Wednesday 22 August 2007

Thursday, July 6, 1950

STANDINGS
              W  L  Pct GB
Tacoma ..... 45 31 .587 —
Yakima ..... 44 34 .564 2
Wenatchee .. 44 35 .557 2½
Tri-City ... 44 36 .550 3
Spokane .... 36 42 .462 10
Salem ...... 33 42 .440 11½
Victoria ... 33 46 .418 13½
Vancouver .. 31 44 .413 13½


TACOMA, [Victoria Colonist, July 7]—Big Dick Greco did it again last night.
The slugging Tacoma outfielder belted a two-run homer—his 17th of the season and his third in as many games—in the first inning and a run-producing double in the seventh to pace the Tigers to their third straight triumph over Victoria Athletics. Greco’s double just missed clearing the fence in the new “Greco Gardens” as the Tigers wrapped things up with a three-run cluster to send big John Marshall down to his fourth defeat by a 7-3 count.
EVENS RECORD
Don Carter went the route for Tacoma to even his record at eight and eight and kept Victoria hits well spaced. The A’s broke into the scoring column in the third when Billy Dunn walked and completed the circuit on singles by Al Ronning and Marty Krug.
Victoria’s biggest threat came in the seventh when Carter momentarily lost control. Walks by Jim Wert and Marshall sandwiches Ronning’s third single to leave the bases filled with only one out. Bob McGuire flied to Dick Wenner in left field with the runners holding, and Krug drew free transportation to force in Wert with the second Athletic run. Jimmy Moore flied to Sol Israel to end the threat, leaving the A’s behind 4-2.
THREE SCORE
Israel opened Tacoma’s half of the inning with a single and completed the circuit on a sacrifice and Greco’s double. Wimpy Quinn singled and stole second, leaving runners on second and third. Wenner beat out a slow roller to Johnny Hack at third, and both Greco and Quinn scored as Hack’s throw to Wert went into the dirt.
The Athletics staged a mild uprising in the ninth but could only produce one run. Dunn led off with a double and went to third on Bill Weatherwax’ pinch single to right field after Ronning had whiffed. Dunn scored as McGuire forced Weatherwax at second.
INFIELDERS ADDED
Manager Marty Krug, Sr., and Business Manager Reg Patterson visited yesterday and received assurance from Rainier Manager Earl Sheely that K. Chorlton would be returning to the Athletics not later than Monday. They then decided not to sign First Baseman-Outfielder Hank Vallee—a .330 hitter with Tacoma in 1948—who had agreed to terms Wednesday night.
Patterson also disclosed that the Athletics were accepting Infielder Charlie Bell from the New York Yankees on a 30-day look basis. Bell performed at third base and shortstop for Henderson in the East Texas League last year and boasted a .280 batting average. He will be given a trial at third with Hack probably moving back to the outfield.
Victoria ....... 001 000 101—3-8-2
Tacoma ...... 300 100 30x—7-9-0
Marshall and Ronning; Carter and Sheets.

