W L Pct GB
Vancouver .... 37 19 .661 —
Edmonton ..... 27 23 .540 7
Yakima ....... 32 28 .533 7
Wenatchee .... 29 32 .475 10½
Lewiston ..... 28 31 .475 10½
Tri-City ..... 29 33 .468 11
Victoria ..... 25 31 .446 12
Salem ........ 28 35 .444 12½
YAKIMA, June 26—Edmonton batters clubbed Ted Edmunds from the mound Saturday night after he had won 11 straight Western International League baseball games for Yakima, defeating the Bears, 12-5.
Edmunds left the ball game quickly—in the first inning. In that inning, the Eskimos collected three singles, one double, a triple and two walks, which added up to eight runs with the help of a Yakima error.
Yakima’s John Albini provided some good stick work for the losers, getting two homers. His first was in the first inning with no one on. The next one, in the third frame, also brought Herm Lewis home.
Ray McNulty allowed 10 hits but Edmonton always had a sufficient lead. It never was in any danger.
Edmonton ...... 830 010 000—12 14 1
Yakima .......... 103 010 000— 5 10 2
McNulty and Prentice; Edmunds, Schaening (1) and Summers.
WENATCHEE [Victoria Colonist, June 27]—Victoria Tyees finally get back to the familiar territory of Royal Athletic Park tomorrow night, just 16 days after they played their last home game.
A lot has happened since the Tyees split a four-game series with the Yakima Bears. First, a strike caused a four-game series with Vancouver Capilanos to be shifted to Vancouver. Then Spokane Indians and Calgary Stampeders dropped from the WIL to force a schedule realignment which caused the Tyees to miss another series at home.
But they’ll make it tomorrow. The club has assurances from striking city employees that no objection will be made by them about the use of the park and Lewiston Broncs, who play here Tuesday and Wednesday as well, have only to cross the straits to get here, having played in Vancouver the last part of the week.
GOOD CLUB
The Broncs have come up with quite a ball club which, it seems, should be higher in the league race than it has been. Its pitching staff includes such as former Victoria righthander John Marshall and Guy Fletcher and Al Yaylian, a couple of ex-Coast League veterans. And the Broncs recently signed third-baseman Eddie Bockman, not long ago with the Pittsburgh Pirates and more recently with Sacramento.
In addition, there are such WIL veterans as Clint Cameron, Mel Wasley and Bob Williams.
At Wenatchee last night, the Tyees ran into a gilt-edged pitching performance by Charlie Beamon, young Negro prospect who was an early season sensation with Oakland. Beamon, showing almost perfect control, struck out 10 and was unbeatable after Eddie Lake doubled in a run to give the Tyees a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Rookie-southpaw Phil Page, however, needed more than one run last night although he pitched reasonably well. Charlie Lundgren, late of the Calgary Stampeders, tied it up with a home run in the Wenatchee second and the Chiefs won it with three runs in the third.
Mike Kanshin gave up one run, on a homer by Tony Rivas, in a two-inning relief chore. Rivas also had a double and triple.
- - -
WENATCHEE, June 26—Chuck Lundgren, playing his first game for Wenatchee after being optioned to the Western International League team from Seattle, sparked the Chiefs to a 6-1 win over Victoria in a baseball game here.
It was the first win for the Chiefs in eight starts.
Victoria got its lone run in the second when Tommy Perez beat out an infield single and came home on Eddie Lake’s double.
Lundgren then stepped up for Wenatchee in its half of the inning and rapped out a 370-foot homer to tie the score.
He beat out a bunt in the fourth inning and moved to second on a sacrifice. Jake Helmuth doubled him home and scored, in turn, on a triple by Tony Rivas. Don Stanford brought in Rivas with a single to end the scoring spree that clinched the game.
Rivas also had a good night at the plate, getting a double, triple and homer. He walked once.
Victoria .......... 010 000 000—1 7 2
Wenatchee ..... 010 301 01x—6 9 0
Page, Kanshin (7) and Lundberg; Beamon and Helmuth.
KENNEWICK [Tri-City Herald, June 27]—Tri-City’s pitchers Walt Clough and Jess Dobernic shutout the Salem Senators for 21 innings last night in taking both ends of a double-header 1-0 and 4-0. The Braves played errorless ball.
It would be difficult to choose the best pitching job of the two.
In the second game, Clough put the Senators down on three singles. Only once did a batter reach second base. That came in the fourth inning when Gene Tanselli singled and moved to second when Connie Perez grounded out. Tanselli died on base.
Tri-City batters picked up the four runs one at a time. They got
the first in the 3rd inning when Dick Watson singled and Clough doubled.
Another came in the 4th when Artie Wilson tripled and Bob Moniz doubled. The 5th inning run came when Watson walked, was sacrificed to second and scored on Bob McGuire’s single.
