TACOMA, July 9 — A sensational 19-for-36 week with the willow has boosted Vancouver's John Ritchey into the driver's seat in the Western International league batting race with a .382 average.
An even 20 points behind teammate Dick Sinovic a week ago — their marks were .358 and .378, respectively — Ritchey picked up 24 points while Sinovic, limited to 7 hits in 37 trips, slumped to .357.
Len Neal, Wenatchee catcher, is third at .355, down two points from last week.
While shorn of the battle lead, Sinovic remains comfortably ahead in the runs-batted-in race with 74, having increased the total by five. Tied for runner-up honors with 59 are no fewer than four players, Reno Cheso of Vancouver, Butch Moran of Tacoma, Buddy Peterson of Tri-City and Hal Jackson of Victoria.
Wenatchee's Will Hafey boosted his league reading home run mark to 11 with a Saturday night round - tripper at Tri-City, while Vic Buccola of Tri-City and Bill White are tied for the second spot with nine apiece.
G AB H RBI HR AVE
Ritchey, Van ...... 79 254 97 46 5 .382
Schmidt, Van-Sal .. 35 92 35 18 0 .380
Sinovic, Van ...... 82 319 114 74 5 .357
Neal, Wen ......... 71 258 92 35 3 .355
Vanni, Spok ....... 81 352 124 41 1 .352
Moran, Tac ........ 82 395 114 39 1 .351
B Peterson, T-C ... 71 262 90 39 3 .344
Pries, Vic ........ 83 322 110 38 3 .3S2
R. White, Vic ..... 23 82 28 13 0 .341
Saxes, Yak ........ 80 292 96 33 2 .329
Kovenz, Tac ....... 77 289 95 42 4 .329
Spokes Sell Hurler
BOISE, Idaho, July 9 — Maury Doerr, owner of the Pioneer league Boise pilots, announced today he had purchased Maynard Parks, a left-handed pitcher, from the Spokane Indians of the Western International league.
Parks has been used largely in relief work this year and has a 1-0 record with Spokane. He played with Great Falls last season and had a record of 16 wins and eight losses.
A’s May Add Infielder
VICTORIA, July 9—A shaky mound situation was somewhat relieved for the Victoria Athletics today when Bill Carr, veteran righthander, agreed to report. He is due to join the club Tuesday.
Business manager Reg Patterson is also hoping to come to terms with Jimmie Clark, the 23-year-old infielder who spent part of the 1948 season with Washington.
Clark, apparently not in organized baseball this season, wrote stating he was available. He played with Miami Beach in the Florida International League last season, was with Columbus in the Sally League the year before. He played about 80 games for Chattanooga, Texas League [sic], in 1948, was called up by the Senators and managed to get into nine American League games.
ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor [July 10, 1951]
Tonight the Tri-City Braves open a 11-game road trip that should fairly well determine whether they are going to be in the playoffs at the end of the season or not. Should they return still a first division club then the odds will definitely be running in their favor. But the contrariwise is just as true also. To stay up there they will have to play .500 ball, that against Spokane and Salem, second and third respectively in the league. Yakima midway in the schedule might have been a soft touch a couple of weeks back but their resurgence over Victoria last week indicates the Bears have beefed up their club quite a bit. And when you come right down to cases what team hasn't been strengthened . . . except the Braves.
True Jack Brewer and Sam Kanelos are comparative new faces and have proved to be decidedly adequate. On the mound Brewer has a 4-4 record while Kanelos after hovering around the .260 stick mark has suddenly shot to .282 and is the equal of any third baseman they have had. But the Braves have lost a lot of ball games because of lack of power at the plate. Juggling the lineup, as Manager Charlie Petersen has tried, can give a team a momentary shot in the arm but it can't be expected to last forever.
Instead of going into the outfield market before the reason opened, the front office instead picked up a player here and there for a hundred or two. It was obvious from the start that the outfield was going to be the big question mark. Jim Warner in centerfield was gone and Dick Faber in left was also missing. Warner had bought up his contract and Faber was lost to the team because of that celebrated contract made with the St. Louis Cardinals. They also lost Jim McKeegan, another Sac property, because the Tri-City club had elected to go along with St. Louis.
THAT'S A JOKE SON
There were outfielders available who could easily have filled either Warner's or Faber's position. Sure they were going to cost some money. But in the long view it wouldn't have been any more than has been piddled and dabbled away trying to get "great" outfielders at a “cheap” price. There just isn't any such bargain.
Tonight the Tri-City Braves open a 11-game road trip that should fairly well determine whether they are going to be in the playoffs at the end of the season or not. Should they return still a first division club then the odds will definitely be running in their favor. But the contrariwise is just as true also. To stay up there they will have to play .500 ball, that against Spokane and Salem, second and third respectively in the league. Yakima midway in the schedule might have been a soft touch a couple of weeks back but their resurgence over Victoria last week indicates the Bears have beefed up their club quite a bit. And when you come right down to cases what team hasn't been strengthened . . . except the Braves.
True Jack Brewer and Sam Kanelos are comparative new faces and have proved to be decidedly adequate. On the mound Brewer has a 4-4 record while Kanelos after hovering around the .260 stick mark has suddenly shot to .282 and is the equal of any third baseman they have had. But the Braves have lost a lot of ball games because of lack of power at the plate. Juggling the lineup, as Manager Charlie Petersen has tried, can give a team a momentary shot in the arm but it can't be expected to last forever.
