... 012 011 00x—5 10 0
Thomason, MacKay (9) and Leavitt; Botelho and Bartolomei.
Saturday, July 18, 1953
W L Pct GB
Spokane ..... 14 5 .737 —
Salem ....... 13 5 .722 ½
Vancouver ... 10 8 .556 3½
Lewiston ..... 9 8 .529 4
Calgary ...... 9 9 .500 4½
Yakima ....... 9 10 .473 5
Tri-City ..... 9 11 .450 5½
Edmonton ..... 7 12 .368 7
Victoria ..... 7 12 .368 7
Wenatchee .... 6 13 .316 8
SALEM — Spokane moved into a half game lead in Western International League standings by defeating Salem 6-3 here Saturday night.
Salem Starter Jack Hemphill had a one-hitter going into the eighth inning. But then Bob Donkersley homered to lead off a four-run spurt. The runs came on a walk to first, then a single to right field by Carl Bush and a single to left field by Stan Palys which scored Brown. Hemphill was replaced by Gene Roenspie. Will Hafey collected a line drive which Jim Deyo failed to handle and which permitted the other two runs to be scored.
Spokane added two more in the final inning.
Salem scored one run in the first, third and fourth innings.
Spokane ........ 000 000 042—6 6 2
Salem ............ 101 100 000—3 7 1
Spring, Cordell (8) and Sheets: Hemphill, Roenspie (8) and Masterson.
YAKIMA —The Calgary Stampeders made the best out of five hits Saturday night and beat Yakima 4-3 in a Western International League game.
Charlie Mead walked in the second and Calgary Manager Gene Lillard homered over the center field fence 372 feet from the plate.
Edmunds allowed only one hit the last six innings, a single by Mellinger.
The Bears scored once in the ninth to make the count 4-3 when Al White's single brought in Jim McNamara but Herman Lewis lined to the shortstop to end the game.
Calgary ........ 022 000 000—4 3 0
Yakima......... 100 100 001—3 9 3
Hittner and Lillard; Edmunds and Albini, Novick (4).
WENATCHEE — Pete Hernandez stopped the Wenatchee Chiefs on six hits for the 11th win of the year as the Vancouver Capilanos easily pulled off a 12-3 win Western International baseball league win Saturday.
Gale Taylor drove in three runs in a sixth-run seventh. Hernandez was two for five and batted in a run as well.
Vancouver ........ 011 000 613—12 12
Wenatchee ....... 000 111 000— 3 6 2
Hernandez and Leavitt; Oubre, Klein (8) and Bartolomei.
KENNEWICK—Former Victoria first baseman Vic Buccola's line drive broke up the game in the 11th inning to give the Tri-City Braves a 3-2 win in the first contest of a Western International League doubleheader Saturday.
Reliever Bill Bottler's old foe—lack of control—caught up with him in the 11th. He walked Ray Tran and Robertson to open the frame then uncorked a wild pitch. Bob McGuire was intentially passed to load the bases, but Buccola foiled the plan with a run-scoring single to deep right field.
First Game
Victoria ......... 002 000 000 00—2 10
Tri-City ......... 000 101 000 01—3 7 2
Lorino, Walker (6), Bottler (8) and Harford, Martin (10); Robertson and Warren.
Second Game
Victoria ........ 221 000 200—7 10 0
Tri-City ........ 000 000 003—3 6 1
Drilling and Martin; Snyder, Michelson (9) and Pesut.
LEWISTON — John Marshall chalked up his 13th victory as the Lewiston Broncs pounded out a 12-5 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in Western International baseball play here Saturday.
Edmonton ........ 002 012 000— 5 11 1
Lewiston ......... 533 001 00x—12 14 1
Widner, Utley (2) and Morgan; Marshall and Cameron.
SEATTLE — Salem's Jim Deyo is the active batting leader in the Western International League now that his teammate, Milt Smith, has been called up by the Coast League.
Statistics released Saturday showed Deyo batting .378. Smith was leading the league with .391 when he was called up by San Diego in midweek.
Howe News Bureau's figures including games through July 12 showed Charlie Mead of Calgary replaced Gene Tanselli of Salem as the leader in runs, with 72 to Tanselli's 67.
Vancouver's Pete Hernandez, at 2.44, still holds the best earned run average among the league's pitchers, and Joe Nicholas, Salem, again leads in won-lost percentage with 13-3.
Andy Skurski's 19 stolen bases put him one ahead of Salem's Connie Perez, but the latter continued to lead in runs batted in with 65.
Others who held their places are:
Len Noren, Yakima, 118 hits; Harvey Storey, Vancouver, 25 doubles; Clint Weaver, Edmonton, 156 total bases; Al Heist, Lewiston, 10 triples, and Don Hunter, Calgary, 18 homers.
TOP TEN BATTERS
AB H RBI Ave.
Smith, Salem ............. 202 79 51 .391
McNulty, Edmonton ......... 49 19 12 .388
Deyo, Salem .............. 241 91 53 .378
Palmer, Wenatchee ......... 37 14 4 .376
Warren, Tri-City ......... 258 96 60 .375
Noren, Yakima ............ 335 118 52 .352
Storey, Vancouver ........ 273 96 46 .352
Palys, Spokane ........... 246 86 42 .350
Wisneski, Vic-Cal ......... 20 7 4 .350
Williams, Lewiston ....... 109 38 29 .349
TOP TEN PITCHERS (on earned run average):
G W L ERA
Hernandez, Vancouver ..... 14 10 3 2.44
Franks, Spokane .......... 20 7 5 2.61
Roenspie, Salem .......... 13 9 2 2.61
Fletcher, Vancouver ...... 19 10 6 2.75
Conant, Edmonton ......... 23 14 7 2.87
Tisnerat, Edmonton ....... 18 5 4 2.90
Brenner, Lewiston ........ 26 14 4 3.07
Collins, Salem ........... 20 7 3 3.16
Guldborg, Vancouver....... 16 5 6 3.22
Nicholas, Salem .......... 19 13 3 3.31
Spokane ..... 14 5 .737 —
Salem ....... 13 5 .722 ½
Vancouver ... 10 8 .556 3½
Lewiston ..... 9 8 .529 4
Calgary ...... 9 9 .500 4½
Yakima ....... 9 10 .473 5
Tri-City ..... 9 11 .450 5½
Edmonton ..... 7 12 .368 7
Victoria ..... 7 12 .368 7
Wenatchee .... 6 13 .316 8
SALEM — Spokane moved into a half game lead in Western International League standings by defeating Salem 6-3 here Saturday night.
Salem Starter Jack Hemphill had a one-hitter going into the eighth inning. But then Bob Donkersley homered to lead off a four-run spurt. The runs came on a walk to first, then a single to right field by Carl Bush and a single to left field by Stan Palys which scored Brown. Hemphill was replaced by Gene Roenspie. Will Hafey collected a line drive which Jim Deyo failed to handle and which permitted the other two runs to be scored.
Spokane added two more in the final inning.
Salem scored one run in the first, third and fourth innings.
Spokane ........ 000 000 042—6 6 2
Salem ............ 101 100 000—3 7 1
Spring, Cordell (8) and Sheets: Hemphill, Roenspie (8) and Masterson.
YAKIMA —The Calgary Stampeders made the best out of five hits Saturday night and beat Yakima 4-3 in a Western International League game.
Charlie Mead walked in the second and Calgary Manager Gene Lillard homered over the center field fence 372 feet from the plate.
Edmunds allowed only one hit the last six innings, a single by Mellinger.
The Bears scored once in the ninth to make the count 4-3 when Al White's single brought in Jim McNamara but Herman Lewis lined to the shortstop to end the game.
Calgary ........ 022 000 000—4 3 0
Yakima......... 100 100 001—3 9 3
Hittner and Lillard; Edmunds and Albini, Novick (4).
WENATCHEE — Pete Hernandez stopped the Wenatchee Chiefs on six hits for the 11th win of the year as the Vancouver Capilanos easily pulled off a 12-3 win Western International baseball league win Saturday.
