Sunday 2 September 2007

Saturday, September 9, 1950






               W  L  PCT GB
Yakima ...... 92 58 .613 —
Tacoma ...... 90 58 .608 1
Tri-City .... 83 65 .561 8
Wenatchee ... 78 70 .527 13
Vancouver ... 64 82 .438 26
Victoria .... 66 84 .434 26
Spokane ..... 62 85 .422 28½
Salem ....... 57 90 .388 33½

Yakima Bears Again Annex Willy Pennant
VANCOUVER, Sept. 9—The Yakima Bears became the first Western International League team to win two successive pennants Saturday night as they ran over Victoria Athletics, 18-3, to snatch the flag from the Tacoma Tigers, who lost 7-5 at Vancouver.
Two crucial doubleheaders Saturday told the story as Tacoma relinquished a lead of two percentage points by dropping an afternoon tilt to the Capilanos, 6-5 in 13 innings, while Yakima beat the Athletics, 6-3.
George Nicholas, the New York tailor, won the afternoon contest. Dick Alvari started for Vancouver put left for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning. Kevin King lasted exactly one batter before Nicholas arrived in the seventh inning and finished it off.
The score was then 4-3 for Tacoma. Nicholas scored the tying run himself after he opened the eighth inning with a single. He fell behind 5-4 in the 13th but Dick Sinovic doubled in the Cap half of the inning, which was followed by a double by Jim Keating and a single by Charlie Mead.
The most thrilling inning, however, was the Cap half of the seventh when Manager Jim Brillheart used three pitchers in successfully choking off a big Cap threat.
In the anti-climactic second game, Vancouver manager Bill Brenner called on Sandy Robertson to start. He was obviously tired from playing a week's schedule of eight games in the infield, tried for his 13th victory once again and failed, making his season's record 12 wins and three defeats.
First Game
Tacoma .......... 001 012 000 000 1—5 11 4
Vancouver ...... 000 000 003 010 2—6 10 1
Knezovich, Kerrigan (6), Conger (6) Kipp (13) and Sheets, Fischer (9); Alvari, King (6), Nicholas (6) and Heisner, Brenner (7).
Second Game
Tacoma .......... 202 011 001—7 11 0
Vancouver ...... 300 000 020—5 6 1
Loust, Carter (1) and Fischer; Robertson and Heisner.

First Game
Yakima .......... 100 400 010—6 14 1
Victoria ......... 001 001 010—3 7 1
Domenichelli and Tiesiera; Wilkie and Danielson.
Second Game
Yakima .......... 150 060 204—18 23 1
Victoria ......... 000 001 002— 3 4 5
Dickey and Tiesiera; Marshall, Smith (3) and Danielson.

WENATCHEE, Sept. 9 — Wenatchee's Chiefs made it two in a row over the Salem Senators here Saturday night with a 5-1 win behind the seven-hit pitching of Southpaw Dave Dahle.
Dahle struck out nine Salem batters as he posted his 13th win of the year against nine losses. Leftfielder Mel Wasley got three of the Salem hits, including two doubles, and drove in the Senator's only run.
Salem ............ 001 000 000—1 7 3
Wenatchee ..... 000 003 02x—5 9 0
Burak and Martin; Dahle and Len Neal.

