W L Pct GB
Victoria ... 7 4 .636 -
Yakima ..... 6 4 .600 ½
Edmonton ... 6 4 .600 ½
Vancouver .. 7 5 .583 ½
Salem ...... 7 5 .583 ½
Lewiston ... 5 5 .500 1½
Wenatchee .. 5 5 .500 1½
Spokane .... 5 6 .455 2
Calgary .... 3 7 .300 3½
Tri-City ... 3 9 .250 4½
VANCOUVER [Tri-City Herald, May 9]—The Tri-City Braves, winners of but one of seven games, on the current road trip, move on to Salem today to try their luck, against a team owned by the local citizenry after taking two more shellackings at the hands of the Vancouver Capilanoes.
The only bright spot in the Tri-City picture was Dale Bloom's seven-hit 6-4 win over the Caps Friday.
The high-powered and high-paid Caps blasted the Braves twice Saturday, 8-3 in the first game and 16-4 in the second to give them three wins of four in the series.
Today's game at Salem will be a one-day stand. Monday the Braves return to Sanders Held for the beginning of a three-game series with the Spokane Indians Tuesday night.
In both of the final Vancouver game, the long ball hitters in the Cap lineup blasted Tri-City pitchers off the mound. Bud Guldborg was the first to take the pasting. He pitched the first game of the split doubleheader and had the second batter up, K. Chorlton, hit one out of the park.
A single and an error accounted for the other first inning run but he held them scoreless until the sixth. Even then the Cap bats didn't do as much damage as Guldborg did to himself. He gave up a hit to Nick Pesut, then walked Jim Clark, hit one batter, and walked Dick Greco to bring in one run.
Ken Richardson followed with a triple to clear the sacks and bring in three runs.
Guldborg was left in the game to finish the inning since the damage had already been done. At the end of the inning, he was token out for a pinch-hitter and Earl Lemieux finished the game.
Lemieux ran into trouble after getting two away in the eighth and yielded a double and three singles for two runs. After getting the last batter out, he pitched the final inning and put the Caps down in order.
Tri-City's three runs came in the third when Terry 'Carroll tripled and scored on Bob Moniz' sacrifice fly, In the fourth when two Vancouver errors and a walk allowed Rube Johnson to run around the sacks, and in the eighth when Vic Buccola, Jack Warren and Johnson singled in order. In the second game, the Braves stayed with the Caps until the fifth inning. Prior to that, Tri-City had a 4-2 lead as the result of one run in the first and three in the fourth.
Triples by Moniz and R. Tran figured in both scoring innings.
The Capilanoes had picked up their two in the first on a triple by Jim Clark and a homer by Greco — the two blows seeming to signal what was to come.
When it came, the air was bombarded with baseballs. After another triple by Clark, Chorlton doubled, Williams tripled, and Greco, supposed to be a power-hitter, could get nothing more than a single.
There was some talk of taking Walt Clough off the motrnd about this time but Jess Dobernic, who is substituting for Edo Vanni, and Clough decided the hurler might be able to pull out of the jam.
Clough walked Richardson and then Bob Wellman settled the issue. He hit his fourth homer of the series and cleaned up the sacks. Clough come off the mound for Dale Thomason.
Thomason ended the inning without further damage to Braves prestige but the Cap parade continued in the seventh with nothing for one lone run in the eighth.
Friday's game, though, proved that against good pitching, the Vancouver lineup is just another bunch of boys who can't make triple-A.
Wellman got one of his homers, as well as Greco, but none were aboard at the time, The rest of the team didn't scare young Bloom and he became the second pitcher who has gone the distance this season.
Tri-City beat out its tatoo of hits against the Cap moundsmen and four of them failed to keep the Braves in check. Even Bill Brenner, who pitched the Caps to the
first win today, had his troubles.
- - -
VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, Province, May 10]—Attention general managers in Wenatchee, Salem, Kennewick and Victoria: better get your handymen busy moving back your fences—the Capilanos are coming to town.
Bill Brenner’s Caps begin a two weeks road tour in Wenatchee Tuesday, and on the evidence of their first week-long stand at Cap Stadium they should love the closer fences and lighter air to be found elsewhere around the circuit.
A home run at the big park at 30th and Ontario, ordinarily a pitchers’ paradise, used to be a rare thing. But this 1954 team of musclemen has made baseball’s most spectacular feature a run-of-the-mill occurrence. It’s now news when one of the Caps DOESN’T hit one out of the park.