Instead of going into the outfield market before the reason opened, the front office instead picked up a player here and there for a hundred or two. It was obvious from the start that the outfield was going to be the big question mark. Jim Warner in centerfield was gone and Dick Faber in left was also missing. Warner had bought up his contract and Faber was lost to the team because of that celebrated contract made with the St. Louis Cardinals. They also lost Jim McKeegan, another Sac property, because the Tri-City club had elected to go along with St. Louis.
THAT'S A JOKE SON
There were outfielders available who could easily have filled either Warner's or Faber's position. Sure they were going to cost some money. But in the long view it wouldn't have been any more than has been piddled and dabbled away trying to get "great" outfielders at a “cheap” price. There just isn't any such bargain.
Meanwhile all eyes were on the East waiting for help from the Cardinals. They waited so long it got to be a joke, so much so that when any old codger was seen ambling down the street the gag used to be “here comes the Cardinal outfielder.” Sure the Braves got help from Sacramento this year. They sent up a high school graduate who hasn't pitched a ball in a professional game yet. Personally we like the slim youngster. He has lots of personality but right now the club needs experienced players. Pitchers who can go out and win a ball game or others who can sock that ball.
TOO LATE FOR HELP NOW
From the viewpoint of this bureau the whole trouble stems back directly to the agreement signed with St. Louis. The shift in general managers came much too late to change that, However, neither can we see the advantage to be gained in bringing up an untried pitcher. To date Buzz Berriesford hasn't inked a Brave contract.
The league is well past the half way point now. The pace is going to get rougher and rougher. So far it's been a tough struggle for the Braves to hold fourth. That's why we feel that if the same spirit that has held them there can do so on this long road jaunt then the rest of the way in should be somewhat easier.
FINALLY MAKING AN EFFORT
Had the front office gone out and bought a pair of hard hitting outfielders their team would probably be pushing Vancouver hard for the top rung instead of desperately clinging to fourth. The old cliche of being “pennywise and pound-foolish” seems to fit the situation. The attendance is at this point under last season's. Fans just won't fill a park unless they are fairly confident their team will win. And with few exceptions it's true of every baseball town. The resultant loss in attendance alone this season would probably have paid for a couple of good outfielders.
One ray of light though has been the apparent decision by the Tri-City front office to definitely try and stimulate attendance through promotion. Ladies' nights appear to be in the offing as well as several other tried and true methods which have worked elsewhere. Considering that Bill Veeck has practically written a blue print for baseball promotion it's amazing that what is good enough for triple AAA and the majors so far has made little headway into the lower minors.
TOO LATE FOR HELP NOW
From the viewpoint of this bureau the whole trouble stems back directly to the agreement signed with St. Louis. The shift in general managers came much too late to change that, However, neither can we see the advantage to be gained in bringing up an untried pitcher. To date Buzz Berriesford hasn't inked a Brave contract.
The league is well past the half way point now. The pace is going to get rougher and rougher. So far it's been a tough struggle for the Braves to hold fourth. That's why we feel that if the same spirit that has held them there can do so on this long road jaunt then the rest of the way in should be somewhat easier.
FINALLY MAKING AN EFFORT
Had the front office gone out and bought a pair of hard hitting outfielders their team would probably be pushing Vancouver hard for the top rung instead of desperately clinging to fourth. The old cliche of being “pennywise and pound-foolish” seems to fit the situation. The attendance is at this point under last season's. Fans just won't fill a park unless they are fairly confident their team will win. And with few exceptions it's true of every baseball town. The resultant loss in attendance alone this season would probably have paid for a couple of good outfielders.
One ray of light though has been the apparent decision by the Tri-City front office to definitely try and stimulate attendance through promotion. Ladies' nights appear to be in the offing as well as several other tried and true methods which have worked elsewhere. Considering that Bill Veeck has practically written a blue print for baseball promotion it's amazing that what is good enough for triple AAA and the majors so far has made little headway into the lower minors.
JOTS AND DOTS . . . HERE AND THERE
Now that Neil Bryant seems on his way to mastering the outfield the Braves have one .300 hitter in the outer garden. Clint Cameron, who. has been in slump, is no.v bothered by the addition of a cold that settled in his shoulders. . . As long as Sam Kanelos can hold a .270 to .280 hitting mark, plus his sudden rise in defensive ability there's no question that Tri-City has the smoothest and best infield in the league. The other three Vic Buccola, Al Spaeter and Buddy Peterson are all over the .300 mark and have been most of the season. Kanelos doesn't look like that kind of a hitter but if he can hold his current pace he'll be there soon.
Now that Neil Bryant seems on his way to mastering the outfield the Braves have one .300 hitter in the outer garden. Clint Cameron, who. has been in slump, is no.v bothered by the addition of a cold that settled in his shoulders. . . As long as Sam Kanelos can hold a .270 to .280 hitting mark, plus his sudden rise in defensive ability there's no question that Tri-City has the smoothest and best infield in the league. The other three Vic Buccola, Al Spaeter and Buddy Peterson are all over the .300 mark and have been most of the season. Kanelos doesn't look like that kind of a hitter but if he can hold his current pace he'll be there soon.
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