VICTORIA, Sept. 10 [Victoria Colonist] — Yakima Bears are again W.I.L. champions and they can thank Victoria Athletics for making it possible. After knocking Tacoma Tigers out of the lead with a 3-1 series victory earlier this week, the A’s could manage no better than a 2-2 split with the Bears, who edged Tacoma by that single game. One more Yakima defeat and the 1950 flag would have been flown at Tacoma next season.
Faced with the loss of a title they won by a big margin last year, the Bears played like the champions they turned out to be yesterday as they cooled off the Victoria Athletics twice by combining good pitching with some lusty clouting.
The Bears moved back into the league lead in the afternoon when Ernie Domenichelli pitched them in a 6-3 win while Vancouver Capilanos edged the Tigers, 6-5, in 13 innings. But a Yakima defeat and a Tacoma win in the last games of the season for both clubs would have given it to the Bengals.
Tacoma managed to squeeze past the Caps, intent on finished ahead of Victoria, 7-5, in the finale, but the Bears were not to be denied as they plastered John Marshall and Ron Smith with a 23-hit attack in an 18-3 game which was decided as early as the second inning.
A well-rested Lloyd Dickey, ace of the Yakima mound staff, was the big gun for the league champions. The hard-throwing lefthander had a no-hitter with one out in the fifth when Smith cracked a fat pitch to centre field to end his bid. He had a one-hitter going into the ninth but, perhaps tired from an overindulgence of base running, he eased up long enough for the A’s to plate two runs on three balls.
BATS IN SIX
Dickey was also the game’s offensive star, batting inn six runs with a grand-slam homer and three doubles.
It was Yakima’s good fortune that the A’s were unable to field their best line-up for the season’s two most important games. Lou Novikoff missed the afternoon game but dragged his bad leg into the finale to fill a position when Gene Thompson was put out of action through a back injury in the fourth inning of the first game.
The A’s finished up in the afternoon affair with Pitchers Warren Noyes and Jim Propst in the outfield. Propst replaced Thompson while Noyes replaced Ronning, who had replaced Novikoff. Ronning had to be called in to catch when Umpire Doc Regele threw Hal Danielson out for some reason.
Despite the two losses, the A’s managed to finish in fifth place, just two percentage points ahead of the Caps. Four games will be played today, between Tri-City and Spokane and Wenatchee and Salem but results will not affect the standings.
First Game
Tri-City .......... 101 020 0—4 8 2
Spokane ......... 000 100 0—1 4 3
Roenspie and McKeegan; Holder and Rossi.
Second Game
Tri-City .......... 401 251 001—14 14 2
Spokane ......... 020 000 002—4 9 7
Nicholas and McKeegan; Curran, Aubertin (1), Yerkes (5) and Weatherwax.

Caps Hold Key to NW
Pro Baseball Franchise

Norgan Says Salem Definitely Won’t Operate in WIL Next Year

[Keith Matthews, Vancouver News Herald, Sept. 9, 1950]
It is possible, though at the moment only remotely, that the Salem Western International League franchise will transfer to New Westminster by 1951.
On Friday, Bill Mulligan, general manager of the Portland Beaver organization (parent club of Salem), said flatly that the Salem franchise was for sale for $50,000 and that if there were no takers, the transfer to New Westminster would go into effect.
It isn’t quite as easy as that.
The biggest obstacle in the path of this shift is the Capilano Baseball Club, who must grant territorial rights to the Salem owners before New Westminster can even be considered.
At the moment Capilano officials are definitely against such a move.
With a team in New Westminster it would mean that there would be baseball in this area every night during the summer. This, it is felt, would seriously injure Vancouver attendance.
While George Norgan, owner of both Salem and Portland franchises, appreciates the Capilanos’ views, he disagrees that attendance would fall.
“I don’t believe for a minute that the Caps draw any patrons from New Westminster right now,” he said. “If we were allowed to move in there, I feel people over there would come to see the Capilanos just as they want to see the Canucks in hockey. Of course, that would work the other way, too, but I can’t see attendance being seriously hurt by this proposed transfer.”
BROWN SAYS NO
“I have talked with both George Martin (president of Sick’s Capilano Breweries) and Torchy Torrance (vice president of the Seattle Rainiers) and they both felt I had a point worthy of consideration.” George went on, “Mind you, neither of them tried to elevate my hopes but they did see that it was worth looking in to.”
While Bob Brown, general manager of the Capilanos, has voiced strong points against the shift, Norgan has hoped all along that he could gain enough support from within other WIL franchise owners to perhaps sway Bob and Caps.
The proposed Salem transfer will come up at the next league meeting, which is still a month in the future. At this meeting it will be pointed out that Salem will lose close to $35,000 for its 1950 operation.
“I’M PULLING OUT”
Also at this meeting Norgan will state flatly that no matter what the outcome, THERE WILL BE NO SALEM REPRESENTATION IN THE WIL IN 1951.
“I have lost money for several years there now am convince it is not a good ball town,” he said. “I am pulling out of there no matter if I have a place to go or not.”
Norgan has already investigated the facilities for baseball in New Westminster and find them to be to his liking. The stadium there has a short right field fence but this would be lengthened to make a tough target to any hitter.
As it now stands, Queens Park stadium seats 5000 people but this would be increased to another 1000 if a WIL club were represented there.