In nine home games so far this year, Brenner’s boys, with Dick Greco, Bob Wellman and K. Chorlton setting the pace, have hit 11 home runs. Research discloses that the 1953 team hit exactly nine at home LAST SEASON.
In all, just 21 homers were hit in ’53, 12 of ‘em by the opposition. So far, Vancouver’s opponents have two, so you can’t blame all the bombarding on a ball that Brenner says it livelier this tear. It’s just as lively for the opposition.
The Caps hit three over the boundaries Saturday as they took Tri-City Braves apart twice, 8-3 and 13-4, in a split doubleheader to win the series.
Some 3500 people who watched the afternoon-night twin bill saw two close ball games suddenly explode as the Caps broke loose for big innings.
Chorlton got his third homer of the year in the big park in the afternoon game, in which Brenner upped up his six win at the expense of ex-Capilano Bud Guldborg.
George Nicholas gathered his second victory at night with the aid of Wellman’s fourth home run of the year [unreadable] of the season for Greco, who became the first right-handed batter to hit one over the right field wall.
Murderers’ row also tossed in three triples and two doubles as they routed three brave Braves, among them ex-Coast Leaguer Walter Clough and White Sox $40,000 bonus beauty Larry Richardson.
DIAMOND DUST – The Caps’ clouting has helped ease the pain of certain apparent deficiencies in the fielding and pitching departments … The locals made six errors Saturday to go with the four they contributed Friday night … Among the pitchers, only Brenner and Bob Roberts have been able to get anybody out with any regularity … But Tom Lovrich will likely be along from Seattle, eventually, and Brenner has a couple other aces up his sleeve: Bud Beasley, the magnificent clown and very good lefthander, will probably be along when school’s out (he’s a teacher) … And Sandy Robertson, the local boy who once won 10 straight for the Caps while playing only at home, has been working out, and could resume his home games only role … The Caps’ roster was cut to 17 when Ellis Daugherty was returned to Colorado Springs and pitcher Bill Tompkins drew his release … The latter will likely catch on with Calgary … The Caps don’t come home until May 24, when they play Edmonton … Province Stars: Marv Williams, who ended his slump with six hits in eight tries, including a triple that hit the centre field wall on one bounce … K Chorlton, setting his sights on a great year … And veteran Ken Richardson, who picked up five RBI’s to maintain his club lead in that department with 22.
First Game
Tri-City .......... 001 100 010—3 7 1
Vancouver ...... 200 004 20x—7 11 5
Guldborg, Lemieux (7) and Johnson; Brenner and Pesut.
Second Game
Tri-City .......... 100 300 000— 4 9 1
Vancouver ...... 200 064 10x—13 16 1
Clough, Thomason (5), Richardson (6) and Johnson; Nicholas and Duretto.
LEWISTON, Idaho, May 8—The Lewiston Broncs tapped three Calgary pitchers for 14 hits and 11 walks Saturday night for a 14-10 victory over the Stampeders that evened the teams at 1-1 in their four-game series.
Calgary starter Bill Kahler, who gave up six walks and went to the showers before the first inning, was over was charged with the loss.
Bill Whyte followed him at the mound with little better success. The Broncs scored two runs off him in the second, three in the third find two more in the fourth.
Manager Gene Lillard took over the pitching from Whyte in the sixth, with no better luck. He gave up three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth.
Ed Garay led the Lewiston hitting parade with four hits in four times at bat.
Don Hunter started the Calgary scoring with a first inning home run. He tripled in the fourth inning and doubled in the fifth, batting in three runs in all.
Dennis Luby also homered for the Stampeders in the seventh.
Lewiston starter John Marshall was the winner.
Broncs' shortstop Jose Bache, who committed four errors on Friday night, was kept down to one in the Saturday contest.
The two teams wind up their series with a split doubleheader Sunday.
Calgary ....... 100 120 121— 8 10 1
Lewiston ..... 223 200 2x3—14 14 1
Kahler, Whyte (1), Lillard (6) and Luby; Marshall, Derganc (7) and Garay.
YAKIMA, May 8 — The Wenatchee Chiefs raked four Yakima pitchers for 14 hits to score an easy 11-6 win over the Bears at Parker Field Saturday night
Wenatchee ....... 006 003 200—11 14 1
Yakima ............. 000 120 021— 6 9 1
DeCarolis, Oubre (8) and Jenney; Schaening, Carter (5) Elmore (7), Wulf (9) and Ling, Bell (8).