KENNEWICK, July 7 [Becker, Herald] — Cy Greenlaw brushed aside a Yakima pre-season boast last night by handcuffing the Bears in the four-inning playoff of the curfew called game of May 6. Greenlaw fashioned a four-hitter that blasted a Boar verbal blast that they'd win every series of the season against the Braves. The Tri-City team, coming from behind 9-8, went on to win 11-9.
The win gave the Braves the series 3-2.
However, Dick Larner kept Yakima in the Western International League's tight top race by stopping the Braves cold in the nightcap, 7-3.
Tonight Salem moves into Sanders Field for a four-game series. Charlie Peterson, manager of the Braves, has named Joe Orrell (6-7) as his starter. The Braves hold a 9-3 game edge over the visiting Senators, winning two series and splitting one.
Merle Frick and Vic Buccola blasted a oair of home runs to give Greenlaw his victory. Frick, the first Brave to appear at the plate in the four-inning opener, gave losing hurler Larry Powell a healthy greeting with a 350 smash over the centerfield wall. He topped all hitters getting five for five. Buccola's came in the third over the left field wall.
The big "Mad Russian," Lou Novikoff, really got mad last night when he put on a terrific show of temper in the owl game. His bat-throwing and umpire grabbing sent him to the showers and with a fine most certainly due from league president Bob Abel today.
ENTERS PROTEST
Joe Orengo, Bears manager, protested the first game on the grounds that a five-inning game constitutes a complete game. Decision of the protest now lies with minor league commissioner George Trautman.
Dick Stone, Tri-City's starter in the second game ran into trouble fast and hard. Lou Novikoff belted a round-tripper in the second and then Al Jacinto led off the third with a single. Will Tiesiera doubled, Reno Cheso got hit by one of Stone's pitches and that was all for Dick. Jim Olson, who relieved with the bases loaded, gave up one run but kept Yakima pretty well in chock the rest of the route.
Unfortunately the loud-sounding Bravo bats that had thundered in the first game went to sleep during the intermission. Tri-City's total of nine hits was well spaced and several times they couldn't deliver in the clutch. They left the bases loaded in the seventh, and two aboard in the fifth and sixth.
That first game last night was the third straight victory for Greenlaw over the Bears. Of his four-victory total the Bears have proved to be more than willing to help the veteran portsider out, giving him three of them.
- - - - -
KENNEWICK, July 6 (AP)—The Yakima Bears mauled Tri-City 7 to 3 Thursday night after the Braves had scored an 11 to 9 decision in the first half of their Western International League “doubleheader.”
It wasn't really a twin bill. The first “game” was scheduled for only four innings to complete a May 6 affair that was called by curfew at the end of five with Yakima ahead 9 to 8. The Braves rallied for three runs while blanking Yakima in completing it Thursday night.
First Game
Yakima ..... (330 21)0 000—9 10 0
Tri-City ..... (200 15)1 11x—11 14 2
Savarese, Rial (1), Powell (5) and Tiesiera; Logg, Felizzatto (4), Greenlaw (6) and McKeegan, Pesut (6).
Second Game
Yakima ........ 014 001 001—7 11 1
Tri-City ....... 001 001 001—3 8 3
Larner and Tiesiera; Stone, Olson (3) and Pesut.

WENATCHEE, July 6 — Six Wenatchee errors helped the Vancouver Capilanos sailed to a 7-3 win over the Chiefs here Thursday night. It was the only contest of a four-game series won by the Caps.
All of the Vancouver runs were unearned to
Three of the miscues came in the fourth inning when the Caps scored four times to sew up the game.
Ray Tran and manager Bill Brenner each got a pair of singles to lead the Vancouver attack and Tran drove in two runs.
Vancouver .... 004 300 000—7-10-0
Wenatchee .... 010 000 001—3-10-6
Nicholas and Brenner; Ragni and Len Neal, Spurgeon (6).

SPOKANE, July 6 — Salem's Bob Cherry batted in five runs with two mighty homers Tnursday night to wreck the Spokane Indians 9 to 6 before a crowd of 2,678 fans.
Cherry's first, a two-run clout, pulled the Solons into a 4-4 knot and his second capped a five-run game-clinching burst in the sixth. Cherry's second blow, incidentally, came on relief hurler Vern Kohout's second pitch of the game. His first went for a two-run single by Mel Wasley.
Salem ........ 200 025 000—9-10-1
Spokane .... 002 200 101—6-11-1
McNulty, Tierney (6) and Beard; Rockey, Kohout (6), O'Flynn (9) and Rossi.

The games closed out the current series. In new sets opening Friday night, Tacoma goes to Wenatchee, Vancouver to Yakima, Victoria to Spokane and Salem to Tri-City.

Minor Leagues See 3 Reasons For Gate Drop
COLUMBUS, O., July 6 — Minor league baseball Thursday offered a three-pronged reason for a more than-a-million attendance drop in days of the current campaign.
The biggest finger was pointed at the umbrella of major league vision and radio broadcasts covering the northern, midwestern and eastern sectors of the country.
Poor weather and — to a lesser extent — economic conditions, also came in for some of the blame in a survey of the 58 loops completed Thursday by George M. Trautman, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball leagues.
Trautman, red-haired and militant, stressed the reasons for the drastic drop were those given by the league presidents.
“Practically all of them blamed the weather,” Trautman said, “but most of them also felt that the saturation of the airways by major league broadcasts has not contributed to any increase in the minor league attendance.
“For myself, I just don't know the entire answer. I do know the situation is rather serious. I can't say whether the broadcasts or the weather are the biggest factor, but I do know some of our clubs are experiencing some rough going.”
Only 11 of the 58 leagues showed an increase over the 1949 figures when the minors drew 41,982,335 fans. Trautman stressed some loops, were close to last year's figures, while others were far off.
Leagues showing an increase were the triple-A Pacific Coast, class B Carolina and Western International; class C Border, California, Cotton States, Rio Grande Valley, Sunset and West Texas-New Mexico, and the class D Alabama and Far West loops.
Others were off from one-half of one per cent to 25 per cent, Trautman said.

