Saturday, June 9, 1951

               W  L  Pct GB
Vancouver ... 36 13 .775 —
Spokane ..... 32 19 .627 5
Salem ....... 23 26 .469 13
Victoria .... 22 27 .449 14
Yakima ...... 21 26 .447 14
Tri-City .... 21 26 .447 14
Tacoma ...... 21 30 .412 16
Wenatchee ... 21 30 .412 16

KENNEWICK, June 9—The Tri-City Braves got two good pitching jobs Saturday night and turned them into a twin victory over Tacoma in a Western International league doubleheader.
Tri-City took the seven-inning opener 4 to 1 and won the nightcap 4 to 0 behind four-hit pitching by southpaw Cy Greenlaw.
Tacoma could muster but one run for the evening. It came in the fifth inning of the opener when Sol Israel doubled and came home on John Kovenz' single.
- - - -
KENNEWICK, June 9 [Herald]—THE TRI-CITY Braves won both games of the doubleheader Saturday night in Sanders Field.
The Tacoma Tigers went down 4-1 in the opener while Cy Greenlaw shut them out, 4-0, in the nightcap.
It was the first shutout game of the season for Sanders field and 1,570 fans watched the old mound master, Greenlaw, never once lose control. He struckout five Tigers and walked only three. It was his third victory this year.
The wins gave the Braves a 2-1 edge for the current series.
The final game will be played tonight. Game time will be 7:30.
GREENLAW never once was in trouble. He gave up only four hits and no Tiger ever got past first base. The double-play combination of Buddy Peterson to Al Spaeter to Vic Buccola clicked twice during the game.
Three of the Brave runs came in the second inning. Greenlaw's bat accounted for two of them.
His single drove in Neil Bryant and Sam Kanelos. Tiger Hurler Charlie Funk loaded the bases with walks. Another four balls to Buccola gave Nick Pesut a free ride across the plate.
Peterson's homer with none aboard in the fifth inning accounted for the final tally.
Three of the runs in the Brave opener came after two were out. Neil Bryant doubled, driving home two runs, and then he crossed the plate when Bill Eddlestein [sic] singled.
The final count came four innings later. Nick Pesut got hit by a pitched ball and went to second on Jack Brewer's sacrifice. He scored on Al Spaeter's single.
Brewer, the pitcher, made his first appearance on the home field, giving up nine hits.
Sol Isreal made Tacoma's tally. He doubled and came home on Kovenz' single.
First Game
Tacoma ..... 000 010 0—1 7 1
Tri-City ..... 300 100 x—4 9 0
Knezovich and Watson; Brewer and Pesut.
Second Game
Tacoma ..... 000 000 000—0 4 0
Tri-City ...... 030 010 00x—4 7 1
Funk, Mishasek (2), Barta (8) and Lundberg; Greenlaw and Pesut.

SALEM, Ore., June 9—Victoria edged Salem 4 to 3 in a Western International league basbeall game here Saturday night to sweep the first half of a four game series.
Salem stepped off to an early lead, taking two runs on three hits in the first inning.
Victoria tied it up in the second with 2 runs on hits by Hal Jackson, Orin Snyder, Milt Martin and Pitcher Jim Hedgecock.
Hedgecock's two run single in the fourth inning put Victoria ahead.
Salem's Glen Stetter doubled Pete Tedeschi home for the final run of the game in the eighth.
The two teams meet Sunday in a night doubleheader.
Victoria ..... 020 200 000—4 9 0
Salem ........ 300 000 010—3 8 1
Hedgecock, Tierney (9) and Martin, Marcucci (4); Hemphill, Lew (5) and McKeegan.

SPOKANE, June 9—Spokane took a 2 to 0 lead in their four game Western International baseball league series with Yakima Saturday night, defeating the Bears 4 to 2.
Yakima ..... 010 000 010—2 8 1
Spokane .... 000 020 20x—4 6 0
Zidich and Tiesiera; Rockey and Nulty.

WEMATCHEE, June 9—George Nicholas limited Wenatchee to six hits to give Vancouver a 7 to 1 victory Saturday night in a Western International league baseball game.
Wenatchee opened the scoring with a síngle run in the first inning. In the second, Ray Tran and John Ritchey singled for the Caps, both scoring when the Wenatchee outfield played at Alphonse and Gaston on Nicholas' outfield fly. It fell for a double and Nicholas later scored on an error.
Vancouver .... 031 000 120—7 14 1
Wenatchee .... 100 000 000—1 6 4
Nicholas and Ritchey; Gassaway and Neal.