In the 6th, Len Tran led off with a single and Moniz doubled again.
The two doubles by Moniz brought his total to 21. He leads the league in that department.
In the first game that old veteran Jess Dobernic, who has been contending recently he hasn’t had enough work, got it when he went the full 12 innings to rack up his fourth win.
When the Braves came to bat in the bottom of the 12th he told the players:
“The old hose won’t take anymore,” and he went to the showers.
The Braves went out and got in a run.
Dick Watson, Tri-City’s .250-hitting shortstop, got hit by one of Gene Roenspie’s pitches. Artie Wilson sacrificed him to second. Then Watson took quick advantage of a lapse on the part of the nervous Salem battery and stole third. Salem playing-manager, Hugh Luby, called time and instructed Roenspie to intentionally walk Vic Buccola and Terry Carroll in hope of setting up a double play.
However, Edo Vanni hit a long fly-hall to right field and Watson easily scored the winning run.
The crowd of 1,500 was kept on the edge of their seats throughout the game. Only once was Jess’ shutout and win threatened. In the 6th inning, Frank Bellotti got his second double and one of the five hits off the veteran pitcher.
There was one away at the time and Dobernic then struck out Mel Krause. Gene Tanselli hit a little looping grounder down the first base line. Tanselli had it beat out although Jess tried to make the play at first. His toss went past Buccola but Len Tran, who was backing first, picked up the ball, pegged it to catcher Jack Warren at home who tagged out Bellotti who was trying to score from second.
First Game
Salem ......... 000 000 000 000—0 5 2
Tri-City ....... 000 000 000 001—1 9 0
Rayle, Roenspie (11) and Ogden; Dobernic and Warren.
Second Game
Salem ......... 000 000 000—0 3 0
Tri-City ....... 001 111 000—4 8 0
Del Sarto, Johnson (6) and D. Luby; Clough and Warren.
Lewiston at Vancouver, postponed, rain.
On Second Thought
ALAN WARD, Tribune Sports Editor
[Oakland Tribune, June 27, 1954]
Spokane will return to the Western International League next season and Salem will quit. An established fact? No, a prediction, made by a Spokane newspaperman here on vacation. He is Danny May, specializing in baseball.
May wasn't surprised, not even chagrined, when Calgary quit the WIL, recently and the loop directors declared the Spokane franchise void, thus cutting the circuit from 10 clubs to eight.
Baseball-wise, Calgary was washed up and Spokane was going from bad to worse.
The Calgary park was for the birds and the Spokane field wasn’t much better. Spokane last year drew only 80,000 fans and this season wouldn’t have come close to that total. The less said about the Calgary attendance the better.
Said newsman May: “When the league snatched the franchise from Roy Hotchkiss, a dairyman who made a mess of Spokane baseball, it paved the way for a civic program to restore baseball in 1955.
“A new roofed park will be built by a group of civic minded men with money and imagination. We’ll be back in business, bigger and better than ever.”
Salem will fold because of its location, May said. It is so far south of the other cities in the WIL, clubs’ travel is expensive and long. Anyway, Salem hasn’t been drawing.
Did the loss of Spokane and Calgary threaten collapse of the league?
“Heck no,” responded May briskly. “The league isn’t in the best of financial shape, but it’s not as bad as people believe.
“We’ll have baseball in the Pacific Northwest a long time. Actually the Spokane deal was a good thing. Spokane folks want baseball, but not the way it has been run by Hotchkiss.”
As explained by May, the adequate baseball park at Spokane burned in 1948. Hotchkiss threw up temporary seats, assuring the public permanent grandstands would be erected later.
They weren’t. The public refused to sit in the ramshackle stands and the club’s financial structure fell apart.
Hotchkiss refused to sell the club, despite offers considered reasonable. Now he has the property, but no franchise.
“Spokane,” concluded the visiting newsman, “is a real good baseball city. Remember, we drew 287,000 people in 1947. Watch next year, and the year after.”
Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, June 27, 1954]
Rayle In Disgrace
It was smart baseball strategy (it worked, didn’t it?) but it’s enough to hurt the pride of any pitcher. Last week Salem’s Jose Rayle gave an intentional walk to Tri-City’s .250-hitting Dick Watson. That puts Rayle in the same class with Guy Fletcher of Lewiston who permitted Rube Johnson, the slowest runner in the league, to steal third on him.
Those Errors Hurt
How in blazes can a team be at the top of the league (or nearly so) in batting and still be in the basement?
Last year it was easy to put your finger on the situation but not so this season. For example, last season Tri-City was well out in front for leaving runners stranded. They still lead in that department this year but the margin isn’t nearly as great.
