Saturday, May 27, 1950

               W  L PCT
Tacoma ...... 26  9 .743
Salem ....... 20 16 .556
Wenatchee ... 20 16 .556
Tri-City .... 19 21 .475
Yakima ...... 18 20 .474
Vancouver ... 16 20 .444
Spokane ..... 17 22 .436
Victoria .... 13 24 .351

KENNEWICK, May 28 [Don Becker, Herald]—Near-perfect pitching and flawless fielding gave the Tri-City Braves a pair of victories over Salem last night. Cy Greenlaw opened the double-bill by throwing a four-hitter at the Senators to win handily 5-2. But it was Lou McCollum's two-hit, 9-1 victory that left the 1563 Braves fans limp with excitement. The double win moved the Braves into fourth in the Western International league standings.
Only 30 Salem batters faced McCollum and only one of them, Bob Cherry, got any further than first base. Cherry banged a triple in the second and scored on Frank McMillan's long fly ball to center field. Wayne Peterson Senator third sacker got the other hit that McCollum gave up, a single in the sixth.
Charlie Petersen the Braves pilot has apparently found the answer to end losing slumps with his afternoon workouts The fielding was perfect for the third consecutive game and some of the stops made, especially those by Neil Bryant were the equal of the calibre of play in any league.
The Braves conclude their series with Salem today at 2 p. m. and then move onto the road for an eight-game schedule in six days. Four of the games will be crucial ones with Yakima, now just one percentage point behind the Braves, while the final four will be played at Salem.
One big inning, the second, wrote the story in last night's final game. Although six runs were charged against Bill Tierney, the losing pitcher, only one of them was earned. Three boots enabled the Tri-City team to send the other five racing across the plate. Nick Pesut's big bat unloaded the filled bases with a double and Vic Buccola's single and another by McCollum drove in three more.
Cy Greenlaw notched his second victory of the season against as many losses with his brilliant performance. Although the lanky portsider found himself on the thin edge of trouble several times he always bore down and came through in the clutch.
The league leader Neil Bryant added two more runs batted in to his column in the first inning of the opener when his double found two men aboard the bases. Greenlaw iced his own victory by unloading a double in the fourth also with men on.
Petersen said he would either start Mike Budnick (0-2) or Dick Stone (4-2) for today's series finale. While for Salem, manager Ad Liska has nominated Bill Osborn. Game time is 2 p. m. (PST).
- - - - -
KENNEWICK, Wash., May 27 (AP)—Tri-City's Braves ran rough-shod over the Salem Senators Saturday night, drubbing them 9 to 1 in the second game of a Western International League doubleheader. The Braves also won the first game, 5 to 2.
The only Senator to get past first in the second game was center fielder Bob Cherry, who tripled in the second frame.
Tri-City's big third inning saw only one run earned while six men crossed the plate. With the bases loaded, catcher Nick Pesut powered a double to score three. The third Salem error of the game and two singles accounted for the other three runs.
Lanky Cy Greenlaw of Tri-City served up a four-hitter in the first game.
In Tri-City's big fourth inning, the versatile Greenlaw doubled with two men on, then scored himself which Dick Faber, left fielder, hit a long fly ball to center field.
First Game
Salem ......... 000 001 0—2-4-2
Tri-City ....... 200 300 x—5-7-0
Stevenson and Beard; Greenlaw and Pesut
Second Game
Salem ........ 010 000 000—1- 2-3
Tri-City ...... 006 001 20x—9-10-0
Tierney, Lew (7) and McMillan; McCollum and Pesut.

WENATCHEE — May 27 — Righthander Joe Blankenship, making his first start in three weeks, pitched a four-hitter here tonight as Wenatchee beat Tacoma 5-3.
Tacoma first baseman Wimpy Quinn drove in all the Tigers' Salem runs with two doubles. His first two-bagger, in the seventh inning with two away, was the first hit off Blankenship.
Quinn again doubled in the ninth with the bases full for the final Tacoma runs. Wenatchee shortstop Larry Neal made a leaping one-handed catch of a liner for the final out of the game. The two tying Tacoma runs were left stranded.
Tacoma ...... 000 000 102—3-4-1
Wenatchee .. 001 300 00x—5-9-1
Hufford, Carter (8) and Sheets, Blankenship and Len Neal.