Gale Taylor drove in three runs in a sixth-run seventh. Hernandez was two for five and batted in a run as well.
Vancouver ........ 011 000 613—12 12
Wenatchee ....... 000 111 000— 3 6 2
Hernandez and Leavitt; Oubre, Klein (8) and Bartolomei.
KENNEWICK—Former Victoria first baseman Vic Buccola's line drive broke up the game in the 11th inning to give the Tri-City Braves a 3-2 win in the first contest of a Western International League doubleheader Saturday.
Reliever Bill Bottler's old foe—lack of control—caught up with him in the 11th. He walked Ray Tran and Robertson to open the frame then uncorked a wild pitch. Bob McGuire was intentially passed to load the bases, but Buccola foiled the plan with a run-scoring single to deep right field.
First Game
Victoria ......... 002 000 000 00—2 10
Tri-City ......... 000 101 000 01—3 7 2
Lorino, Walker (6), Bottler (8) and Harford, Martin (10); Robertson and Warren.
Second Game
Victoria ........ 221 000 200—7 10 0
Tri-City ........ 000 000 003—3 6 1
Drilling and Martin; Snyder, Michelson (9) and Pesut.
LEWISTON — John Marshall chalked up his 13th victory as the Lewiston Broncs pounded out a 12-5 win over the Edmonton Eskimos in Western International baseball play here Saturday.
Edmonton ........ 002 012 000— 5 11 1
Lewiston ......... 533 001 00x—12 14 1
Widner, Utley (2) and Morgan; Marshall and Cameron.
SEATTLE — Salem's Jim Deyo is the active batting leader in the Western International League now that his teammate, Milt Smith, has been called up by the Coast League.
Statistics released Saturday showed Deyo batting .378. Smith was leading the league with .391 when he was called up by San Diego in midweek.
Howe News Bureau's figures including games through July 12 showed Charlie Mead of Calgary replaced Gene Tanselli of Salem as the leader in runs, with 72 to Tanselli's 67.
Vancouver's Pete Hernandez, at 2.44, still holds the best earned run average among the league's pitchers, and Joe Nicholas, Salem, again leads in won-lost percentage with 13-3.
Andy Skurski's 19 stolen bases put him one ahead of Salem's Connie Perez, but the latter continued to lead in runs batted in with 65.
Others who held their places are:
Len Noren, Yakima, 118 hits; Harvey Storey, Vancouver, 25 doubles; Clint Weaver, Edmonton, 156 total bases; Al Heist, Lewiston, 10 triples, and Don Hunter, Calgary, 18 homers.
TOP TEN BATTERS
AB H RBI Ave.
Smith, Salem ............. 202 79 51 .391
McNulty, Edmonton ......... 49 19 12 .388
Deyo, Salem .............. 241 91 53 .378
Palmer, Wenatchee ......... 37 14 4 .376
Warren, Tri-City ......... 258 96 60 .375
Noren, Yakima ............ 335 118 52 .352
Storey, Vancouver ........ 273 96 46 .352
Palys, Spokane ........... 246 86 42 .350
Wisneski, Vic-Cal ......... 20 7 4 .350
Williams, Lewiston ....... 109 38 29 .349
TOP TEN PITCHERS (on earned run average):
G W L ERA
Hernandez, Vancouver ..... 14 10 3 2.44
Franks, Spokane .......... 20 7 5 2.61
Roenspie, Salem .......... 13 9 2 2.61
Fletcher, Vancouver ...... 19 10 6 2.75
Conant, Edmonton ......... 23 14 7 2.87
Tisnerat, Edmonton ....... 18 5 4 2.90
Brenner, Lewiston ........ 26 14 4 3.07
Collins, Salem ........... 20 7 3 3.16
Guldborg, Vancouver....... 16 5 6 3.22
Nicholas, Salem .......... 19 13 3 3.31
Friday, July 17, 1953
W L Pct GB
Salem ....... 13 4 .765 —
Spokane ..... 13 5 .722 ½
Vancouver .... 9 8 .529 4
Yakima ....... 9 9 .500 4½
Lewiston ..... 8 8 .500 4½
Calgary ...... 8 9 .471 5
Tri-City ..... 8 10 .444 5½
Edmonton ..... 7 11 .389 6½
Victoria ..... 6 11 .353 7
Wenatchee .... 6 12 .333 7½
SALEM — The Salem Senators took first place from Spokane in the Western International League, thanks to a 7-3 home field victory over the Indians on Friday.
Rookie pitcher Larry Borst scattered seven Spokane hits in going all the way for the win. He also singled to lead off a three-run third inning that gave the Senators a 4-3 lead.
Spokane ...... 120 000 000—3 7 1
Salem .......... 103 011 10x—7 7 3
New, Nemes (7) and Sheets; Borst and Masterson.
LEWISTON, Idaho — Lewiston pitcher Manny Perez gave up 11 hits to Edmonton batters Friday night but won his own game with a ninth inning home run for the Broncs 5-4 victory in their Western International League series opener.
Al Heist had tied the score 4-4 in the eighth with a one-run homer.
Home runs by Ray McNulty and Bobby Sturgeon brought in the Eskimos first three runs, two in the second inning and one in the third. Clint Weaver doubled in Sturgeon in the fifth for their final score.
Heist's three-base hit scored Lewiston's first run in the first inning and he scored on Artie Wilson's single.
McNulty was the losing pitcher.
Edmonton ........ 021 010 000—4 11 1
Lewiston .......... 200 010 011—5 3 1
McNulty and Morgan; Perez and Cameron.
YAKIMA, Wash. — Herman Lewis tripled against the centre-field fence to score Al White, who had walked to bring in Yakima's winning run in the 10th in a 10-9 victory over Calgary in a Western International League game Friday night
Trailing 3-3 at start ot the seventh, the Bears scored five runs. The Calgary pitcher, Ed Kapp, walked three men and an error brought in a run. Lewis smashed a two-run single to right. Bill Francis replaced Kapp and Bob Wellman greeted him with a double to score two more men.
A walk to Gordie Hernandez, a sacrifice, fielder's choice and error tied the game in the eighth.
Jim Mellinger, Calgary's second batter in the game, hit over the fence for a home run. Mellinger also got two singles in four other times at bat.
Calgary ........ 130 012 200 0—9 14 2
Yakima ........ 200 001 510 1—10 12 3
Kapp, Francis (7) and Lillard; Tanner, Rial (6) and Albini.
WENATCHEE — Bob Roberts, the stocky little relief pitcher bought from Calgary, shared the spotlight with lightweight redtopped shortstop Jack Bukowatz as Vancouver swept both ends of a doubleheader from Wentachee in Western International League baseball Thursday.
Bukowatz broke up the first game in the 11th inning, as the Caps pulled out a 4-2 win over the Chiefs.
Vancouver had scored in the first inning and the Chiefs responded equally in the third. They went along that way until the eighth when they each scored again.
Then, in the top of the 11th, Gale Taylor was safe on an error, catcher Jim Leavitt sacrificed him to second, Carl Gunnarson singled and K. Chorlton síngled, setting the stage for Bukowatz.
He doubled neatly, scoring Taylor and Gunnarson to win it all.
Roberts really stole the show in the second game. He gave up but two hits, struck out ten and walked one.
Further, he scored the Caps second run when he doubled to open the seventh inning and scored on Frank Mascaro's single.
First Game
Vancouver ........ 100 000 010 02—4 10 0
Wenatchee ......... 001 000 010 00—2 9 4
Gunnarson and Leavitt; Bowman and Helmuth.
Second Game
Vancouver ........ 000 100 1—2 7 1
Wenatchee ....... 000 000 0—0 2 0
Roberts and Leavitt; DeCarolis and Helmuth.
KENNEWICK — The Victoria Tyees pitching staff, which has given up 43 runs during the first five game of the current road trip, failed to keep bats silent as the Tri-City Braves smacked 13 hits in an 8-7 victory in WIL baseball on Friday.
