W L Pct GB
Tacoma ...... 28 12 .700 —
Salem ....... 22 18 .550 6
Wenatchee ... 21 20 .512 7½
Yakima ...... 20 21 .488 8½
Tri-City .... 21 23 .477 9
Spokane ..... 20 22 .476 9
Vancouver ... 17 23 .425 11
Victoria .... 16 26 .381 13
TACOMA, May 31—Salem defeated Tacoma here 2-1 Wednesday night behind the two-hit pitching of John Tierney. The win game Salem a two-to-one edge in the four game series against the pace-setting Tigers.
The Senators bunched three of their nine hits in the fourth for their two scores—a single by Orrin Snyder , double by Mel Wasley and a triple by Bus McMillan accounting for the runs.
Only in the third, when Tacoma scored its lone run on two walks and Tierney's error, was he in trouble.
Salem ....... 000 200 000—2 9 1
Tacoma .... 001 000 000—1 2 0
Tierney and McMillan; Carter and Sheets.
SPOKANE, May 31—Young Ward Rockey pitched a neat seven-hitter and then batted in the winning runs in the ninth inning Wednesday night as Spokane edged Wenatchee 3 to 2 before 4,207 fans, biggest turnout of the season here.
Rockey laced a single into left field with the bases loaded and the score tied 2-2. Frank Matoh jogged home with the winning run.
Young Rockey, signed by the Indians after a great pitching record last year at Washington State college, fanned eight and scattered seven hits. It was his fifth straight win after three successive setbacks.
Joe Rossi, Spokane catcher, wafted out his eighth home of the season in the fourth.
Spokane won its third straight over Wenatchee.
Wenatchee ..... 000 100 010—2 7 4
Spokane ......... 100 100 001—3 6 1
Breitsinger and L. Neal; Rockey and Rossi.
VANCOUVER, May 31—Vancouver Capilanos caught the Victoria Athletics badly off form Wednesday night to whip them 7-0 on the sterling pitching of Kevin King for their first victory over the A's in four starts.
Vancouver picked up 12 hits but needed only one—Bob McLean's sixth inning homer.
The game opened a four-game series here with the clubs locked in a struggle to avoid the cellar position currently held by Victoria.
Victoria .......... 000 000 000—0 6 3
Vancouver ...... 000 112 03x—7 12 1
Mishasek, Smith (7) and Ronning; King and Heisner.
YAKIMA, June 1—With their chances of evening the series hanging in the balance Charlie Peterson will send his ace right-hander, Lou McCollum, (5-4) to the mound for the Braves against the Yakima Bears to night. Cy Greenlaw and Gene Roenspie teamed up to deliver a 6-4 victory, last night the first victory for the Braves in the four-game series. They dropped a pair Tuesday night.
The idle Brave bats came to life in a big way in the sixth inning last night as they pounded out five runs off Bill Bradford, thanks in part to successive RBI singles by Neil Bryant, Nick Pesut, Dick Faber and Jim McKeegan, the latter bringing in two teammates. Tri-City added another in the seventh to ice the contest, on singles by Vic Buccola and Bryant.
Greenlaw got into trouble in the seventh and was lifted by Peterson for Roenspie, who put out the fire in capable order. However, the young right hander was touched for two runs, including a four-bagged by Babe Gammino over the right field fence in the eighth.
At the conclusion of tonight's game the Braves move onto Salem where they also have a four game series, scheduled with the second place Senators.
Tri-City .... 000 005 100—6 11 0
Yakima ..... 020 000 020—4 7 2
Greenlaw, Rosenspie (7) and Pesut; Powell (9) and Tornay.
Angry Denial Issued On Club Move
KENNEWICK, June 1—Dick Richards, general manager of the Tri-City Braves, today angrily denied that the baseball club was planning to move to Canada.
Richards heated reply came on the heels of a page one story carried by the Vancouver News Herald, that the Tri-City and Salem entries in the Western International league were contemplating the transfer of their franchises to Edmonton and Calgary Canada, because of lagging attendance.
“This is absolutely fantastic,” Richards said when he heard the report. “There never has been any such thing in my mind, or any of the other club directors.”
However, Richards did not deny that the Tri-City club was last in the league from the standpoint of attendance. He admitted that it had been of some concern to the club owners and to the other teams in the W.I.L.
“But there's never been any question in our minds,” the general manager continued, referring to attendance reports, “that as soon as the weather improved that the Braves would be near the top of the league in attendance as well as in games won and lost. It's foolish to think that a sports minded area such as these Tri-Cities cannot adequately support their own baseball team.”
Richards, switching back to the reported move, said that not only had he not been consulted, but that he was certain that no other league director had been contacted. “That's a sheer fabrication from beginning to end,” he concluded.
ON THE INSIDER
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor
[from column of June 1/50]
Pre-season predictions that the Tri-City entry in the Western International league would carry the Willy loop close to the fabled million mark in attendance can now
be tossed out the window. As the first quarter closed out, the Tri-Cities were fourth in the standings, but last at the boxoffice.
The 19-games-at-home total was 23,778, or roughly 1,230 per game. Figured on this basis for the season, would mean a total through the turnstiles of slightly more than 95,000, a far cry from the rosy colored spectaclos that everyone was wearing before the season opened.
Particularly baffling is the fact that Yakima, for instance, can come off the road boasting a five-game losing streak and draw 2,800 into Parker Field. Likewise Wenatchee clocked 8,200 going into Recreation Park during a three-game series.
We'd like to think that the big slump here had been caused by the weather. But that's pretty much out of the picture when you remember that the weather is much the same throughout the Northwest. So, if it isn't the weather then what is it? We've heard all kinds of arguments from panning the team to schemes to educate the public. All of them have some merit in the mind of the person telling you . . . otherwise, they wouldn't bother to let you know.
ANY IDEAS
But if it's the team, then how can you satisfactorily explain the attendance at the parks of those below us in standings? Do those teams have better fans than the Braves? That doesn't seem possible when you listen to the stands rock when the Brave rooters start calling for a rally. And yet, there it is, a puzzler if there ever was one. What's your idea on this Joe?
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor
[from column of June 1/50]
Pre-season predictions that the Tri-City entry in the Western International league would carry the Willy loop close to the fabled million mark in attendance can now
be tossed out the window. As the first quarter closed out, the Tri-Cities were fourth in the standings, but last at the boxoffice.
The 19-games-at-home total was 23,778, or roughly 1,230 per game. Figured on this basis for the season, would mean a total through the turnstiles of slightly more than 95,000, a far cry from the rosy colored spectaclos that everyone was wearing before the season opened.
Particularly baffling is the fact that Yakima, for instance, can come off the road boasting a five-game losing streak and draw 2,800 into Parker Field. Likewise Wenatchee clocked 8,200 going into Recreation Park during a three-game series.
We'd like to think that the big slump here had been caused by the weather. But that's pretty much out of the picture when you remember that the weather is much the same throughout the Northwest. So, if it isn't the weather then what is it? We've heard all kinds of arguments from panning the team to schemes to educate the public. All of them have some merit in the mind of the person telling you . . . otherwise, they wouldn't bother to let you know.
ANY IDEAS
But if it's the team, then how can you satisfactorily explain the attendance at the parks of those below us in standings? Do those teams have better fans than the Braves? That doesn't seem possible when you listen to the stands rock when the Brave rooters start calling for a rally. And yet, there it is, a puzzler if there ever was one. What's your idea on this Joe?
No comments:
Post a Comment