Friday, June 22, 1951

W L PCT GB
Vancouver ... 44 19 .698 —
Spokane ..... 41 23 .641 2½
Salem ....... 32 31 .508 12
Tri-City .... 28 33 .459 15
Wenatchee ... 29 35 .453 15½
Tacoma ...... 28 36 .538 16½
Yakima ...... 24 36 .400 18½
Victoria .... 25 38 .397 19

SPOKANE, June 22—Spokane's new hurler John Marshall pitched the Indians to a 5 to 4 triumph over Vancouver Friday night in the first of a four-game series.
More than 5,000 fans turned out to watch the Indians in their do-or-die effort against the league-leaders.
A bases-loaded walk by relief pitcher Bill Bruenner following his own error and two previous walks sent in the winning run.
- - - -
SPOKANE [Vancouver Province, June 23]—Bob Brunner, the angular new Vancouver pitcher who subdued Spokane in Vancouver earlier this week, did not enjoy the same fortune here Friday night.
Brunner ran into a streak of wildness in the ninth, walking Mel Wasley with the bases loaded, and the Indians won 5-4.
It was the opening game of the series here after Capilanos manager Bill Schuster was red hot, particularly at the umpiring.
“THIRD TIME”
“This is the third time that Eiler (plate umpire Red Eiler) cost me a one-run ball game,” Schuster said.
Schuster referred to the fifth inning when starting pitcher John Burak was still on the mound for Vancouver.
“There we were leading 3-1,” Schuster said, “and Burak had a 3-2 count on John Marshall. The pitch comes straight down the pike and he should be the third out.
“Instead Eiler calls it a ball.There goes our ball game. They got three runs that inning.”
CAPS OUTHIT ‘EM
Caps outhit the Spokane club 15-8 and left 13 men on bases to the Spokane 11.
For Spokane pitcher John Marshall, it was almost a routine outing. Marshall has turned out to be Vancouver’s nemesis. Friday night, he was in trouble constantly, but his hex held out indefinitely.
Indians set the stage for the ninth-inning win when Murphy walked, Vanni got on when Ray Tran dropped Brunner’s throw to second on an intended sacrifice and Mesner walked.
Bob Snyder will pitch for Vancouver here tonight in the second game of the series. George Nicholas and Carl Gunnarson will handle the Sunday games for the Caps.
The Spokane win put them within 3½ games of Vancouver in the first-place race.
Vancouver ..... 020 010 010—4 15 1
Spokane ........ 010 030 001—5 8 0
Burak, Bruenner (5) and Ritchey; Marshall and Sheets.

SALEM, Ore., June 22—Salem racked up its fifth straight Western International league win Friday night by swarming Wenatchee 13 to 1 in the opener of a four-game series here.
Bill Bevens tossed a four hitter for his ninth win.
Wenatchee .. 000 000 100—1 4 2
Salem ......... 200 220 25x—13 20 3
Breisinger, Kanshin (5), Thompson (7) and Roberson; Bevens and Beard.

TACOMA, June 22—Bud Schulte, Tacoma Tigers pitcher, notched a victory Friday night after five straight defeats as he pitched Tacoma to a 4 to 3 triumph over the Victoria Athletics. The victory was Tacoma's fourth in a row.
The win was a little messy for Schulte, as he allowed eight hits, but walked nine. He stranded 13 Victoria runners.
Moran had a pair of doubles and a single and knocked in a pair of Tigers while K Chorlton knocked in three runs against his former Victoria teammates.
Bill Dunn and Don Pries had a pair of hits for the Athletics. Dunn singled in a pair in the ninth inning while Bill White put Victoria on the board with a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Jim Propst surrendered four runs, three earned, in four innings of work, allowing four hits but walking five.
Victoria ...... 000 001 002—3 8 2
Tacoma ...... 201 102 02x—8 10 0
Propst, Brkich (5) and Martin; Shulte and Lundberg.

KENNEWICK, June 22—Although touched for two home runs in the ninth, Tri-City's Jack Brewer held the Yakima Bears scoreless over the first eight innings as the Braves defeated the Bears 6 to 2 in a Western International League baseball game Friday night.
Brewer had a four-hitter working until the ninth when he allowed home runs by Mike Baxes and Jerry Zuvela. The victory game Brewer a 3-1 slate for the season.
Tri-City scored the eventual winning run in the third when Clint Cameron was hit by a pitched ball and went to third on catcher Nick Pesut's single. He scored on Charlie Peterson's single through the box.
Yakima .... 000 000 002—2 6 0
Tri-City ... 021 010 11x—6 14 0
Boemler and Brenner; Brewer and Pesut.

Indians To Try Baseball Shorts
SPOKANE, June 22—The Spokane Indians are going to give baseball shorts a tryout. If they go over, the club will be bare-kneed the rest of the hot weather season.
Only outfielder Edo Vanni will wear the abbreviated pants at first, however. The rest of the team will stick with the conventional garb when the Indians meet Vancouver in a vital Western International league series.
The Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast league first came out with shorts. They hit just above the knees and socks rolled up just below leave considerable bare leg area.

WIL Collapse Unlikely President Abel Claims
‘Substantial’ People Run League Clubs
[Vancouver Province, June 23, 1951]
The Western International League is in “no immenent danger of financial collapse.”
That was announced Friday night by Robert P. Abel, of Tacoma, president of the professional baseball league of which Vancouver is a member
Abel issued his statement for release in all WIL cities following reports from Victoria and Tacoma Friday that the baseball organizations in those two centres were in serious financial straits owing to falling attendances at ball games and increased costs of operation.
“Every club (in the league),” Abel said in a statement, “is in the hands of substantiak people.
There is no imminent danger of financial collapse.”
The Tacoma club, officials said, is up for sale, and Victoria can not see its way past July 1.
MEETING SUNDAY
Abel said pressing financial matters facing the clubs would be aired at the league’s regular mid-summer meeting in Spokane Sunday.
“Attendance in certain cities is off somewhat thus far this season,” he said, “and expenses are running unusually high.
“What some people overlook, however, is that the Western International League enjoys as firm a financial structure as any Class B league in America—and considerably more firm than most.”
FANS TURN OUT
Abel’s statement of optimism was responded to Friday night by baseball fans. They turned out 5000-strong to watch the Vancouver Capilanos play Spokane, and lose 5-4 to the home club.
(Recently, when he was in Vancouver, Clarence Rowland, president of the AAA Pacific Coast League, said his league’s attendance was off 26 percent from last year.
(Mr. Rowland said that the matter of dropping attendances in professional baseball would probably be the most important item on the agenda of baseball’s winter meetings following the end of the current season).