Tri-City built up a 4-0 against starter Zeb Walker in the first four innings and then the Victoria attack, which seems to function best when the Tyees pitchers are being clobberedm broke out for five runs and a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
Reliever Bill Prior gave up two runs in the bottom of the fifth and another pair in the sixth. he blanked the Braves in the last two frames but the Tyees couldn't quite make up the difference. They scored once in the eighth, finally routing Dale Bloom in the ninth and scored once off Jess Dobernic to make it close.
Dwane Helbig, who drove in Victoria's ninth-inning tally, had three singles in four trips. Don Pries added a two-run double in the fifth inning for the Tyees.
Victoria .......... 000 020 011—7 8 1
Tri-City .......... 021 122 00x—8 13 2
Walker, Prior (5) and Martin; Bloom, Dobernic (9) and Warren.
Salem ....... 13 4 .765 —
Spokane ..... 13 5 .722 ½
Vancouver .... 9 8 .529 4
Yakima ....... 9 9 .500 4½
Lewiston ..... 8 8 .500 4½
Calgary ...... 8 9 .471 5
Tri-City ..... 8 10 .444 5½
Edmonton ..... 7 11 .389 6½
Victoria ..... 6 11 .353 7
Wenatchee .... 6 12 .333 7½
SALEM — The Salem Senators took first place from Spokane in the Western International League, thanks to a 7-3 home field victory over the Indians on Friday.
Rookie pitcher Larry Borst scattered seven Spokane hits in going all the way for the win. He also singled to lead off a three-run third inning that gave the Senators a 4-3 lead.
Spokane ...... 120 000 000—3 7 1
Salem .......... 103 011 10x—7 7 3
New, Nemes (7) and Sheets; Borst and Masterson.
LEWISTON, Idaho — Lewiston pitcher Manny Perez gave up 11 hits to Edmonton batters Friday night but won his own game with a ninth inning home run for the Broncs 5-4 victory in their Western International League series opener.
Al Heist had tied the score 4-4 in the eighth with a one-run homer.
Home runs by Ray McNulty and Bobby Sturgeon brought in the Eskimos first three runs, two in the second inning and one in the third. Clint Weaver doubled in Sturgeon in the fifth for their final score.
Heist's three-base hit scored Lewiston's first run in the first inning and he scored on Artie Wilson's single.
McNulty was the losing pitcher.
Edmonton ........ 021 010 000—4 11 1
Lewiston .......... 200 010 011—5 3 1
McNulty and Morgan; Perez and Cameron.
YAKIMA, Wash. — Herman Lewis tripled against the centre-field fence to score Al White, who had walked to bring in Yakima's winning run in the 10th in a 10-9 victory over Calgary in a Western International League game Friday night
Trailing 3-3 at start ot the seventh, the Bears scored five runs. The Calgary pitcher, Ed Kapp, walked three men and an error brought in a run. Lewis smashed a two-run single to right. Bill Francis replaced Kapp and Bob Wellman greeted him with a double to score two more men.
A walk to Gordie Hernandez, a sacrifice, fielder's choice and error tied the game in the eighth.
Jim Mellinger, Calgary's second batter in the game, hit over the fence for a home run. Mellinger also got two singles in four other times at bat.
Calgary ........ 130 012 200 0—9 14 2
Yakima ........ 200 001 510 1—10 12 3
Kapp, Francis (7) and Lillard; Tanner, Rial (6) and Albini.
WENATCHEE — Bob Roberts, the stocky little relief pitcher bought from Calgary, shared the spotlight with lightweight redtopped shortstop Jack Bukowatz as Vancouver swept both ends of a doubleheader from Wentachee in Western International League baseball Thursday.
Bukowatz broke up the first game in the 11th inning, as the Caps pulled out a 4-2 win over the Chiefs.
Vancouver had scored in the first inning and the Chiefs responded equally in the third. They went along that way until the eighth when they each scored again.
Then, in the top of the 11th, Gale Taylor was safe on an error, catcher Jim Leavitt sacrificed him to second, Carl Gunnarson singled and K. Chorlton síngled, setting the stage for Bukowatz.
He doubled neatly, scoring Taylor and Gunnarson to win it all.
Roberts really stole the show in the second game. He gave up but two hits, struck out ten and walked one.
Further, he scored the Caps second run when he doubled to open the seventh inning and scored on Frank Mascaro's single.
First Game
Vancouver ........ 100 000 010 02—4 10 0
Wenatchee ......... 001 000 010 00—2 9 4
Gunnarson and Leavitt; Bowman and Helmuth.
Second Game
Vancouver ........ 000 100 1—2 7 1
Wenatchee ....... 000 000 0—0 2 0
Roberts and Leavitt; DeCarolis and Helmuth.
KENNEWICK — The Victoria Tyees pitching staff, which has given up 43 runs during the first five game of the current road trip, failed to keep bats silent as the Tri-City Braves smacked 13 hits in an 8-7 victory in WIL baseball on Friday.
Tri-City built up a 4-0 against starter Zeb Walker in the first four innings and then the Victoria attack, which seems to function best when the Tyees pitchers are being clobberedm broke out for five runs and a 5-4 lead in the fifth.
Reliever Bill Prior gave up two runs in the bottom of the fifth and another pair in the sixth. he blanked the Braves in the last two frames but the Tyees couldn't quite make up the difference. They scored once in the eighth, finally routing Dale Bloom in the ninth and scored once off Jess Dobernic to make it close.
Dwane Helbig, who drove in Victoria's ninth-inning tally, had three singles in four trips. Don Pries added a two-run double in the fifth inning for the Tyees.
Victoria .......... 000 020 011—7 8 1
Tri-City .......... 021 122 00x—8 13 2
Walker, Prior (5) and Martin; Bloom, Dobernic (9) and Warren.
Thursday, July 16, 1953
W L Pct GB
Spokane ..... 13 4 .765 —
Salem ....... 12 4 .750 ½
Calgary ...... 8 8 .500 4½
Yakima ....... 8 9 .471 5
Lewiston ..... 7 8 .467 5
Vancouver .... 7 8 .467 5
Edmonton ..... 7 10 .412 6
Tri-City ..... 7 10 .412 6
Wenatchee .... 6 10 .375 6½
Victoria ..... 6 10 .375 6½
SALEM, Ore. — Catcher Bob Nelson drove home two runs, including the winning tally, as Salem defeated Calgary 4-3 in a Western International League game here Thursday night to take the series, 3-1.
Salem tangles with Spokane in a series opening here Friday.
Calgary got off to a fourth-inning lead as Gus Stathos singled, stole second base, and scored on a single by Jim Mellinger.
Salem overcame it with three runs in the fifth. Jerry Ballard doubled and two walks and a wild pitch allowed one run to score. Nelson singled in another, and an infield out scored one more.
Calgary tied it up in the sixth as Don Hunter and Stathos got doubles and Charley Mead hit a single.
Calgary ... 000 102 000—3 9 0
Salem ..... 000 030 10x—4 9 0
Levinson and Lillard; Collins and Nelson.
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Edmonton Eskimos, pounding out a pair of two-run homers and seven doubles among their 20 hits and capitalizing on five Tri-City pitchers, walloped the Braves 17-5 Thursday night in a Western International League baseball game.
Tri-City finally turned to its catcher, Nick Pesut, for a pitcher that could stop the assault. It was Pesut's first turn at mound duties in professional baseball He held Edmonton in check in the final two innings he hurled.
Bob Thompson homered for the Eskimos in the second and fourth innings, each time with a man on.
He also had a double in his six trips.
Three Tri-City errors in the fourth inning gave the Eskimos three unearned runs.
Edmonton .... 120 704 300—17 20 2
Tri-City ....... 000 020 021— 5 8 5
Tisnerat and Morgan; Michelson, Hockaday (4), Pesut (8) and Warren.
WENATCHEE, Wash. — Victoria Tyees outlasted the Wenatchee Chiefs 8-7 in a Western International League game Thursday night which turned out to be a walkfest.