VICTORIA [Jim Tang, Colonist, May 9]—It hardly seems possible that Victoria Tyees could keep up their come-from-behind play any longer but yesterday at Royal Athletic Park they did it in two games as they edged past Salem Senators, 6-5, in both games, needing 11 innings for the second time in four games to get the win in the night game.
The double victory boosted the club to the top of the WIL standings and completed what was undoubtedly the most exciting week of baseball ever played here. The Tyees won six of seven games, five by one run and the other by two, and they had to do it the hard way each time.
THE STORY
On Monday, they opened their first home stand with a 7-5 win over Tri-City Braves, scoring three runs after two were out, the last two on a home run by Joe Joshua, in the eighth inning.
On Tuesday, Milt Martin walked with the bases loaded to force in the winning run in the last of the ninth as the Braves went down again, 9-8.
On Wednesday, they scored four runs in the eighth, three on a two-out homer by Tom Perez, to complete a sweep of the Tri-City series.
On Thursday, they scored three runs after two were out in the eighth to force extra innings and beat Salem Senators in the ninth on Milt Martin’s two-out single.
On Friday, they couldn’t quite make it as the Senators ended their win streak, 11-8, in that near riot.
Yesterday afternoon, they scored four in the eighth, three on Martin’s two-out, bases-loaded double to edge the Senators, 6-5.
And last night, manager Don Pries tied it in the ninth with a two-out single and then singled home the winning run in the 11th.
Just to make it complete, their only other win this season was a 2-1 conquest of the Capilanos at Vancouver, Martin batting in the winning run with two out in the ninth.
Attendance, disappointing all week after opening night, picked up considerably yesterday as about 2,600 fans turned out to see if the Tyees could keep up their sensational play. No one went home disappointed as the Tyees continued to come up with that big hit, defensive play or clutch pitching when it was needed the most.
Much of the credit for yesterday’s double win must go to relief pitchers. When southpaw Bob Moen wasn’t up to the task in the afternoon, Bill Prior came in to stop the Senators while his mates picked up the slack. In the series finale, after starter Hal Flinn had gone out for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, Berlyn Hodges pitched two innings of hitless baseball and Bill Prior blanked the Salem club over the last two innings to get credit for the win.
Defensively, the Tyees keep on making more errors than they should but they always seem to come up with that key play. They made five double plays in the first game yesterday.
PEREZ STARTS IT
No-hitted until one was out in the sixth in the afternoon, the Tyees cut a 4-0 lead in half in the sixth as Tom Perez hit a two-run homer—after two were out, of course. Then Salem starter Johnny Briggs tired and started the eighth with bases on balls to Pries and Perez.
Jack Hemphill came in but walked Lake after Mesner sacrificed. Joseph skies out, Pries scoring, and then Marin banged a health hit off the fence in left-field after Dain Clay had walked to load the bases.
Shortstop Carl Bellotti reached Prior for a two-out home run in the Salem ninth, but it only made it the Tyees’ fifth one-run decision.
It was 5-1 for Salem after five innings last night. Martin hit a home run to start the sixth and Flinn walked and went around on singles by Pries and Perez to make it 5-3.
A walk to Perez and Mesner’s double made it 5-4 in the eighth. In the ninth, after Clay led off with a double and been cut down at the plate on an attempted squeeze play, Pries slammed a solid single to score Armando Sanchez, who had walked while batting for Hodges.
Bottler pitched out of a two-oh, none-out jam in the 10th and the Tyees fumbled a chance in their half before Bottler drew a walk to start the 11th. Both runners were safe as a throw was dropped at first base on Ron Jackson’s ground ball, then Pries lined a single to right-centre and Bottler beat the throw easily.
The Tyees now go on the road until May 20, playing at Yakima, Tri-City and Salem before returning home on May 20 for a four-game series with Vancouver Capilanos.
First Game
Salem ......... 001 030 001—5 8 0
Victoria ....... 000 002 04x—6 6 2
Briggs, Hemphill (3) and Ogden; Moen, Pries (5) and Martin.
Second Game
Salem ......... 003 020 000 00—5 12 1
Victoria ....... 000 012 011 01—6 16 3
Peterson, Borst (10) and Heisner; Flinn, Hodges (8), Bottler (10) and Martin.