Ball Club, Theatre In Accord
WALLA WALLA, Sept. 9 — The feuding Tri-City Braves baseball club and the Kennewick Highland Drive-In Theatre reached agreement today—they’re going to build a 30-foot-high barrier between the ball park at the theatre.
The barrier, which is to be 400 feet long, will be to keep the rays of the ball park lights out of the theatre.
Operators of the theatre filed suit last spring against the ball cub and the Tri-City Baseball Association. It alleged lights from the ball diamond interfered with the operation of the theatre, and sought an injunction.
Under terms of the settlement reached today as the result of a hearing in Federal Court, the baseball organizations will provide three-fourths of the cost of constructing the barrier.

IT BEATS ME
By Jim Tang

[Colonist, Sept. 10, 1951]
Another baseball season is over and Victoria Athletics, for the third time in five seasons in the W.I.L., wound up leading the second division. The past season has been a disappointing one but disappointing mainly because everyone from club directors to the most casual fan expected more than they got. Actually, looking objectively at the results and being fair, the club management did about as well as could be expected in its first try on its own. Few, if any, clubs operating independently for the first time do as well.
The A’s started out with two players and only one of those could be termed an asset. Somehow, somewhere, the management had to procure 20 players. Critics who don’t think this is something of a task have little knowledge of professional baseball operation. Almost every young player with any ability is owned by major league or Triple A clubs, who are committed to send them to their own farm clubs for any seasoning they need. You may be certain they are never going to sell to an independent club any player who has any promise of developing.
So for the A’s, it was just a case of taking what appeared to be the best of what was offered. This, for the most part, consisted of high-salaried veterans on their way down and players whose temperament blocked the developing of any baseball ability they had. A tough combination from which to fashion a winning team, but had no Seattle recalled K Chorlton, it is reasonable to believe that Victoria would have at least finished in the first division.
As for the undue spring optimism. Well, who could suspect that Jack Mooty would have a sore arm which made him valueless when he was expected to be the stopper of a powerful-looking pitching staff? Or who could know that Joe Mishasek, another who could reasonably be counted on to be a big winner, would pitch half a season with a sire arm and then be forced to give it up altogether? Or that Aldon Wilkie would have trouble winning ten games and that Jim Propst and John Marshall, selected to the All-Star team last season, would fall so far off their 1949 pace? Or that Snag Moore and Buzz Sporer would refuse to report? Or even that Bob Jensen could not regain his old form?
Alibis? Perhaps, but they are facts, too. This club was meant to be a winner and a lot of money was spent in the attempt. There would be a lot less criticism if more people acknowledged the reasons for the failure.
What is on Tap for 1951?
Good reasons or not, it is imperative that the A’s be among the leaders from the start next year. Nothing will restore the public relations the club needs for successful operation except a winning club. It may be that undue optimism but at least the chances for that are brighter than they were when the Yankees terminated their working agreement and management was left without a ball club. The A’s own 14 of the 16 players currently on the roster. While some of them won’t be back, the club isn’t going to need too much of a rebuilding job.
It starts with a pitching staff which will probably remain almost intact. While the staff didn’t come through as expected this season there is every reason to believe it will be better in 1951. Marshall is anxious to return. Propst is a potential 20-game winner. Jim Hedgecock seems to have found himself again. Ron Smith should be better. Warren Noyes and John Brkich will have the added year of experience. Alden Wilkie’s back condition has been improved by Trainer George Wilkinson and the southpaw veteran can’t be counted out.
Catching is well set. Al Ronning will very likely be sold or drafted but Hal Danielson is a handy fellow to have around even if his batting average isn’t too high. The A’s start with Lou Novikoff and Gene Thompson in the outfield. Thompson may get another chance to go up but the A’s will get a comparable replacement or the cash to buy one. Novikoff has expressed a desire to return and if he does, the amiable Russian could be quite a hitter in this league with the benefit of spring training.
Most of the changes will come in the infield, where only one position can be said to be filled. That is at first base, where Junior Krug is a thoroughly acceptable performer. Second-baseman Jim Moore is not Victoria property but the A’s would be glad to get him back from Seattle along with Outfielder Bob McGuire. However, it appears likely that Moore may figure in Vancouver plans for next year.
Just what will happen to the left side of the infield is something that is not likely to be known for some time. The A’s almost had Ray Tran this year and it is possible they may be able to purchase the veteran shortstop for 1951. John Hack’s improvement at third base may include him in infield plans but it is known that the management would like to come up with something special in a defensive inner cordon that would give what should be good pitching to be just that.
In any event, the club has enough players so that it won’t have to grab at chances to buy what other clubs have decided won’t do.

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