Twenty-five (that's right) bases on balls were issued by the three hurlers.
Wenatchee scored six runs in the sixth on only one hit, four of the runs being forced across the plate on walks by Tyee pitchers Bill Bottler and Bill Prior. Tommy Munoz brought in the other two with a single, one of the Chiefs' five hits.
Bob Moniz was the big bitter for Victoria with a home run and two singles. His circuit clout came with the bases empty in the sixth inning.
Bottler issued 15 walks and Prior five.
Victoria .......... 301 103 000—8 9 0
Wenatchee ..... 100 006 000—7 5 1
Bottler, Prior and Martin; Beamon and Helmuth.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Home runs hitting by Will Hafey and Stan Palys gave Spokane Indians a 6-4 Western International League win over Lewiston Thursday night and their second series sweep in a row over the Broncs.
Palys' 365-foot round tripper scoring Eddie Murphy in the sixth was his third in as many nights, and the Indians' sixth in three games.
Lewiston threatened in the eighth with two runs that came in on Ken Richardson's double.
Lewiston's pitcher-manager Bill Brenner was the loser. He has had only five defeats this year to 14 wins, four of the losses to Spokane.
Lewiston ... 010 010 020—4 7 0
Spokane .... 010 004 21x—8 11 0
Brenner and Cameron; Worth and Sheets.
YAKIMA — The Yakima Bears showed no respect to their visitors from the north, slamming the Vancouver Capilanos 12-3 in Western International League baseball here Thursday.
They were so disdainful, even pitcher Mal Flinn had a perfect night at the plate with three singles. He went all the way in scattering nine hits.
Herman Lewis was another bug-bear for the Caps. He hit safely for four singles in five trips. Bob Wellman gathered two singles and a double in three tries.
Bespectacled Lonnie Myers, pitching after just one night's rest, was finally chased from the mount in the fifth inning and succeeded by Dale Thomason. The reliefer had a rough time, too, with a balk that scored a run.
Lewis was a defensive hero as well. He made two catches to rob Frank Mascaro and Bob Duretto of extra base hits.
Vancouver ..... 001 001 100— 3 9 2
Yakima .......... 001 144 02x—12 15 2
Myers, Thomas (5) and Leavitt, Flinn and Albini.
Spokane ..... 13 4 .765 —
Salem ....... 12 4 .750 ½
Calgary ...... 8 8 .500 4½
Yakima ....... 8 9 .471 5
Lewiston ..... 7 8 .467 5
Vancouver .... 7 8 .467 5
Edmonton ..... 7 10 .412 6
Tri-City ..... 7 10 .412 6
Wenatchee .... 6 10 .375 6½
Victoria ..... 6 10 .375 6½
SALEM, Ore. — Catcher Bob Nelson drove home two runs, including the winning tally, as Salem defeated Calgary 4-3 in a Western International League game here Thursday night to take the series, 3-1.
Salem tangles with Spokane in a series opening here Friday.
Calgary got off to a fourth-inning lead as Gus Stathos singled, stole second base, and scored on a single by Jim Mellinger.
Salem overcame it with three runs in the fifth. Jerry Ballard doubled and two walks and a wild pitch allowed one run to score. Nelson singled in another, and an infield out scored one more.
Calgary tied it up in the sixth as Don Hunter and Stathos got doubles and Charley Mead hit a single.
Calgary ... 000 102 000—3 9 0
Salem ..... 000 030 10x—4 9 0
Levinson and Lillard; Collins and Nelson.
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Edmonton Eskimos, pounding out a pair of two-run homers and seven doubles among their 20 hits and capitalizing on five Tri-City pitchers, walloped the Braves 17-5 Thursday night in a Western International League baseball game.
Tri-City finally turned to its catcher, Nick Pesut, for a pitcher that could stop the assault. It was Pesut's first turn at mound duties in professional baseball He held Edmonton in check in the final two innings he hurled.
Bob Thompson homered for the Eskimos in the second and fourth innings, each time with a man on.
He also had a double in his six trips.
Three Tri-City errors in the fourth inning gave the Eskimos three unearned runs.
Edmonton .... 120 704 300—17 20 2
Tri-City ....... 000 020 021— 5 8 5
Tisnerat and Morgan; Michelson, Hockaday (4), Pesut (8) and Warren.
WENATCHEE, Wash. — Victoria Tyees outlasted the Wenatchee Chiefs 8-7 in a Western International League game Thursday night which turned out to be a walkfest.
Twenty-five (that's right) bases on balls were issued by the three hurlers.
Wenatchee scored six runs in the sixth on only one hit, four of the runs being forced across the plate on walks by Tyee pitchers Bill Bottler and Bill Prior. Tommy Munoz brought in the other two with a single, one of the Chiefs' five hits.
Bob Moniz was the big bitter for Victoria with a home run and two singles. His circuit clout came with the bases empty in the sixth inning.
Bottler issued 15 walks and Prior five.
Victoria .......... 301 103 000—8 9 0
Wenatchee ..... 100 006 000—7 5 1
Bottler, Prior and Martin; Beamon and Helmuth.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Home runs hitting by Will Hafey and Stan Palys gave Spokane Indians a 6-4 Western International League win over Lewiston Thursday night and their second series sweep in a row over the Broncs.
Palys' 365-foot round tripper scoring Eddie Murphy in the sixth was his third in as many nights, and the Indians' sixth in three games.
Lewiston threatened in the eighth with two runs that came in on Ken Richardson's double.
Lewiston's pitcher-manager Bill Brenner was the loser. He has had only five defeats this year to 14 wins, four of the losses to Spokane.
Lewiston ... 010 010 020—4 7 0
Spokane .... 010 004 21x—8 11 0
Brenner and Cameron; Worth and Sheets.
YAKIMA — The Yakima Bears showed no respect to their visitors from the north, slamming the Vancouver Capilanos 12-3 in Western International League baseball here Thursday.
They were so disdainful, even pitcher Mal Flinn had a perfect night at the plate with three singles. He went all the way in scattering nine hits.
Herman Lewis was another bug-bear for the Caps. He hit safely for four singles in five trips. Bob Wellman gathered two singles and a double in three tries.
Bespectacled Lonnie Myers, pitching after just one night's rest, was finally chased from the mount in the fifth inning and succeeded by Dale Thomason. The reliefer had a rough time, too, with a balk that scored a run.
Lewis was a defensive hero as well. He made two catches to rob Frank Mascaro and Bob Duretto of extra base hits.
Vancouver ..... 001 001 100— 3 9 2
Yakima .......... 001 144 02x—12 15 2
Myers, Thomas (5) and Leavitt, Flinn and Albini.
Wednesday, July 15, 1953
W L Pct GB
Spokane ..... 12 4 .750 —
Salem ....... 11 4 .733 ½
Calgary ...... 8 7 .533 3½
Lewiston ..... 7 7 .500 4
Vancouver .... 7 7 .500 4
Tri-City ..... 7 9 .438 5
Yakima ....... 7 9 .438 5
Wenatchee .... 6 9 .400 5½
Edmonton ..... 6 10 .375 6
Victoria ..... 5 10 .333 6½
SALEM — Calgary Stampeders and Salem Senators battled to an even split here Wednesday in a Western International Baseball League double-header.
Calgary won the first game 6-4 Salem came back to captured the nightcap 4-3.
The games left the league standings unchanged with Salem still holding down top spot with a slim half-game margin over Spokane Indians. Calgary remains in third place, three fames back of the leaders.
In the night game, Salem jumped out to a 4-1 lead at the outset and single tallies by Calgary in the third and fourth inning tightened the count to 4-3 and that's where it remained for the balance of the game.
Joe Nicholas achieved his 14th victory of the year in pitching Salem to the second-game win. He got all the margin he needed in the second inning, when a walk and singles by Jim Deyo, Jerry Ballard, Don Masterson and Dick Sabatini scored the four Salem runs.
Calgary came from behind to win the first game.