SPOKANE, May 8—Ray McNulty gave up eight hits, but scattered them well Saturday night in pitching the Edmonton Eskimos to a 6-3 Western International League baseball victory over Spokane.
Edmonton ....... 200 200 011—6 8 1
Spokane ......... 001 000 110—3 8 1
McNulty and Self; Closs, Lawson (4) and Dean.
Calgary Gets Back In League
Stamps Come Up With Deal
SPOKANE, May 8 — Western International Baseball League directors accepted a new offer from Calgary Saturday and returned the franchise it withdrew from the club a week ago.
The team will operate under the same management as previously, with one addition. Gordon McFarlane, long-time hockey player and coach who also has had experience
with both professional and semi-pro baseball, was hired as general manager. F. C. Lacey is president of the club.
Some directors hinted informally at the recess that Calgary would stay in, and that the schedule for the 10-team league would be played out as originally drawn.
The league has operated the Calgary club after picking up the franchise, but had planned to carry it only through Sunday. There had been talk of dropping the Stampeders and playing out the season as a nine-team league, or moving the franchise somewhere else.
But there were strong indications that Lacey's new proposal was acceptable and that the franchise would be returned to Calgary.
The league picked up the franchise, last week after Manager Gene Lillard reported he had not been given adequate financing to keep the club going during the past week of play.
In the interim, directors talked about giving the franchise to another city to fill out the ten-team league.
Edmonton helped make the return of Calgary's franchise possible by volunteering to reschedule the series it had scheduled at Calgary next Tuesday.
This will give Calgary another five days to prepare its ball park for play. The two teams will meet first at Edmonton on Friday and open another three-hame series at Calgary May 16.
The directors took the occasion Saturday to present Bob Brown, of Vancouver, B. C., the league president last year, a glittering plaque which read:
"In appreciation of the integrity, character, and ability and in recognition of his long and distinguished service to professional baseball, the WIL herewith honors Robert Paul (Bob) Brown."
Directors indicated the meeting would last well into the afternoon.
Braves Shifts Likely After Return Home
[Tri-City Herald, May 9, 1954]
There will be some changes in the roster shortly after the much-beaten Tri-City Braves return to Sanders field Monday for the Tuesday opener against Spokane.
The Braves, already well over the future limit of 17 players, will have three new faces in the lineup.
The latest addition to the roster pitcher Cliff Coggin, formerly with Hollywood in the Pacific Coast league.
Others who will join the club this week are Sam Kanelos, infielder who agreed to terms last week and who is expected to join the club today at Salem, and Charley Davis, shortstop, who played with Vancouver last year but missed spring training this year because of an appendicitis operation.
The addition of the three means the Tri-City roster will be cut radically.
General manager Eddie Taylor currently is trying to option a rookie lefthanded pitcher and an infielder to Idaho Falls in the Class C Pioneer League.
The pitcher is Earl Lemieux. The infielder is Bob Cassidy. Taylor is still trying to find a spot for first baseman Don Estabrook, a Seattle player, who was not formally signed to a contract.
With the rookies sent down, however, it appears some of the other players will be sold or released. Present plans call for Kanelos to play second base, Len Tran continue at third and Terry Carroll to play shortstop untll such time as Davis is ready to play.
This may mean that Ernie Hockaday will shift to his original outfield position and Ray Tran will be used as a utility infielder.
General manager Eddie Taylor has not disclosed any plans but with the addition of new players, some personnel shifts are certain.
Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, Sunday, May 9, 1954]
Tri-City fans, after hearing about the thunderous array of hitters lined up on the Vancouver roster, are beginning to wonder now if release of Dick Greco, and his subsequent move to the Cap roster, was exactly a wise thing.
The reason given was that Greco demanded too high a salary for this club to pay? Just how high a salary did the outfielder ask?
Eddie Taylor, Tri-City general manager, said he did not feel at liberty to disclose the exact amount but he did reveal it was about $200 more than one of the higher paid players on the Tri-City roster. This, in itself, doesn't seem extreme but Taylor also said Greco wanted an agreement whereby he would receive his release at the end of the season.
Such agreements, technically, are taboo but it is a common practice on all clubs.
Anyhow, Greco eventually "bought" his release. The price paid has not been disclosed but there are ways of making pretty good guesses. Had the Tri-City dub agreed to Greco's wage demands, plus the release which had considerable value, his monthly salary figure would have been something like $1,500.