Spokane Signs A New Hurler
SPOKANE, June 10 — The Spokane Indians signed a rookie pitcher and released another today. Gordon Palm, right hander who pitched this spring for North Idaho college of education was signed and Howie Martin, young Canadian pitcher, was given his outright release. Efforts by the Spokane club to farm Martin out failed.
Palm won eight games for North Idaho this spring. One of his best performances was against Spokane during spring training when he set the Indians down with only a couple of hits.

Yakima Purchases Caps Sacker
YAKIMA, Wash., June 10 — The Yakima Bears of the Western International league have purchased first baseman Earl Richmond, who bats and throws lefthanded.
Richmond was acquired in a deal with the Vancouver Capilanos.
Lee Riley, business manager of the Bears, announced he was leaving his position to return to his job as a theater manager here. Field manager Bill Brenner and Mrs. Edgar Mercy, secretary, will take over Riley's duties.

Marcucci Assumes WIL Batting Lead
TACOMA, Wash., — Lilio Marcucci of Victoria led Western International league hitters in games through Thursday, June 7, with a .370 mark, according to figures released by League President Robert Abel.
Vic Buccola of Tri-City and Bill White of Victoria were tied for the home run leadership with seven each, while Dick Sinovic of Vancouver led in runs-batted-in with 45.
The leading hitters:
                        AB H RBI  AVE
Marcucci, Victoria ....173 64 30 .370
Sinovic, Vancouver ... 185 68 45 .368
Pries, Victoria ...... 171 62 20 .363
Neal, Wenatchee ...... 160 61 17 .363
Kovenz, Tacoma ....... 156 55 21 .353
Moran, Tacoma ........ 194 68 35 .351
Buccola, Tri-City .... 168 59 30 .351

ON THE INSIDE

By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor [June 10/51]
If Clint Cameron ever decides to report to San Francisco the Braves search for a well-balanced outfield will be pushed harder than ever. Meanwhile, Cameron will still be with the club for some time. At least that's the way it looks right now.
It isn't that Clint doesn't want another shot at the Coast Leagues, but there are financial difficulties involved. A stipulation in the contract has to be ironed out and it may be that Clint will finish out the season here.
Well, about the only direction left for the Braves to go now is up, and they still have a good chance to finish near the top. It's still a long way from July 4, mythical turning point, of the league. Little by little the kinks' seem to be getting ironed out. For awhile, at the start of the season, the pitching seemed to be a problem, but the veteran arms are taking on new life as the sun gets warmer. One of the chief difficulties so far with the team seems to have been in getting
good pitching backed up by a solid hitting attack and fielding defense. When they do get that right combination, they are on a par with any other team in the league.
STILL SOME PROBLEMS
But you can look for more new faces before too many more weeks go by. Obviously if Cameron leaves, at least one, and possibly more, outfielders will be added. And just what the situation at third base will be is still doubtful. In young Sam Kanelos the Braves have a good leather man. But once again manager Charlie Peterson has the problem of whether to settle for a stronger defense at that position, or for a stronger offense.

Thursday, June 7, 1951

               W  L  Pct GB
Vancouver ... 34 13 .723 —
Spokane ..... 30 19 .613 5
Salem ....... 23 24 .489 11
Yakima ...... 21 24 .467 13
Victoria .... 21 27 .438 13½
Tri-City .... 19 25 .432 13½
Wenatchee ... 21 28 .429 14
Tacoma ...... 27 27 .428 14