Salem led 4-2 as the last inning opened. Then Calgary filled the bases on singles by Gene Lillard, Bill Sales and Bob Bonebrake. Bonebrake's hit was a bunt that rolled safe.
Ken Whitehead bashed out a single that tied the score. Don Hunter followed with a squeeze-playbunt. Perez pounced on the ball, but threw wild to the plate, and the winning runs scored.
Salem trailed 2-1 until the sixth when Deyo, Chuck Essegian and Bob Nelson each drove in runs with singles to put Salem ahead.
First Game
Calgary .......... 200 000 4—6 9 0
Salem ............. 100 003 0—1 10 1
Stites and Bricker, Lillard (5); Dahle and Nelson.
Second Game
Calgary ........ 011 100 000—3 9 0
Salem .......... 040 000 00x- 4 9 1
Orrell and Lillard; Nicholas and Masterson.
KENNEWICK — Edmonton Eskimos and Tri-City Braves split a Western International Baseball League twin bill last night. The Eskies won the first game 2-0 but dropped the second 6-5.
The opener was a make-up game for a rain-out on April 24.
John Conant marked up his 15th mound victory of the season for Edmonton in the first game at Tri-City, then was credited with his seventh loss in the nightcap. He was sent in as a reliefer in the 10th inning of the second game, and gave up the single that brought in the winning run in the 14th.
First Game
Edmonton ...... 000 011 0—2 7 0
Tri-City .......... 000 000 0—0 6 0
Conant and Morgan; Hedgecock and Pesut.
Second Game
Edmonton ..... 000 202 001 000 00— 5 7 5
Tri-City ......... 400 000 001 000 01— 6 11 5
Utley, Day (1), Conant (10) and Morgan; Snyder, Dobernic (10) and Warren.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Bill Franks got his second shutout of the year with five-hit pitching that gave Spokane a 5-0 Western International Baseball League win over Lewiston Wednesday night.
He had the help of two masterful fielding plays by leftfielder Will Hafey in the first and second innings. In the first frame Hafey, backing up Shortstop Bob Donkersley on a pop fly, caught the shortstop's fumble for the third out as Broncs Mel Wasley and Al Heist crossed the plate.
In the second Hafey picked what looked like a double off the boards and threw Art Wilson out off first to end the inning with a double play.
The Indians began their scoring with one run in the fourth on a stolen base, a wild pitch and an infield single by Donkersley.
Stan Palys hit a 390-foot home run in the seventh with one man aboard as the Indians scored four times in that frame.
John Marshall was the losing pitcher.
The Indians, ahead 2-0, will wind up their three-game series with Lewiston Thursday.
Lewiston ........... 000 000 000—0 5 1
Spokane ............ 000 100 40x—5 8 0
Marshall and Garay; Franks and Sheets.
YAKIMA — Van Fletcher was found for three runs in the ninth after pitching one-hit ball to that point, and the Yakima Bears pulled out a 3-2 win over Vancouver in a Western International baseball game here Wednesday night.
Gordie Hernandez' fifth inning single was the only hit Fletcher had allowed until the ninth. Meanwhile, the Caps got a pair of single runs which looked awfully big in that last inning.
A walk to Fletcher, K. Chorlton's single and a missed double play put the Caps' first run across. In the fifth, it became 2-0 when Chorlton doubled and scored on Jack Bukowatz' single and Jim McNamara's error.
Wildness, more than anything, cost Fletcher in the ninth. Successive singles by McNamara, Bob Wellman and Len Noren brought in one run and then Fletcher issued his first walk of the game to John Albini to load the bases.
He walked in the tying run on a free one to Phil Steinberg. Fletcher then tossed three straight balls to Hernandez before he found the plate for a couple of strikes. He lost Hernandez, though, one another ball, and the winning run scored the easy way.
Don Carter was the winning pitcher. He went all the way for the Bears.
Vancouver ....... 001 010 000—2 7 2
Yakima ............ 000 000 003—3 4 3
Fletcher and Leavitt; Carter and Albini.
WENATCHEE — Wenatchee swept a Western International League doubleheader with Victoria Wednesday night, 9-1 and 11-5, winning the nightcap with a hectic eighth inning outburst of nine runs.
Trailing 5-2 at start of the eighth, pinch hitter Laurie Monroe brought in the winning runs with a triple with two men on base. The Chiefs then went on to parade 14 men to the plate before the side was retired.
Relief Pitcher Bill Prior took the loss for Victoria. Monroe hurled a five-hitter in the opener.
First Game
Victoria .............. 100 000 0— 1 5 2
Wenatchee ......... 252 000 x— 9 8 0
Younie, Walker (2), Lorino (3) and Harford, Martin (6); Monroe and Helmuth.
Second Game
Victoria ......... 201 001 010— 5 10 3
Wenatchee ... 000 100 19x—11 10 3
Dollins, Prior (7), Lorino (8) and Martin; Botelho, Monroe (9) and Helmuth.
Bronc Claims WI 'Base Run' Title
LEWISTON, July 14 — Center fielder Al Heist of the Lewiston Broncs is the new claimant of the base-running title in the Western International Baseball League.
Heist toured the base paths in 14.1 seconds here recently, bettering the old mark set by Herman Lewis of Yakima by two-tenths of a second.
Lewis was scheduled to run against Heist but a leg injury suffered in the first game of a doubleheader prevented his running.
Spokane ..... 12 4 .750 —
Salem ....... 11 4 .733 ½
Calgary ...... 8 7 .533 3½
Lewiston ..... 7 7 .500 4
Vancouver .... 7 7 .500 4
Tri-City ..... 7 9 .438 5
Yakima ....... 7 9 .438 5
Wenatchee .... 6 9 .400 5½
Edmonton ..... 6 10 .375 6
Victoria ..... 5 10 .333 6½
SALEM — Calgary Stampeders and Salem Senators battled to an even split here Wednesday in a Western International Baseball League double-header.
Calgary won the first game 6-4 Salem came back to captured the nightcap 4-3.
The games left the league standings unchanged with Salem still holding down top spot with a slim half-game margin over Spokane Indians. Calgary remains in third place, three fames back of the leaders.
In the night game, Salem jumped out to a 4-1 lead at the outset and single tallies by Calgary in the third and fourth inning tightened the count to 4-3 and that's where it remained for the balance of the game.
Joe Nicholas achieved his 14th victory of the year in pitching Salem to the second-game win. He got all the margin he needed in the second inning, when a walk and singles by Jim Deyo, Jerry Ballard, Don Masterson and Dick Sabatini scored the four Salem runs.
Calgary came from behind to win the first game.
Salem led 4-2 as the last inning opened. Then Calgary filled the bases on singles by Gene Lillard, Bill Sales and Bob Bonebrake. Bonebrake's hit was a bunt that rolled safe.
Ken Whitehead bashed out a single that tied the score. Don Hunter followed with a squeeze-playbunt. Perez pounced on the ball, but threw wild to the plate, and the winning runs scored.
Salem trailed 2-1 until the sixth when Deyo, Chuck Essegian and Bob Nelson each drove in runs with singles to put Salem ahead.
First Game
Calgary .......... 200 000 4—6 9 0
Salem ............. 100 003 0—1 10 1
Stites and Bricker, Lillard (5); Dahle and Nelson.
Second Game
Calgary ........ 011 100 000—3 9 0
Salem .......... 040 000 00x- 4 9 1
Orrell and Lillard; Nicholas and Masterson.
KENNEWICK — Edmonton Eskimos and Tri-City Braves split a Western International Baseball League twin bill last night. The Eskies won the first game 2-0 but dropped the second 6-5.
The opener was a make-up game for a rain-out on April 24.
John Conant marked up his 15th mound victory of the season for Edmonton in the first game at Tri-City, then was credited with his seventh loss in the nightcap. He was sent in as a reliefer in the 10th inning of the second game, and gave up the single that brought in the winning run in the 14th.