And that is more than this club can possibly afford, and more than any club in the league can afford if they have to pay their way on attendance alone.
But Don't Blame Greco
But leave us not blame Greco for demanding, and apparently getting, as much as he can. A few years from now, when his reactions slow up, his strikeout total climbs, and some of those homers become doubles and singles, no one in Organized Baseball is going to come around, pat him on the back and say "You been a good boy, Dick. Rather than release you we want to put you out to pasture on a soft retirement plan where all you have to do is give speeches at Little League banquets."
He, like all ball players, will be left on his own and quickly forgotten.
The outfit to put the finger on in the Greco deal is the Vancouver club which, aided by Seattle, apparently is so anxious to go Coast League it plans to drag the whole Western International down in the attempt.
Right now we have a situation where Tri-City couldn't afford Greco, Yakima couldn't afford Bob Wellman, Lewiston couldn't afford to keep Ken Richardson and Bill Brenner, yet the Caps can afford all four.
Salary Limits Are Phony
Naturally, this high-paid array brings up a question of how does Vancouver do it and stay within salary limits? The Greco deal is a good example.
On the surface, Greco "bought" his own release. Actually the Vancouver club undoubtedly put up the dough so he could "buy" his release.
Vancouver went the long way around simply because it could not buy Greco and then pay him the wages he wanted and still come under the salary limits.
By having Greco "buy" his release, he could then be signed as a free agent for a bonus. Probably he is playing for a listed "salary", of as little as $100 a month with the bonus making up the difference.
The same is true with Richardson. And this bonus money doesn't count under the salary limit.
Then on Arnie Halgran, on option from Milwaukee, and K. Chorlton and Wellman, on option from Seattle, the parent clubs pay part of the salary. Under the ridiculous rules of the game, the portion of the salary paid by the parent club does not come under the salary limit.
The salary limit itself does not in reality exist. It has long been "sky's the limit," not only Vancouver but a couple of other clubs which would have tough sledding if they had to meet the barrier themselves.
Small Clubs Have Real One
There is a salary limit, a real one, for most of the clubs and it's based on ability to pay. Tri-City, Yakima, Wenatchee, Lewiston and the Stampcders fall in this classification. It wouldn't matter if the league raised the salary limit to $10,000 — these clubs can't afford to lay out any more money than they are doing now.
A club in this league has to draw pretty close to 100,000 paid admissions to break even and few of them will come close to that figure. Moreover, none of the smaller ones have an excess of multi-millionaires, or better yet, breweries to subsidize the losses.
Rainiers Have Ax To Grind
In all this business of Vancouver, one wonders, too, just what the Seattle Rainiers are up to in loading up the Vancouver roster. Besides the hitting array, Seattle is soon expected to shore up Vancouver's only weak spot, pitching, with some more optioned players. True, the Rainiers have a working agreement with Vancouver, and naturally the Caps would have first choice on optioned ballplayers. Maybe it is just straight deals — with Seattle happening to have an excess of top talent to send down.
That may be but some things have a slight smell. For example, about half the players Seattle sends to Vancouver on option aren't going to make the Seattle club this year or ever. They've been up for trial, down for seasoning and if the Rainiers carry them for 40 years, they will still be up for trial and down for seasoning. It doesn't seem logical that those up-and-down boys could still be considered triple-A "prospects."
They are top grade class A players and that's all.
One of the smartest deals Seattle could pull would be to build up and ballyhoo Vancouver into the Coast League. The two cities are close enough together to drum up a rivalry, yet far enough apart they would not compete for each other's fans. It would simplify scheduling and lower transportation costs for the Rainiers should one of the cities such as Sacramento drop out of the PCL or should one of the others go major league.
Vancouver as a Coast League town has been talked about before and it is pretty plain they are going after it. We wish them luck, but let's hope they don't link the WIL in the attempt.
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, Sunday, May 9, 1954]
Tri-City fans, after hearing about the thunderous array of hitters lined up on the Vancouver roster, are beginning to wonder now if release of Dick Greco, and his subsequent move to the Cap roster, was exactly a wise thing.
The reason given was that Greco demanded too high a salary for this club to pay? Just how high a salary did the outfielder ask?