VANCOUVER, May 27— A dropped fly ball in the 10th inning tonight gave Vancouver Capilanos a two-one edge in an abbreviated Western International league series with Yakima Bears.
The Caps won the nightcap 4-3 after pelting the Bears liberally for a 17-3 afternoon victory.
In the afternoon game, Caps collected 15 hits off four Yakima pitchers for their 17 runs.
First Game
Yakima ......... 104 000 030— 8 7 3
Vancouver .... 122 301 17x—17 15 3
Powell, Domenichelli (4), Rial (7), Zuvella (8) and Tiesiera; Anderson, Snyder (3) and Brenner.
Second Game
Yakima ........ 101 000 010 0—3 9 2
Vancouver ... 000 300 000 1—4 6 2
Savarese and Tornay; King, Robertson (9) and Heisner.

VICTORIA, B. C., May 27—VICTORIA [Colonist, May 28]— Bouncing back with their most impressive hitting display of the season after playing a bad game in the afternoon, Victoria Athletics earned a series split with Spokane Indians last night with a thumping 14-1 triumph before 1,700 fans at Royal Athletic Park.
Although the split with the Indians was disappointing, inasmuch as the A’s tossed away the two losing games, the week was the best this year for the W.I.L. trailers. They wound up with five victories in seven games and are within striking distance of the first division. Better yet were indications that the pitching is finally beginning to come around.
ESCAPES JAMS
Last night, Jim Propst came up with a neat performance although starting his second game of the season with only two days rest. The slender southpaw wiggled out of a couple of bad jams in the early innings to go on and fashion a neat three-hitter. Two scratch singles and a solid double by Ed Murphy were all the Spokes could manage of his delivery and he appeared to grow stronger as the game went along.
While Propst was stopping the Indians, the A’s went on a 16-hit batting rampage which saw them build up a 12-1 margin in the first five innings. Leading the way was shortstop Bill Dunn, who snapped out of his hitting doldrums yesterday to lift his average 35 points with a home run, three doubles and two singles in seven official trips.
After getting three walks, a single and a double in the afternoon, Dunn found Jim Neeley’s offerings to his liking in the finale. He hit the ball on the nose every time up and the only time he failed to hit safely was a hot liner directly at Centrefielder Ed Murphy.
At that, it was some bad strategy by Manager Alan Strange which probably decided the result. After Edo Vanni led off in the first with a triple and scored on Joe Kronberg’s single, Leftfielder Frank Matoh dropped Junior Krug¨s line smash to put runners on third and second, Strange pulled his infield in and Jim Wert plated both runners with a blooper which second baseman Charlie Bushong would ordinarily have handled. Two wild pitches and Dunn’s single later sent in another tally and the A’s were off in front by four runs.
The afternoon encounter was just a display of Victoria futility. With a stiff cross-diamond wind not helping [line missing] grabbed a 9-0 lead in the first two innings and managed to hold on although the A’s had opportunity after opportunity to get back in the game.
TOUGH FOR ALDON
Aldon Wilkie was the tough-luck loser, going out under fire in the midst of a five-run first inning when some cheap hits and a messed-up double-play ball by Joe Kronberg got him into trouble. Kronberg was gamely playing despite a three-stitch cut on a knee and a bad ankle.
LUCKY RUNS
Four lucky runs in the second actually decided the issue. They scored when Wert and Vanni both lost fly balls in the sun with two out and came after plate umpire Micky Hanick missed a perfect third strike on Norm Grabar.
The A’s scored once in the second and four in the third, and wound have been tied but for the second-inning events. After that, they could only come close to a rally as they wasted 16 hits and ten bases on balls. Looking impotent in the clutches, they left the bases loaded in the third, sixth and ninth, and saw a double play wipe out another bases-loaded situation in the fifth. Typical of their play was Bob Jensen ignoring Manager Marty Krug’s “take” sign on a 2-0 pitch with the bags full and grounding into an inning-ending forceout and three successive whiffs by Wert, Al Ronning and Jim Moore in the ninth after a single and three walks opened the inning auspiciously.
Gene Thompson played only three innings of the afternoon game because of an attack of neuritis. However, he remained around long enough to clout his sixth home run. His place was taken by Junior Krug, who showed increasing evidence he is out of his batting slump.
MARSHALL TOMORROW
Tomorrow night, John Marshall will take the mound against Vancouver in the first league meeting of the season between the two teams. It opens a week-long series of eight games, which shifts to Vancouver, Wednesday, after a Tuesday double-header. George Nicholas, Capilano ace, looms as Marshall’s likely mound opponent.
(First Game)
Spokane .... 540 020 003—14 19 0
Victoria ..... 014 001 011—8 16 2
Kohout, Holder (3), Yerkes (9) and Rossi; Wilkie, Jensen (1) and Ronning.
(Second Game)
Spokane .... 010 000 000— 1- 3-4
Victoria ..... 422 220 02x—14-16-1
Neely and Rossi; Propst and Weatherwax.