First Game
Edmonton ...... 000 011 0—2 7 0
Tri-City .......... 000 000 0—0 6 0
Conant and Morgan; Hedgecock and Pesut.
Second Game
Edmonton ..... 000 202 001 000 00— 5 7 5
Tri-City ......... 400 000 001 000 01— 6 11 5
Utley, Day (1), Conant (10) and Morgan; Snyder, Dobernic (10) and Warren.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Bill Franks got his second shutout of the year with five-hit pitching that gave Spokane a 5-0 Western International Baseball League win over Lewiston Wednesday night.
He had the help of two masterful fielding plays by leftfielder Will Hafey in the first and second innings. In the first frame Hafey, backing up Shortstop Bob Donkersley on a pop fly, caught the shortstop's fumble for the third out as Broncs Mel Wasley and Al Heist crossed the plate.
In the second Hafey picked what looked like a double off the boards and threw Art Wilson out off first to end the inning with a double play.
The Indians began their scoring with one run in the fourth on a stolen base, a wild pitch and an infield single by Donkersley.
Stan Palys hit a 390-foot home run in the seventh with one man aboard as the Indians scored four times in that frame.
John Marshall was the losing pitcher.
The Indians, ahead 2-0, will wind up their three-game series with Lewiston Thursday.
Lewiston ........... 000 000 000—0 5 1
Spokane ............ 000 100 40x—5 8 0
Marshall and Garay; Franks and Sheets.
YAKIMA — Van Fletcher was found for three runs in the ninth after pitching one-hit ball to that point, and the Yakima Bears pulled out a 3-2 win over Vancouver in a Western International baseball game here Wednesday night.
Gordie Hernandez' fifth inning single was the only hit Fletcher had allowed until the ninth. Meanwhile, the Caps got a pair of single runs which looked awfully big in that last inning.
A walk to Fletcher, K. Chorlton's single and a missed double play put the Caps' first run across. In the fifth, it became 2-0 when Chorlton doubled and scored on Jack Bukowatz' single and Jim McNamara's error.
Wildness, more than anything, cost Fletcher in the ninth. Successive singles by McNamara, Bob Wellman and Len Noren brought in one run and then Fletcher issued his first walk of the game to John Albini to load the bases.
He walked in the tying run on a free one to Phil Steinberg. Fletcher then tossed three straight balls to Hernandez before he found the plate for a couple of strikes. He lost Hernandez, though, one another ball, and the winning run scored the easy way.
Don Carter was the winning pitcher. He went all the way for the Bears.
Vancouver ....... 001 010 000—2 7 2
Yakima ............ 000 000 003—3 4 3
Fletcher and Leavitt; Carter and Albini.
WENATCHEE — Wenatchee swept a Western International League doubleheader with Victoria Wednesday night, 9-1 and 11-5, winning the nightcap with a hectic eighth inning outburst of nine runs.
Trailing 5-2 at start of the eighth, pinch hitter Laurie Monroe brought in the winning runs with a triple with two men on base. The Chiefs then went on to parade 14 men to the plate before the side was retired.
Relief Pitcher Bill Prior took the loss for Victoria. Monroe hurled a five-hitter in the opener.
First Game
Victoria .............. 100 000 0— 1 5 2
Wenatchee ......... 252 000 x— 9 8 0
Younie, Walker (2), Lorino (3) and Harford, Martin (6); Monroe and Helmuth.
Second Game
Victoria ......... 201 001 010— 5 10 3
Wenatchee ... 000 100 19x—11 10 3
Dollins, Prior (7), Lorino (8) and Martin; Botelho, Monroe (9) and Helmuth.
Bronc Claims WI 'Base Run' Title
LEWISTON, July 14 — Center fielder Al Heist of the Lewiston Broncs is the new claimant of the base-running title in the Western International Baseball League.
Heist toured the base paths in 14.1 seconds here recently, bettering the old mark set by Herman Lewis of Yakima by two-tenths of a second.
Lewis was scheduled to run against Heist but a leg injury suffered in the first game of a doubleheader prevented his running.
Tuesday, July 14, 1953
W L Pct GB
Salem ....... 10 3 .769 —
Spokane ..... 11 4 .733 —
Calgary ..... 7 6 .538 3
Lewiston .... 7 6 .538 3
Vancouver ... 7 6 .538 3
Tri-City .... 6 8 .429 4½
Yakima ...... 6 9 .400 5
Victoria .... 5 8 .385 5
Edmonton .... 5 9 .357 5½
Wenatchee ... 4 9 .308 6
YAKIMA, July 14—Jack Bukowatz' home run in the 14th inning gave the Vancouver Capilanos a 9-8 win over the Yakima Bears in Western International League baseball play on Tuesday.
It was his first of the year and came off the bench, as Bukowatz was recently replaced at second base by newcomer Bob Duretto.
The Caps were rolling along with a 7-0 lead when manager Harvey Storey pulled himself from the lineup and inserted Bukowatz at third base.
But the Bears charged back with two runs in the third and fourth innings, scored singles in the fifth and eighth, and then sent the game into overtime with a pair of runs in the last of the ninth.
They battled inning after inning until Bukowatz powered the ball over the right field fence at the 345-foot mark to give reliefer Lonnie Myers the win, his fifth against four losses.
Vancouver ........ 043 000 000 000 02—9 13 0
Yakima ............. 002 210 012 000 00—8 19 2
Hernandez, Myers (9) and Leavitt; Edmunds, Jacome (3), Rial (9), Del Sarto (10) and Albini.
WENATCHEE [Colonist, July 15]—Victoria Tyees made it five out of six last night by holding on to enough of an early lead at Wenatchee to defeat the Chiefs, 9-7, as pitcher Ben Lorino made his 1953 debut with the club—as a first baseman.
HIT FOR BOB
It was righthander Bob Drilling who shoulder the pitching chores for the Tyees last night and, for the second straight game, he received solid hitting support. He gave up 13 hits but his mates made the most of the 12 they got off two Wenatchee moundsmen to give him his sixth win in 18 decisions.
Lorino, a 24-game winner with Victoria last season, reported in time to make the road trip and took over first base last night to give big Chuck Abernathy a rest. The southpaw went hitless but walked to start the third inning and scored a run to give the Tyees an 8-3 lead at that point.
Granny Gladstone’s two-run double and Jim Clark’s single, coupled with an outfield error gave the Tyees a 3-0 lead in the first inning and they boosted it to 7-0 in the second after Drilling led off with his second hit of the season.
ADD FOUR MORE
Lu Branham’s bunt was bobbled by pitcher Charley Oubre and both runners were safe. Bob Moniz moved them up with a sacrifice and then Don Pries, Gladstone and Helbig slammed successive doubles for four Tyee runs.
Wenatchee made its big with three tallies in the second inning and cut the Victoria lead to 8-6 with three more runs in the third on three hits and errors by Branham and Gladstone.
Pries rapped out his second double of the game to drive in Branham with the final Victoria run in the eighth.
The clubs play a double-header tonight and finish the series with a single game tomorrow before the Tyees move to Tri-City for another four-game set.
Victoria .......... 341 000 010—9 12 2
Wenatchee ..... 033 000 010—7 13 3
Drilling and Martin; Oubre, Klein (3) and Helmuth.
SALEM, July 14—Front-running Salem edged Calgary 2-1 on Tuesday in a Western International League game.
After pitching six-hit ball, Jack Hemphill singled in the ninth inning, scoring Connie Perez who had walked, and moved up on a sacrifice and another walk. Calgary pitcher Glen Hittner also gave up six hits.
Calgary ..... 000 001 000—1 6 0
Salem ....... 000 000 011—2 6 0
Hittner and Lillard; Hemphill and Nelson.
SPOKANE, July 14—Four Lewiston hurlers were the victims in the nine wild innings Tuesday night at Ferris Field. They served up a total of 24 hits, including three home runs as the Indians toiled to a 17-5 triumph.
Lewiston ran out of pitchers and sent third-baseman Ken Richardson to the mound in the hit parade at Spokane. He held the Indians to one run in the eighth but they
reached him for five more in the ninth. Sixteen of Spokane's 17 runs were earned.
