W L PCT GB
Vancouver ... 33 12 .733 —
Spokane ..... 30 17 .638 4
Salem ....... 21 23 .477 11½
Yakima ...... 19 24 .442 13
Tri-City .... 18 24 .429 13½
Wenatchee ... 20 27 .426 14
Victoria .... 19 26 .422 14
Tacoma ...... 19 26 .422 14
VANCOUVER, B.C., June 4—Both pitchers hit homers here Monday night as Tri-City Braves trod on the toes of the Western International league leading Vancouver Capilanos, 11-4. The victory gave the Braves a 2-2 split on the series.
Cy Greenlaw gave up 11 hits to Vancouver but never allowed more than two in an inning. He whacked two homers and a single to drive in four runs. Vic Buccola smashed another round-tripper for Tri-City.
Tri-City combed three Vancouver pitchers for 16 hits, eight of them off the starter and loser, Pete Hernandez. Hernandez homered for Vancouver in the fourth with a mate on.
- - - -
VANCOUVER, B. C., June 5 [Herald] — Cy Greenlaw cranked up his aging arm here Monday night and baffled the league leaders of the Western International league 11 to 4 to earn a split in the series.
But he made no mistake about the victory. . .Cy also slammed two over the fence, each time with a man on base.
Not that creaking Cy showed the Caps a blazing fast ball. He didn't. In all, the Caps got to him for 11 hits. But apart from a home run by pitcher Pete Harnandez the other Cap blows were of the one base variety and well spaced.
At bat Greenlaw really shone. He hit two home runs and a single and batted in four runs. The sage who suggested pitchers are weak with the willow obviously never heard of Mr. Greenlaw. When Greenlaw wasn't pounding three Cap pitchers to bits' the rest of the Tri-City Braves were.
They accounted for 13 hits including a home run by Vic Buccola his seventh, and doubles by Neil Bryant and Buccola. Considerable support was given Greenlaw in the field, third baseman Sam Kanelos in particular made two neat plays and Buccola and Artie Wilson chipped in with others which helped old grandad, past the rough spots.
On the Caps side of the ledger only Dick Sinovic was his usual larruping self. He notched three hits in four tries and added a run-batter in to his league leading total. Hernandez started for the Caps but an ailing wing and lack of cooperation from the Tri-City hurler sent him shower-wards after five innings.
In his place came Jim Olsen, the 240-pound right hander, the Caps purchased from Tri-City. The Braves took one look at Olsen and greeted him like a lost millionaire uncle. He stayed around two and two-thirds innings and was reached for seven hits and six runs.
He might have fared better had he not pitched a half hour of pre-game batting practice.
Tri-City ....... 001 403 030—11 16 0
Vancouver ... 011 200 000— 4 11 2
Greenlaw and Pesut; Hernandez, Olsen (6), King (7) and Ritchie.
VICTORIA, B.C., June 4—Victoria Athletics took the series finale from Wenatchee Chiefs here Monday night, winning 7-3 behind the steady pitching of Bill Osborn. Victoria won the series 3-1.
Osborn scattered 10 hits effectively running into trouble only in the fifth and sixth innings when the Chiefs picked up six of their hits and all of their runs.
A 2-2 tie was broken in the sixth when Bill White's pop fly behind short fell for a hit with two put and runners on second and third.
The A's put together a walk, three singles and a wild pitch for three more runs in the eighth. White and catcher Milt Martin led the 12-hit Victoria attack on Mike Kanshin, each getting three hits.
Wenatchee .... 000 021 000—3 10 0
Victoria ......... 020 002 03x—7 12 1
Kanshin and Neal; Osborn and Martin.
A’s Sign Bob Sturgeon As Infield Reinforcement
[Victoria Colonist, June 5, 1951]
Victoria Athletics yesterday announced they had come to terms with Bob Sturgeon, former major and Coast League infielder, and they expect Sturgeon will be in the line-up tonight when Tri-City Braves open a two-game series.
Sturgeon will likely be installed at shortstop immediately with Gene Thompson moving back to the outfield. When shortstop Bill Dunn gets back in action some time next week, Sturgeon will move to third base with Lilio Marcucci returning to his usual post behind the plate.
Acquisition of Sturgeon was a surprise even to business manager Reg Patterson, who was searching everywhere for a needed infielder. Released by Los Angeles last week, Sturgeon phoned Patterson Sunday night to say he was available and terms were agreed to at once,
Although he never hit in the higher brackets in major or Coast League baseball, Sturgeon should find W.I.L. pitching much easier. Defensively, he is highly rated and is doubly valuable because he can do—and has done—a workmanlike job at third and second bases and shortstop, his regular position.
