Sunday, October 21, 2007

Wednesday, June 6, 1951






               W  L  Pct GB
Vancouver ... 33 13 .717 —
Spokane ..... 30 17 .638 3½
Salem ....... 22 24 .478 11
Yakima ...... 19 24 .442 121
Wenatchee ... 21 27 .438 13
Tri-City .... 19 25 .432 13
Tacoma ...... 20 27 .426 13½
Victoria .... 20 27 .426 13½


VICTORIA, B.C., June 6—Victoria Athletics evened their Western International league series with Tri-City Braves Wednesday night when John Tierney came out on top 3-2 in a pitcher's duel with Bob Costello.
Costello failed to receive much help from his teammates, who made three errors, which cost as many as unearned runs. With reasonable support, the veteran should have had a shutout.
Don Pries tried to sacrifice but Vic Buccola got the throw to third in time to force Tierney. Sam Kanelos made a foolish try for a double play, threw the ball into right field. Marv Diercks scored from first on the play and Pries also counted when catcher Pesut dropped the ball on the play at the plate.
A double by Spaeter, an infield out and Clint Cameron's fly sent in the Braves first run in the third. Singles by Peterson and Neil Bryant around a passed ball accounted for the second in the eighth inning. Pesut raised Tri-City hopes in the ninth when he led off with a double, only to die on second as Tierney curved called third strikes past pinch-hitter Cy Greenlaw, Spaeter and Buccola in order.
The scheduled third game of the series has been postponed because of the appearance here of the Fulham football club which takes over the park for an exhibition match against an all star Victoria team.
Tri-City ...... 001 000 010—2 6 3
Victoria ...... 002 000 10x—3 7 0
Costello and Pesut; Tierney and Martin.

TACOMA, June 6 — Bill Bevens let the Tacoma Tigers down with seven hits—four of them in the last inning—to pitch Salem to a 2 to 1 victory over Tacoma Wednesday night.
Bevens allowed but three hits over the first eight innings. Tacoma tallied its lone run in the ninth when John Kovenz opened with a single, then after K. Chorlton
had gone out, Butch Moran and Marion Watson put together singles for the lone Tiger run.
Salem ........ 000 200 000— 2 8 0
Tacoma ...... 000 000 001— 1 7 0
Bevens and McKeegan; Schulte, Clark (9) and Watson.

Spokane at Yakima, postponed, rain.
Wenatchee at Vancouver, postponed, wet grounds.

A FEW TEARS AND MUCH JOY
Caps Bid Goodbye to Old Athletic Park Tonight
By HAL MALONE [Vancouver Sun, June 7, 1951]
When Wenatchee Chiefs and Vancouver Capilanos finish their Western International League baseball game at Capilano Stadium tonight and groundsman Gene Edlund has turned off all the powerful lights, a lot of baseball fans will be happy because they had to sit in the old park for one last time.
For a few dozen fellows, the parting from Athletic Park (they’ll never recognize it by any other name) will be something to shake their memories.
The guy who’ll miss the Fifth Avenue and Hemlock antique most of all will be Bob Brown, the Caps’ general manager. Why?
Because just 38 years ago a surprisingly spry fellow by name of Brown walked through a heavy piece of brush there, carefully setting dynamite sticks to uproot thick stumps so that he might be able to set up a smooth piece of grass on which the greatest game in the world (to him at least) might be played.
Over the years, quite a number of great players passed over the sports where thick trees stood. For some ball players it was just a training ground where they could gather experience for a shot at the majors.
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, members of the New York Yankees’ “Murderers’ Row,” played there. Brown remembers their coming and playing just as if it happened yesterday.
“They were on tour,” the old red-head reminisced last night. “Connie Mack was managing them. It was raining—real heavy like—and Mack didn’t want them to play. They came out to the ball park, anyway, without Connie. He went to a show.
“It drizzled most of the game and when Ruth came up in the seventh inning, I asked the umpire to call the game. The crowd moaned and Ruth yelled ‘If you can stand it so can I,’ and they finished the game.
Going farther back, Bob remembers when the WIL opened in 1913 at Athletic Park and the Vancouver team was known as the “Beavers.” Names like Dutch Reuther, Barker Cadman, Cliff McCarl, Dode Brinker and Wally Hood roll from Bob’s lips as it he had seen them yesterday.
Another fellow who won’t forget Athletic Park is Nat Bailey. He used to sell peanuts there. For a nickel you got a bag of goobers and a singing commercial from Nat. Today he owns a string of drive-ins.
Brown and other old-timers won’t see forget watching Norm Trasolini, who made up for what he might have lacked in talent, with an unrehearsed vaudeville performance. Nor will they soon forget Marcel Serventi, a real good pitcher, who was killed in the South Pacific during the last war. Or Coley Hall screaming at umpires. Or Johnny Nestman, the little pepper-pot at third base. Or Amby Moran, easily the best umpire to ever throw a player out of the park.
There were two fires at the park, both of them devastating but neither one of them wholly damaging. Brown lost his records in one of the blazes but his love for the park didn’t fade with the embers.
Old Capilano Stadium was the home of football games, soccer games, outdoor lacross finals and other events.
Early tomorrow morning they’ll start cutting up the turf and moving it into the infield at the new Capilano Stadium at 30th and Ontario. Some of the seats will be moved, too. And down in the cramped quarters of Brown’s office, some old pictures will come off the wall.
Mr. Brown will say good-bye tonight to old “Athletic Park.”
Like most good-byes he’ll find it awful hard to say.

SPORTS ROUNDUP
By HUGH S. FULLERTON, JR.
The Associated Press [June 7, 1951]

HE COULDN'T BE CHEW-SY
Billy Mills, a baseball comedian, was all set to do his show in Spokane, Wash., the other night when a last-minute checkup of the P. A. system revealed there was no microphone on the field. . .While attendants raced around looking for the missing mike, Billy dashed into the stands, bought $5 worth of babble gam and headed for a bleacher section filled with kids. . . By tossing gum and witticisms to the youngsters, Mills kept the show alive until the mike was found. . . As the climax to his act, Billy gave an impersonation of Babe Ruth and his celebrated “called shot” homer. . .He made the swing, trotted around the bases then, as a final touch,
readied into his pocket for a big red handkerchief to mop his forehead Mills' face dropped as he suddenly headed for the dugout and he sheepishly explained: “Gads! No hankie; only bubble gum.”

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