Lewiston ..... 001 030 100— 5 9 4
Spokane ...... 000 415 25x—17 24 0
Butler, Kime (5), Ruddell (6), Richardson (8) and Garay; Romero, Nemes (5) and Sheets.
KENNEWICK, July 14—Clint Weaver's big bat saved the day for Edmonton, as the Eskimos needed 11 innings to pull out a 10-9 victory over the Tri-City Braves on Tuesday night.
His two-run homer in the ninth put the Eskimos out in front.
Tri-City sent the game into extra innings in the bottom of the inning when Len Tran doubled Bob McGuire home. Weaver cracked the tie and won the game in the 11th, scoring on a sacrifice fly after he had tripled.
Edmonton ...... 002 050 002 01— 10 12 1
Tri-City ......... 200 015 001 00—9 12 1
Manier, Day (6), Tisnerat (9) and Morgan; Robertson, Dobernic (9), Bloom (10) and Warren.
Salem ....... 10 3 .769 —
Spokane ..... 11 4 .733 —
Calgary ..... 7 6 .538 3
Lewiston .... 7 6 .538 3
Vancouver ... 7 6 .538 3
Tri-City .... 6 8 .429 4½
Yakima ...... 6 9 .400 5
Victoria .... 5 8 .385 5
Edmonton .... 5 9 .357 5½
Wenatchee ... 4 9 .308 6
YAKIMA, July 14—Jack Bukowatz' home run in the 14th inning gave the Vancouver Capilanos a 9-8 win over the Yakima Bears in Western International League baseball play on Tuesday.
It was his first of the year and came off the bench, as Bukowatz was recently replaced at second base by newcomer Bob Duretto.
The Caps were rolling along with a 7-0 lead when manager Harvey Storey pulled himself from the lineup and inserted Bukowatz at third base.
But the Bears charged back with two runs in the third and fourth innings, scored singles in the fifth and eighth, and then sent the game into overtime with a pair of runs in the last of the ninth.
They battled inning after inning until Bukowatz powered the ball over the right field fence at the 345-foot mark to give reliefer Lonnie Myers the win, his fifth against four losses.
Vancouver ........ 043 000 000 000 02—9 13 0
Yakima ............. 002 210 012 000 00—8 19 2
Hernandez, Myers (9) and Leavitt; Edmunds, Jacome (3), Rial (9), Del Sarto (10) and Albini.
WENATCHEE [Colonist, July 15]—Victoria Tyees made it five out of six last night by holding on to enough of an early lead at Wenatchee to defeat the Chiefs, 9-7, as pitcher Ben Lorino made his 1953 debut with the club—as a first baseman.
HIT FOR BOB
It was righthander Bob Drilling who shoulder the pitching chores for the Tyees last night and, for the second straight game, he received solid hitting support. He gave up 13 hits but his mates made the most of the 12 they got off two Wenatchee moundsmen to give him his sixth win in 18 decisions.
Lorino, a 24-game winner with Victoria last season, reported in time to make the road trip and took over first base last night to give big Chuck Abernathy a rest. The southpaw went hitless but walked to start the third inning and scored a run to give the Tyees an 8-3 lead at that point.
Granny Gladstone’s two-run double and Jim Clark’s single, coupled with an outfield error gave the Tyees a 3-0 lead in the first inning and they boosted it to 7-0 in the second after Drilling led off with his second hit of the season.
ADD FOUR MORE
Lu Branham’s bunt was bobbled by pitcher Charley Oubre and both runners were safe. Bob Moniz moved them up with a sacrifice and then Don Pries, Gladstone and Helbig slammed successive doubles for four Tyee runs.
Wenatchee made its big with three tallies in the second inning and cut the Victoria lead to 8-6 with three more runs in the third on three hits and errors by Branham and Gladstone.
Pries rapped out his second double of the game to drive in Branham with the final Victoria run in the eighth.
The clubs play a double-header tonight and finish the series with a single game tomorrow before the Tyees move to Tri-City for another four-game set.
Victoria .......... 341 000 010—9 12 2
Wenatchee ..... 033 000 010—7 13 3
Drilling and Martin; Oubre, Klein (3) and Helmuth.
SALEM, July 14—Front-running Salem edged Calgary 2-1 on Tuesday in a Western International League game.
After pitching six-hit ball, Jack Hemphill singled in the ninth inning, scoring Connie Perez who had walked, and moved up on a sacrifice and another walk. Calgary pitcher Glen Hittner also gave up six hits.
Calgary ..... 000 001 000—1 6 0
Salem ....... 000 000 011—2 6 0
Hittner and Lillard; Hemphill and Nelson.
SPOKANE, July 14—Four Lewiston hurlers were the victims in the nine wild innings Tuesday night at Ferris Field. They served up a total of 24 hits, including three home runs as the Indians toiled to a 17-5 triumph.
Lewiston ran out of pitchers and sent third-baseman Ken Richardson to the mound in the hit parade at Spokane. He held the Indians to one run in the eighth but they
reached him for five more in the ninth. Sixteen of Spokane's 17 runs were earned.
Lewiston ..... 001 030 100— 5 9 4
Spokane ...... 000 415 25x—17 24 0
Butler, Kime (5), Ruddell (6), Richardson (8) and Garay; Romero, Nemes (5) and Sheets.
KENNEWICK, July 14—Clint Weaver's big bat saved the day for Edmonton, as the Eskimos needed 11 innings to pull out a 10-9 victory over the Tri-City Braves on Tuesday night.
His two-run homer in the ninth put the Eskimos out in front.
Tri-City sent the game into extra innings in the bottom of the inning when Len Tran doubled Bob McGuire home. Weaver cracked the tie and won the game in the 11th, scoring on a sacrifice fly after he had tripled.
Edmonton ...... 002 050 002 01— 10 12 1
Tri-City ......... 200 015 001 00—9 12 1
Manier, Day (6), Tisnerat (9) and Morgan; Robertson, Dobernic (9), Bloom (10) and Warren.
Monday, July 13, 1953
W L Pct. GB
Salem ....... 9 3 .750 —
Spokane ..... 10 4 .714 —
Calgary ..... 7 5 .583 2
Lewiston .... 7 5 .583 2
Vancouver ... 6 6 .500 3
Tri-City .... 6 7 .462 3½
Yakima ...... 6 8 .429 4
Victoria .... 4 8 .333 5
Wenatchee ... 4 8 .333 5
Edmonton .... 4 9 .308 5½
KENNEWICK, Wash., July 13 — Jake Bloom chalked up his third straight Western International League baseball win Monday night as he hurled Tri-City Braves to a 5-3 win over Edmonton Eskimos.
Bloom, a former Tacoma high school pitching star, issued only five hits as he went the distance for the Braves.
Tri-City cinched the win in the bottom of the eighth when Jack Warren lifted one over the barrier with one man aboard. Terry Campbell singled Edo Vanni home to give the Braves an insurance tally in the same frame.
The Eskimos got one run in the first on Bob Thompson's double and Vern Campbell's single, another in the second on two walks and Thompson's double and the third in the seventh on Andy Skurski's triple and Bob Sturgeon's long fly to centre.
Edmonton ... 110 000 100—3 5 0
Tri-City ...... 200 000 03x—5 12 0
Widner, Day (8) and Morgan; Bloom and Warren.
(only game scheduled)
Stamp School July 23-24
CALGARY, July 13 — Walter Brock, business manager of the Calgary Stampeders of the Class "A" Western International League, announced here recently that the Stamps would open a try-out camp at Buffalo Stadium July 23 and 24.
Activities at the camp will be varied, with games between teams made up of players in attendance holding the feature spot. In addition to these games, there will be drills in running, fielding, hitting and throwing. Workouts will get under way at 10 o'clock each morning and will continue into the afternoon and will be under the supervision of the Calgary Stampeders' playing manager, Gene Lillard, former major league player.