Last season, too, the lack of homers hurt and it is hurting again this year. Tri-City has hit but 14, just a little over one-half of next-to-the-last-place Salem’s total.
But last season Tri-City also trailed in doubles, and triples. This season they are up with the top four in doubles and the top five in triples, even in runs-batted-in they are in the upper half.
Then top this off with the leadership in steals and total hits and what do you get?
Obviously, nothing is wrong with the offense except a slight weakness in the clutch.
Defensively, though, we are a scandal to the jaybirds.
By comparing the records of John Carmichael and Dale Bloom we can get a pretty good idea of how the errors have hurt. Carmichael pitches for Yakima which leads the league defensively.
Carmichael has an ERA of 2.30, slightly better than Bloom’s 2.67. Both have pitched about the same number of innings.
Carmichael has given up but 27 runs to Bloom’s 40. However, in earned runs, Carmichael has given up 23 runs to Bloom’s 24.
Bloom has a 5-4 record; Carmichael a 7-4 record. Errors alone can make that difference of two wins.
ALAN WARD, Tribune Sports Editor
[Oakland Tribune, June 27, 1954]
Spokane will return to the Western International League next season and Salem will quit. An established fact? No, a prediction, made by a Spokane newspaperman here on vacation. He is Danny May, specializing in baseball.
May wasn't surprised, not even chagrined, when Calgary quit the WIL, recently and the loop directors declared the Spokane franchise void, thus cutting the circuit from 10 clubs to eight.
Baseball-wise, Calgary was washed up and Spokane was going from bad to worse.
The Calgary park was for the birds and the Spokane field wasn’t much better. Spokane last year drew only 80,000 fans and this season wouldn’t have come close to that total. The less said about the Calgary attendance the better.
Said newsman May: “When the league snatched the franchise from Roy Hotchkiss, a dairyman who made a mess of Spokane baseball, it paved the way for a civic program to restore baseball in 1955.
“A new roofed park will be built by a group of civic minded men with money and imagination. We’ll be back in business, bigger and better than ever.”
Salem will fold because of its location, May said. It is so far south of the other cities in the WIL, clubs’ travel is expensive and long. Anyway, Salem hasn’t been drawing.
Did the loss of Spokane and Calgary threaten collapse of the league?
“Heck no,” responded May briskly. “The league isn’t in the best of financial shape, but it’s not as bad as people believe.
“We’ll have baseball in the Pacific Northwest a long time. Actually the Spokane deal was a good thing. Spokane folks want baseball, but not the way it has been run by Hotchkiss.”
As explained by May, the adequate baseball park at Spokane burned in 1948. Hotchkiss threw up temporary seats, assuring the public permanent grandstands would be erected later.
They weren’t. The public refused to sit in the ramshackle stands and the club’s financial structure fell apart.
Hotchkiss refused to sell the club, despite offers considered reasonable. Now he has the property, but no franchise.
“Spokane,” concluded the visiting newsman, “is a real good baseball city. Remember, we drew 287,000 people in 1947. Watch next year, and the year after.”
Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, June 27, 1954]
Rayle In Disgrace
It was smart baseball strategy (it worked, didn’t it?) but it’s enough to hurt the pride of any pitcher. Last week Salem’s Jose Rayle gave an intentional walk to Tri-City’s .250-hitting Dick Watson. That puts Rayle in the same class with Guy Fletcher of Lewiston who permitted Rube Johnson, the slowest runner in the league, to steal third on him.
Those Errors Hurt
How in blazes can a team be at the top of the league (or nearly so) in batting and still be in the basement?
Last year it was easy to put your finger on the situation but not so this season. For example, last season Tri-City was well out in front for leaving runners stranded. They still lead in that department this year but the margin isn’t nearly as great.
Last season, too, the lack of homers hurt and it is hurting again this year. Tri-City has hit but 14, just a little over one-half of next-to-the-last-place Salem’s total.
But last season Tri-City also trailed in doubles, and triples. This season they are up with the top four in doubles and the top five in triples, even in runs-batted-in they are in the upper half.
Then top this off with the leadership in steals and total hits and what do you get?
Obviously, nothing is wrong with the offense except a slight weakness in the clutch.
Defensively, though, we are a scandal to the jaybirds.
By comparing the records of John Carmichael and Dale Bloom we can get a pretty good idea of how the errors have hurt. Carmichael pitches for Yakima which leads the league defensively.
Carmichael has an ERA of 2.30, slightly better than Bloom’s 2.67. Both have pitched about the same number of innings.
Carmichael has given up but 27 runs to Bloom’s 40. However, in earned runs, Carmichael has given up 23 runs to Bloom’s 24.
Bloom has a 5-4 record; Carmichael a 7-4 record. Errors alone can make that difference of two wins.
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