Eddie Taylor, Tri-City general manager, said he did not feel at liberty to disclose the exact amount but he did reveal it was about $200 more than one of the higher paid players on the Tri-City roster. This, in itself, doesn't seem extreme but Taylor also said Greco wanted an agreement whereby he would receive his release at the end of the season.
Such agreements, technically, are taboo but it is a common practice on all clubs.
Anyhow, Greco eventually "bought" his release. The price paid has not been disclosed but there are ways of making pretty good guesses. Had the Tri-City dub agreed to Greco's wage demands, plus the release which had considerable value, his monthly salary figure would have been something like $1,500.
And that is more than this club can possibly afford, and more than any club in the league can afford if they have to pay their way on attendance alone.
But Don't Blame Greco
But leave us not blame Greco for demanding, and apparently getting, as much as he can. A few years from now, when his reactions slow up, his strikeout total climbs, and some of those homers become doubles and singles, no one in Organized Baseball is going to come around, pat him on the back and say "You been a good boy, Dick. Rather than release you we want to put you out to pasture on a soft retirement plan where all you have to do is give speeches at Little League banquets."
He, like all ball players, will be left on his own and quickly forgotten.
The outfit to put the finger on in the Greco deal is the Vancouver club which, aided by Seattle, apparently is so anxious to go Coast League it plans to drag the whole Western International down in the attempt.
Right now we have a situation where Tri-City couldn't afford Greco, Yakima couldn't afford Bob Wellman, Lewiston couldn't afford to keep Ken Richardson and Bill Brenner, yet the Caps can afford all four.
Salary Limits Are Phony
Naturally, this high-paid array brings up a question of how does Vancouver do it and stay within salary limits? The Greco deal is a good example.
On the surface, Greco "bought" his own release. Actually the Vancouver club undoubtedly put up the dough so he could "buy" his release.
Vancouver went the long way around simply because it could not buy Greco and then pay him the wages he wanted and still come under the salary limits.
By having Greco "buy" his release, he could then be signed as a free agent for a bonus. Probably he is playing for a listed "salary", of as little as $100 a month with the bonus making up the difference.
The same is true with Richardson. And this bonus money doesn't count under the salary limit.
Then on Arnie Halgran, on option from Milwaukee, and K. Chorlton and Wellman, on option from Seattle, the parent clubs pay part of the salary. Under the ridiculous rules of the game, the portion of the salary paid by the parent club does not come under the salary limit.
The salary limit itself does not in reality exist. It has long been "sky's the limit," not only Vancouver but a couple of other clubs which would have tough sledding if they had to meet the barrier themselves.
Small Clubs Have Real One
There is a salary limit, a real one, for most of the clubs and it's based on ability to pay. Tri-City, Yakima, Wenatchee, Lewiston and the Stampcders fall in this classification. It wouldn't matter if the league raised the salary limit to $10,000 — these clubs can't afford to lay out any more money than they are doing now.
A club in this league has to draw pretty close to 100,000 paid admissions to break even and few of them will come close to that figure. Moreover, none of the smaller ones have an excess of multi-millionaires, or better yet, breweries to subsidize the losses.
Rainiers Have Ax To Grind
In all this business of Vancouver, one wonders, too, just what the Seattle Rainiers are up to in loading up the Vancouver roster. Besides the hitting array, Seattle is soon expected to shore up Vancouver's only weak spot, pitching, with some more optioned players. True, the Rainiers have a working agreement with Vancouver, and naturally the Caps would have first choice on optioned ballplayers. Maybe it is just straight deals — with Seattle happening to have an excess of top talent to send down.
That may be but some things have a slight smell. For example, about half the players Seattle sends to Vancouver on option aren't going to make the Seattle club this year or ever. They've been up for trial, down for seasoning and if the Rainiers carry them for 40 years, they will still be up for trial and down for seasoning. It doesn't seem logical that those up-and-down boys could still be considered triple-A "prospects."
They are top grade class A players and that's all.
One of the smartest deals Seattle could pull would be to build up and ballyhoo Vancouver into the Coast League. The two cities are close enough together to drum up a rivalry, yet far enough apart they would not compete for each other's fans. It would simplify scheduling and lower transportation costs for the Rainiers should one of the cities such as Sacramento drop out of the PCL or should one of the others go major league.
Vancouver as a Coast League town has been talked about before and it is pretty plain they are going after it. We wish them luck, but let's hope they don't link the WIL in the attempt.
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