VANCOUVER, B.C., June 7 — Vancouver Capilanos Thursday night traded out of the ramshackle, 38-year-old Capilano stadium for the last time—and they left as winners.
The Caps rallied for two runs in the 11th inning to nip Wenatchee Chiefs 10-8 and end the rain-abbreviated, two-game series at one game apiece.
Despite 16 hits by the winners and 13 by the losers, only four pitchers saw action. Winner Bill Whyte relieved star Carl Gunnarson in the eighth. Lou Tost, who took over from Al Treichel in the seventh, took the loss.
- - - -
VANCOUVER [Erwin Swangard, Sun, June 8]—Vancouver Capilanos bowed out of old Athletic Park Thursday night and not even a top Hollywood writer could have composed a more dramatic script for their farewell appearance.
For a while at least, it looked as if Caps’ board of strategy was determined to hand Wenatchee Chiefs a much-appreciated goodbye gift in the form of a victory—that was before catcher John Ritchey belted a tremendous homer over the right field fence in the 11th inning.
As baseball games go Thursday night, played before some 2000 shivering fans, had a little bit of everything, topped off by:
1. Gordon Brunswick’s daring steal home in the sixth inning.
2. Two wind-swept homers by Lil Arnerich and Jim Marshall of the visitors.
3. Vancouver’s own Bill Whyte’s one-hit relief pitching over four innings and his long game-tying single in the ninth.
4. Capilanos’ fantastic base-running in that ninth which probably robbed them of a chance to win the game right then and there.
COME FROM BEHIND
At that the Caps came from far behind. They trailed 5-1 after five innings as pitcher Carl Gunnarson presented no puzzle to the Chiefs batters. They tied the score at 6-6 in the sixth.
They were behind once more in the seventh, 8-7. Whyte’s single off the right centre field screen sent Reno Cheso home with the equalizer in the ninth.
On the same play, Ritchey was waved to home plate all the way from first. He was a sitting duck on the relay. Meanwhile, Whyte had made it to second which would have left the Caps with runners at second and third and one away if Ritchey had been held up at third.
As it was McGuire struck out and the teams had to play two more extra innings. Ritchey clouted one of Lou Post’s [sic] special deliveries right on the nose with Cheso once more aboard. That ball is probably still going. The Chiefs outfielders didn’t even bother to watch its flight. They just came trotting in.
FAST START
Meanwhile as workmen started dismantling seats for the move to the new Stadium in Little Mountain, general manager Bob Brown announced first baseman Earl Richmond had been sold outright to Yakima Bears and pitcher Bob Brunner [sic] would join the Caps next week.
Caps left today for a four-game series at Wenatchee and a three-game series at Tri-City before returning here Friday, June 15 for the grand opening at Little Mountain.
Who will pitch that opening game? Either Bob Snyder or George Nicholas.
Wenatchee ...... 200 301 200 00— 8 16 1
Vancouver ....... 100 023 101 02—10 17 1
Triechel, Tost (7) and Neal, Gunnarson, Whyte (8) and Ritchey.

YAKIMA, June 7 — Ted Savarese and Bill Boemler combined to notch the Yakima Bears to a twin victory over Spokane in a Western International League baseball double-header Thursday night.
Savarese space eight hits to take the seven-inning opener 5 to 1. Boemler allowed 11 hits in the nightcap but was tight in the pinches to chalk up a 3 to 2 victory.
Bill Andring's single chased home two Yakima runs in the fourth inning of the second game and Mike Baxes' single drove in the third Yakima tally. Spokane scored a single run in the sixth on singles by Steve Mesner, Ken Richardson and Jim Wert. Spokane tallied another in the ninth on singles by Wert, Jim Brown and Ed Murphy.
First Game
Spokane ..... 000 000 1— 1 8 0
Yakima ....... 100 013 x— 5 9 0
Wyatt, Roberts (5), Richardson and Sheets; Savarese and Brenner.
Second Game
Spokane ..... 000 001 001— 2 11 0
Yakima ....... 000 200 10x— 3 9 0
Bishop and Sheets; Boemler and Tiesiera.

TACOMA, June 7 — Supported by five double plays the Salem Senators behind pitcher Aldon Wilkie defeated Tacoma 5 to 0. Wilkie spaced eight hits and was in trouble only m the second inning when Tacoma had runners on second and third with one out. Two outfield flies got Wilkie out of the jam.
Tom Kipp, Tacoma left-hander, was the loser.
Salem ........ 003 101 000—5 11 1
Tacoma ..... 000 000 000—0 8 0
Wilkie and McKeegan, Kipp, Barta (5) and Lundberg.