WESTERN INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
(includes games of Wednesday, July 5)


  G  AB   H RBI HR Ave.
Stetter, Spok. ... 67 237  91 56  5 .384
Tornay, Yak. ..... 56 172  62 32  1 .360
Greco, Tac. ...... 75 281 101 68 16 .359
Thompson, Vic. ... 77 232 100 50 12 .342
Zuvella, Yak. .... 50 151  50 24  2 .331
Pocekay, Wen. .... 78 302  99 60  4 .328
Ragni, Wen. ...... 49 128  42 23  2 .328
Home runs (top five)—Greco, Tacoma, 16; Rossi, Spokane, 13; Thompson, Victoria, 12; Mead, Vancouver, 7; Warner, Tri-City, 7.
Runs batted in (top five)—Quinn, Tacoma, 68; Greco, Tacoma, 68; Westlake, Yakima, 63; Warner, Tri-City, 60; Pocekay, Wenatchee, 60.
Pitching (top five)—Robertson, Vancouver, 7-0; Roenspie, Tri-City, 7-2; Ragni, Wenatchee, 11-4; Marshall, Victoria, 9-3; Stone, Tri-City, 9-4.


ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor
[from July 7/50]

Joe Orengo has always been termed a “nice guy” in our book, that is until he starts some of that senseless stalking which resembles nothing more than an old wives
coffee clatch as the little Bears gather around Papa. If there is any reason, other
than to neddle [sic] the other [unintelligable] deeper than the gold in Fort Knox. And we can't say that it helps the feeling among fans here toward the Yakima club.
The boys up there say they're never willing to pass up an honest buck. If so, a little more thought for the fans who come to see baseball games, not diamond-stalking and mound-clustering, might be a thought.
That Wednesday night game will serve as a couple of examples of what we mean. In the Yakima second inning Merle Frick raced in to take a short fly to rulit field hit by Lou Novikoff. As Frick turned to cut loose, after catching the ball he dropped it. Jim Westlake was on first. It was a close play, but umpire Nels Pearson called Novikoff out. Out stalks our hero to hold a lengthy discourse on heaven only knows what. Orengo was entitled to squawk if he felt Frick didn't hold the ball long enough. But just to stand out there and bat his gums over a play that couldn't figure in the game is pointless, unless he was trying to intimidate Pearson.
TESTING HIS TONSILS
Even had Pearson ruled that Novikoff was safe, and not out, Frick had plenty of time to throw to second forcing Westlake. The Yakima base runner was practically anchored to the bag when the play was made. That's why the fans were entitled to heir “voice” when Orengo kept testing his tonsils with Pearson.
Then of course there was the usual “tea party” on the Yakima mound in the seventh when Dickey got wild at the plate, and again in the ninth when Soriano walked the first two batters in that inning. Every manager is entitled to go out and steady down a pitcher when he believes it is necessary. But it's certainly open to question when the “steadying” period becomes more like a wait between midnight street cars.
STRIKEOUT RECORD HERE
Lloyd Dickey, Yakima portsider, set a strikeout record for Sanders Field Wednesday night when he whiffed 10 Braves. What's more he did it in 6 2 3 innings. We'll never know what kind of mark he might have set had he gone the full distance. While W. I. league players are exactly tearing the fences down this year, the pitchers aren't getting too many strikeouts either.
Other than Dickey's 10 here, the Braves have also struck out 11 times before another Bear hurler. That was Teddy Savarese in a game at Parker's Field. Several pitchers have struck out nine here.
OUT OF W. I. L.
Vince Lazor, ex-Tacoma hurler is starting all over over. Since his release from the WIL, Lazor has been signed by the Medford Rogues of the class B Far West loop. He had a 2-2 record, (one over the Braves) this season before he was dropped by the Tigers.

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