Paul Zaby Prefers LA Job To Reporting to Spokane
SPOKANE, May 27—Paul Zaby has changed his mind and decided he would rather keep his job in Los Angeles than play baseball for the Spokane Indians this summer.
Zaby, who hit .341 for the Western International League club last season, told the Indians today he would rather not report. Earlier this week the Spokane front office said Zaby would join the team Tuesday. He didn't give any reason for changing his mind.

ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor
[from May 28/50]

A week ago today there was quite a brawl at Wenatchee, parts of which we chronicled in this column. Since those comments appeared, there has been a lot of conversation and letter writing both pro and con on the subject. Here is a typical tetter faking us to task for what we said. And with this letter we are going to close out the incident, for the time being at least. If anything further develops though, we'll let you know about it.

Dear Mr. Becker:
Were you at the game? Wenatchee vs. Tri-City of course. If you were there, then disregard the rest of this letter as I admit you're right to voice the opinion you did in tonight's (Tuesday) sports column. But, Mr. Becker, if you were not there, don't forget Mr. Robertson was and he told what he felt he saw.
You told us what Neil Bryant told you etc., happened. Do you think, we think "that we are so stupid to think" that Neil Bryant is going to tell you, to tell us, that he really should have been out on that play?
Come now, let's make this reporting 60-40 anyway. You're justified in giving the home team the extra 10 percent but no more. Yours for better sportsmanship. Shame on the Wenatcheeites even if it were all true.
Regards,
(Mrs.) Jane Johnson

Nope Jane, we were not at the game and as far as that goes we've never been in Wenatchee. Neither have we been in Asuza or Cucamonga so we don't know that those towns exist either except on Jack Benny's program.
This column takes no issue with Mr. Robertson's right to speak. It does object though, and violently, to the unobjective and decidedly biased story that Mr. Robertson released to a national wire service. There are ethics and standards in this profession as much as in any other. Had Mr. Robertson voiced his comments on a sports column of the air then it would have been just his opinion because it would be so labelled. But when he foists off his views in the guise of a news story then he is violating one of the basic tenets on which journalism is founded.
Now Jane about Neil Bryant. We've known him for nearly a year. As a matter of fact Neil didn't even know when he was talking to us about the game, that what he said was going to be in print. Therefore, he couldn't have told us anything to tell you. During our association with the Braves and the other visiting teams we've found,
that on the whole, these professional athletes are very honest. In fact Jane you'd be surprised at their frankness in talking about a game. Occasionally you'll run across a grandstander that makes a play look hard, or beefs about a decision because he made a bad play, or missed a pitch that was down the middle, but nearly always they tell you what they believe is the truth.
If someone has told you Jane that ball players are habitual liars wouldn't the first question you'd like to ask them is with what players they've been associating? So far we've had no reason to disbelieve them when they've been asked a direct question, and Jane, you'd get the same honest answer if you asked them.
And speaking of figures such as the 60-40 you mention we'll bet you a cake that those umpires at Wenatchee were hoping their vision was 20-20 when the bottles started flying at them, don't you? And Jane apparently it was true because the league president suspended the manager and also fined him. He has also fined five Wenatchee players—and the league president wasn't there either.