Sturgeon’s best season was in 1946, when he hit .296 in 100 games for the Chicago Clubs—72 at shortstop and 21 at second base. He played three infield positions for the Cubs in 1947, appearing in 87 games and batting .254. He was with the Boston Braves in 1948 and came to Seattle in 1949. The Rainiers traded him to Los Angeles for Bill Schuster and he wound up that season with a .272 batting average in 152 games—73 with Seattle and 79 with Los Angeles. He got into 100 games for the Angels last season.
Sturgeon becomes the second new player to join the A’s this week. Outfielder Orrin Snyder reported yesterday and was in left field for last night’s game against Wenatchee. He hit a single and drew a walk in four trips. Just which of the four outfielders will be in the dugout tonight if Sturgeon plays will be up to Dick Barrett.
Barrett, incidentally, may soon have more problems of a similar nature. The A’s are determined to find talent which will bring the club up in the race and a second infield addition is possible in the near future with Portland promising to option a player if he can be signed. A trade is also a possibility with the A’s in position to offer a “package” for the right type of player.
Marcucci Replaces Buccola As WIL Batting LeaderTACOMA, June 5—Lilio Marcucci, slugging Victoria catcher-infielder, has replaced Tri-City's Vic Buccola as the Western International league batting leader, it was revealed today in statistics released by the office of Robert B. Abel, W-I president.
Marcucci collected 15 hits in 34 times at bat last week to hoist his average 17 points to .374. Buccola, meanwhile, was the victim of a 5rfor-3-0 week and he dropped 45 points to .355 and fourth place behind Victoria's Don Pries-at .363 and Vancouver's Dick Sinovic at .359.
Slnovic surrendered the runs-batted-in lead to a teammate Reno Cheso, who has belted. 43 tallies across to Sinovic's 41. Jim Wert and Ken Richardson of Spokane are third with 36 apiece.
Bill White of Victoria remains the home run leader with seven, while Buccola has six. Tied for third with five apiece are Marcucci, Will Hafey of Wenatchee, Jerry Zuvela of Yakima and Ed Nulty of Spokane.
The leaders: Western International league batting. (Includes games of Sunday, June 3, for all players except pitchers batting less than .200).
G AB H RBI HR Avg.
Marcucci, Vic ..... 42 163 61 29 5 .374
Pries, Vic ........ 43 160 58 20 2 .363
Sinovic, Van ...... 43 170 61 41 3 .359
Buccola, T-C ...... 41 155 55 26 6 .355
Vanni, Spok ....... 47 209 74 20 1 .354
Palmer, Wen ....... 33 122 43 21 0 .353
Moran, Tac ........ 45 182 64 35 1 .352
Zuvela, Yak ....... 39 161 56 30 5 .348
Mead, Van ......... 30 102 35 15 3 .343
Len Neal, Wen ..... 44 155 53 15 2 .342
ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor [from June 5/51]
VANCOUVER, BC.—It was quite a home coming for Bob Costello here Friday night. Not only did he win his first ball game but he also got his first base hits of the season . . . two of them at that. Long, lean, and lanky Cos got a terrific hand the first time he came to bat, and to the surprise of no ono was promptly fanned by Carl Gunnarson. But the next time up he laced one over the first baseman's head for a single and followed that with another single over second base his third time up. . . after that the Cap fans weren't very enthuastic about Cos.
This was our first look at the Capilano stadium and if if you've never seen it you won't have the chance to see another like it after the 15th of this month, when they move to the new one. They say it's 275 feet to the right field wall and 330 to the left. Before we leave we're going to pace them both off because it certainly looks a lot shorter than that both ways. Well, here's an idea of how short the right field fence is. The fielder out there plays so close in that it isn't unusual for a batter to be thrown out at first on what in other parks would be a single. They say that one fellow was thrown out four successive times.
THEY LOOK A LOT DIFFERENT
This certainly isn't the same Braves team we saw leave the Tri-Cities. Now they have three third baseman with the arrival of Sam Kanelos. Kanelos is on third, Artie Wilson in left and Neil Bryant in right field. Mel Reeves was turned back to San Jose. Charlie Petersen took a $300 look and decided Reeves wouldn't do following
the Wenatchee series. He was highly touted by the Cardinals as being fleet afoot and murderous with the bat. And that may have well been the case in the Class "C" California State league but Reeves wasn't able to hit those curves he saw in the WIL.