Any player 17 to 23 years of age who are interested in the opportunity to have their playing abilities appraised bv the very capable Gene Lillard and at the same time get a chance to pick up some valuable playing tips are urged to attend.
They are reminded to bring their own baseball shoes and gloves, and uniforms if they have them. The Stampeders will supply all additional eqipment needed. Any players signing profesional contracts will be fully reimbursed for all expenses incidental to attending the camp.
The Stampeders' management is anxious to develop a crop of players for the future and eventually field a team composed largely of Canadian players if possible. The camp will be the only one to be held in Calgary this season by a professional baseball organization.
Salem ....... 9 3 .750 —
Spokane ..... 10 4 .714 —
Calgary ..... 7 5 .583 2
Lewiston .... 7 5 .583 2
Vancouver ... 6 6 .500 3
Tri-City .... 6 7 .462 3½
Yakima ...... 6 8 .429 4
Victoria .... 4 8 .333 5
Wenatchee ... 4 8 .333 5
Edmonton .... 4 9 .308 5½
KENNEWICK, Wash., July 13 — Jake Bloom chalked up his third straight Western International League baseball win Monday night as he hurled Tri-City Braves to a 5-3 win over Edmonton Eskimos.
Bloom, a former Tacoma high school pitching star, issued only five hits as he went the distance for the Braves.
Tri-City cinched the win in the bottom of the eighth when Jack Warren lifted one over the barrier with one man aboard. Terry Campbell singled Edo Vanni home to give the Braves an insurance tally in the same frame.
The Eskimos got one run in the first on Bob Thompson's double and Vern Campbell's single, another in the second on two walks and Thompson's double and the third in the seventh on Andy Skurski's triple and Bob Sturgeon's long fly to centre.
Edmonton ... 110 000 100—3 5 0
Tri-City ...... 200 000 03x—5 12 0
Widner, Day (8) and Morgan; Bloom and Warren.
(only game scheduled)
Stamp School July 23-24
CALGARY, July 13 — Walter Brock, business manager of the Calgary Stampeders of the Class "A" Western International League, announced here recently that the Stamps would open a try-out camp at Buffalo Stadium July 23 and 24.
Activities at the camp will be varied, with games between teams made up of players in attendance holding the feature spot. In addition to these games, there will be drills in running, fielding, hitting and throwing. Workouts will get under way at 10 o'clock each morning and will continue into the afternoon and will be under the supervision of the Calgary Stampeders' playing manager, Gene Lillard, former major league player.
Any player 17 to 23 years of age who are interested in the opportunity to have their playing abilities appraised bv the very capable Gene Lillard and at the same time get a chance to pick up some valuable playing tips are urged to attend.
They are reminded to bring their own baseball shoes and gloves, and uniforms if they have them. The Stampeders will supply all additional eqipment needed. Any players signing profesional contracts will be fully reimbursed for all expenses incidental to attending the camp.
The Stampeders' management is anxious to develop a crop of players for the future and eventually field a team composed largely of Canadian players if possible. The camp will be the only one to be held in Calgary this season by a professional baseball organization.
The Sports Herald
Keith Matthews
[Vancouver News-Herald, July 14, 1953]
A new rage…
Bob Duretto, the Capilanos’ most recent escapee from California, tells me that the latest rage in his state is not Marilyn Monroe, but an ingenious game called “overhand softball.”
Among others, Bill Schuster is one of the participants of this “overhand softball,” providing—among other things—that the Rooster will still do anything for a laugh.
Recall that it was Schuster who sent audiences into fits of laughter by circling the bases in reverse order, that in protest of a game being played in a slight drizzle Willyum once donned hip boots and a slicker and “rowed” his way out of the much with a couple of “oars” (bats) in the third base coaching box, that one day when umpires refused to call the game on account of darkness in the 16th inning, Bill strode to the plate equipped with a lantern.
However, probably the most typical Schuster story occurred some years ago when the then wily and agile Los Angeles shortstop pulled the ancient hidden-ball play on Seattle’s Jo-Jo White.
It is told that Jo-Jo took his lead off second base, the Rooster eased over to the bag with a smile on his face and hollered “Hey, Jo-Jo, look what I’ve got!”
It was of course a baseball and the moment left its mark on Mr. White. Those who have been “suckered” by the game’s oldest prank are few—but illustrious. Remember Rogers Hornsby? Stan Musial? Lou Gehrig? They are all in the club.
It’s natural
But this is getting away from the original topic, which was overhand softball. The game is catching on fast in California, both in popularity and participants.
It is played with a softball, but under baseball rules. The ball is thrown overhand, as the name of the game signifies, and from a distance of 57 feet, a yard and six inches shorter than the regulation mound. The bases are 15 feet closer, or a total of 75 feet. And, according to Duretto, it’s just an ideal pastime for frustrated old professionals and their direct opposites, high schoolers.
Which sort of includes Schuster.
The way we got the story, Bill is managing one of the weekend clubs in Glendale and because habit is so difficult to break, the Rooster is still wowing ‘em.
Recently, Duretto tells me Schuster was suspended because of one of his verbal outbursts. We might have remarked “naturally”, but some reason, didn’t.
“This time,” Duretto spoke out in defence of his old boss and present business partner, “it wasn’t Bill’s fault.”
“He went up to the plate to argue a decision and the umpire told him to beat it or he’d wrap Bill across the nose with his mask.”
“Bill beat the umpire to it,” Duretto chuckled. “He tried to pull the mask down over the ump’s ears. So they suspended him, and really it wasn’t his fault at all.”
Naturally.
Keith Matthews
[Vancouver News-Herald, July 14, 1953]
A new rage…
Bob Duretto, the Capilanos’ most recent escapee from California, tells me that the latest rage in his state is not Marilyn Monroe, but an ingenious game called “overhand softball.”
Among others, Bill Schuster is one of the participants of this “overhand softball,” providing—among other things—that the Rooster will still do anything for a laugh.
Recall that it was Schuster who sent audiences into fits of laughter by circling the bases in reverse order, that in protest of a game being played in a slight drizzle Willyum once donned hip boots and a slicker and “rowed” his way out of the much with a couple of “oars” (bats) in the third base coaching box, that one day when umpires refused to call the game on account of darkness in the 16th inning, Bill strode to the plate equipped with a lantern.
However, probably the most typical Schuster story occurred some years ago when the then wily and agile Los Angeles shortstop pulled the ancient hidden-ball play on Seattle’s Jo-Jo White.
It is told that Jo-Jo took his lead off second base, the Rooster eased over to the bag with a smile on his face and hollered “Hey, Jo-Jo, look what I’ve got!”
It was of course a baseball and the moment left its mark on Mr. White. Those who have been “suckered” by the game’s oldest prank are few—but illustrious. Remember Rogers Hornsby? Stan Musial? Lou Gehrig? They are all in the club.
It’s natural
But this is getting away from the original topic, which was overhand softball. The game is catching on fast in California, both in popularity and participants.
It is played with a softball, but under baseball rules. The ball is thrown overhand, as the name of the game signifies, and from a distance of 57 feet, a yard and six inches shorter than the regulation mound. The bases are 15 feet closer, or a total of 75 feet. And, according to Duretto, it’s just an ideal pastime for frustrated old professionals and their direct opposites, high schoolers.
Which sort of includes Schuster.
The way we got the story, Bill is managing one of the weekend clubs in Glendale and because habit is so difficult to break, the Rooster is still wowing ‘em.
Recently, Duretto tells me Schuster was suspended because of one of his verbal outbursts. We might have remarked “naturally”, but some reason, didn’t.
“This time,” Duretto spoke out in defence of his old boss and present business partner, “it wasn’t Bill’s fault.”
“He went up to the plate to argue a decision and the umpire told him to beat it or he’d wrap Bill across the nose with his mask.”
“Bill beat the umpire to it,” Duretto chuckled. “He tried to pull the mask down over the ump’s ears. So they suspended him, and really it wasn’t his fault at all.”
Naturally.
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