END COMES QUIETLY
No Tears as Athletic Park Shuts Gates for Last Time
By DAN EKMAN [Vancouver Sun, June 8, 1951]
For Bob Brown, Thursday was a longer working day than usual. The extra-inning ball game had set back his office routine, and only now, at 11:35 p.m., the last well-wishers and the last players wanting expense money were gone. But there were still a couple of things to do.
Seated at his ancient rolltop desk in the tiny office, its walls brightened with calendars and yellowing team pictures and a 1907 Northwestern League pennant, he checked out the attendance report. Then he glanced over the list of future reservations and gave the same to a late-phoning fan. The night watchman came by to chat, said goodnight and continued on his rounds. And so the long day finished.
Down came the top of the rolltop desk. Bob pushed back the chair, put on his coat. He glanced around once, snapped off the light switch and went out. At 11:42 p.m., he locked the front office door, and as simply as that a 39-year chapter in Vancouver’s athletic history was closed.
• • •
It was a night for Auld Lang Syne at Athletic Park, but the old redhead left with few regrets. “Five weeks ago it would have been tough to leave,” he admitted. But since the second fire, without our old main grandstand and without the gym, it hasn’t been the same.
“No, I’m not sorry to go. These past few years, it’s been as bad for us to try to do business here as it’s been for fans having to watch their baseball here.
• • •
Nearly everybody felt the same way, but there were a few exceptions. The home owners around Fifth and Hemlock, for instance, were losing the little extra income that came their way each summer when they opened their back yards to car parking.
“It wasn’t a lot, but it paid the taxes,” said G.W. Linge [photo at left]. He has owned the corner house at 1402 West 5th for the past six years, but now he’s moving, too. “The city bought us out,” he explained. “I guess our lot will be part of the approach to the Granville Street bridge in a couple of years.”
• • •
In the lofty old houses that line Sixth Avenue there were a few regrets, too, because the free show was over. Last night, the cold and blustery weather kept most of the bird’s eye viewers indoors, but one hardy foursome, bundled under blankets, was watching without paying for the last time. After June 15, perhaps, the rooftop squad will gather on the northern slope of Little Mountain to watch their baseball.
For some of the regulars, the changeover to 33rd and Ontario means simply taking a different bus route each night. Don Kruissen, the 14-year-old scoreboard boy, thought he’d be out of a job when he heard that the board in the new stadium will be an electric job.
“But I found they’ll still need two boys behind it,” reported Don. “So I guess I’ll still be working, even though I won’t get such a good view of the games.”
• • •
For H.O. Hammond, the switch means just another gate to be watched [photo at right with Shriner W.J. Kirby of Rocky Mtn. House]. He’s the cheerful little man who has taken tickets at the reserved seat entrance for 19 years.
“I’m going to be on the pass gate at the new park,” says the 77-year-old stripling who kept an eye on another pass . . . the Khyber in India for 21 years as a British Army regular. “I’ll meet the same old friends each night, I suppose.”
• • •
The concession people can hardly wait to open for business [unreadable] where all hands don’t have to breathe in rhythm to save space. They’ve operated for the last time out of the ten-by-ten commissary. At the new stadium, Bob Sinclair will patrol a 40-foot counter, restocking his hog-dog setters, and boss Eddie Lamoreux will direct the operation by intercom, yet, from a seat high in the bleachers.
• • •
Sentiment? Famous last words. They were hard to find last night. Secretly, maybe, Bob Brown felt a twinge; for he was there at 3:15 on the afternoon of April the 18th in 1913 to open the glistening new park he’d carved out of the Fairview brush.
But during the seventh-inning stretch, when they asked the crowd to sing “Auld Lange Syne” instead of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” hardly anyone joined in. The record scratched to a finish, everybody sat down and a beacherite shouted:
“Awright, awright—let’s go.”
WILfan note: Harry Octavius Hammond died in Vancouver on July 15, 1956 at age 82.

Dewey Soriano Goes to Sea
SEATTLE, June 8 — Dewey Soriano has swapped his base ball uniform for seagoing togs.
Soriano, 31, former pitcher-president of the Yakima Bears in the Western International baseball league, signed with the Alaska Steamship company yesterday as a third mate. He will sail north next Wednesday on the S. S Alaska.
Soriano recently obtained his release from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast league. Earlier in the season, he was with the Seattle Rainiers, the club that gave him his start in professional baseball ten years ago. The Rainiers had also released him.

NON WIL MINOR LEAGUE NEWS
Pittsburg Club Gives Up, No Support
PITTSBURG, Calif., June 7 (UP) — The Pittsburgh Diamonds, present leaders of the Far West baseball league, have announced they will give up their franchise owing to lack of support at the games by home town fans.
Vincent A. Dazi, owner of the club, said gate receipts for home games have been less than half the amount needed to keep the team out of the red — despite the fact that his club is leading the league by 3½ games.
League President Jerry Donovan said the franchise has been offered to a group in Albany, Ore., and he hoped for an answer today. The franchise will revert to league ownership and a five-team schedule will be played the remainder of the season if nobody takes the place of Pitisburgh.
It was estimated that Dazi lost at least $75,000 in operating the Diamonds the past 2½ years. He spent thousands on new lighting and other park improvements, yet continued to take a beating at the gate for home games.
The league decision to play home games this year with the home club keeping all receipts only added to the troubles for Pittsburg. In the past they could count on a flat $100 per game guarantee on the road. Dazi said that attendance at home this year was averaging less than 250 persons.