One old face turned up in an unfarrm:iar uniform here Friday night when we spotted Jim Olsen working with Vancouver. Jim is here with the Caps for a cup of coffee. Then if he shows he can help them he'll stick around. Vancouver is supposed to be weak on pitching but it's hard to find a Cap hurler with a losing record. However, Billy Schuster may be looking to the season ahead.
LOOKING FOR DEALS
Meanwhile Charlie Petersen is trying to finagle a deal for outfielders and pitchers if he can find any better than what he has. Naturally he'd like to land Dick Sinovic from Vancouver but they feel the same way about the fence busting outfielder . . . they want him too.
Another new face on the Tri-City club is that of Jack Brewer, a pitcher. Brewer throw batting practice Friday night and will probably first appear in the regular lineup as a reliefer. At least that's the indication from the skipper. Brewer wants to bring his arm around gradually after a two-week layoff. He hurt his arm a year ago and doesn't want a repeat.
THEY CAN HARDLY WAIT
Vancouver, and by that we mean the fans, are getting impatient for the opening for their new stadium. It's a miniature of Seattle's and cost in the neighborhood of a half million. Bob Brown is going to lift the sod from the old park and move it to the new one. That's rather interesting too, because Brown had that sod moved into the old park years and years ago. "For all I know that sod is older than I am," he said . . . and he's fast pushing 80.
This was our first look at the Capilano stadium and if if you've never seen it you won't have the chance to see another like it after the 15th of this month, when they move to the new one. They say it's 275 feet to the right field wall and 330 to the left. Before we leave we're going to pace them both off because it certainly looks a lot shorter than that both ways. Well, here's an idea of how short the right field fence is. The fielder out there plays so close in that it isn't unusual for a batter to be thrown out at first on what in other parks would be a single. They say that one fellow was thrown out four successive times.
THEY LOOK A LOT DIFFERENT
This certainly isn't the same Braves team we saw leave the Tri-Cities. Now they have three third baseman with the arrival of Sam Kanelos. Kanelos is on third, Artie Wilson in left and Neil Bryant in right field. Mel Reeves was turned back to San Jose. Charlie Petersen took a $300 look and decided Reeves wouldn't do following
the Wenatchee series. He was highly touted by the Cardinals as being fleet afoot and murderous with the bat. And that may have well been the case in the Class "C" California State league but Reeves wasn't able to hit those curves he saw in the WIL.
One old face turned up in an unfarrm:iar uniform here Friday night when we spotted Jim Olsen working with Vancouver. Jim is here with the Caps for a cup of coffee. Then if he shows he can help them he'll stick around. Vancouver is supposed to be weak on pitching but it's hard to find a Cap hurler with a losing record. However, Billy Schuster may be looking to the season ahead.
LOOKING FOR DEALS
Meanwhile Charlie Petersen is trying to finagle a deal for outfielders and pitchers if he can find any better than what he has. Naturally he'd like to land Dick Sinovic from Vancouver but they feel the same way about the fence busting outfielder . . . they want him too.
Another new face on the Tri-City club is that of Jack Brewer, a pitcher. Brewer throw batting practice Friday night and will probably first appear in the regular lineup as a reliefer. At least that's the indication from the skipper. Brewer wants to bring his arm around gradually after a two-week layoff. He hurt his arm a year ago and doesn't want a repeat.
THEY CAN HARDLY WAIT
Vancouver, and by that we mean the fans, are getting impatient for the opening for their new stadium. It's a miniature of Seattle's and cost in the neighborhood of a half million. Bob Brown is going to lift the sod from the old park and move it to the new one. That's rather interesting too, because Brown had that sod moved into the old park years and years ago. "For all I know that sod is older than I am," he said . . . and he's fast pushing 80.
Can He Field?
MONTGOMERY, Ala., June 4—Attention Boston.
The outfielder named Dick Greco that the Red Sox recently sold outright for a small sum has made Montgomery fans doubt Beantown businessmen's ability.
Sunday the 25-year-old. 220-pounder hit his 10th home run in 16 games. He has come to bat 82 times, driven in 27 runs and has a batting average of .370.
The South Atlantic league-leading Montgomery team has won 16 of its last 18 games—10 in a row. When Greco, formerly with Tacoma in the Western International league, arrived the club was in seventh place.
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