Thursday, June 17, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Vancouver .... 32 17 .653 —
Yakima ....... 28 23 .549 5
Spokane ...... 27 23 .540 5½
Wenatchee .... 27 25 .519 6½
Edmonton ..... 21 20 .512 7
Lewiston ..... 23 26 .469 9
Tri-City ..... 23 28 .451 10
Salem ........ 23 29 .442 10½
Victoria ..... 21 27 .438 10½
Calgary ...... 18 25 .419 11

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, Province, June 18]—This is a salute to 104 hardy souls, who braved Vancouver’s excuse for weather Thursday night at Capilano Stadium to watch their Caps best Victoria again. Or maybe we should limit that to a hardy 100—the other four brought umbrellas, and used them throughout the game.
The crowd (?), the smallest collection of (paid) faithful fans ever to rattle about in the 6500-seat stadium, at least had the satisfaction of seeing their favorites break loose in the fashion that’s responsible for placing them far in the van of their WIL rivals.
Down 2-0 going into their half of the sixth, the locals exploded typically for five straight hits, climaxed by Bob Wellman’s double, to give Bill Franks his third win against as many losses.
That outburst was enough to rout Hal Flinn, who had been the Caps convincingly earlier in the season.
Leading the hit parade for Vancouver was their latest candidate for league batting honors, Marv Williams, who had three-for-three. Marv has really been loving this long home stand.
Opposition pitchers haven’t been able to blank him in any of the nine games during this stay, and his average over that period is a fabulous .543—19 hits in 35 times at bat.
The win was the Caps’ fifth in six games with Victoria and their seventh in eight starts. They get two more chances against the Tyees tonight, with George Nicholas and Bob Roberts pitching in a 7 p.m. doubleheader.
PROVINCE STARS—Marv Williams, for reasons presented above … Bill Franks, who struck out seven in his best effort this year [he also batted in a pair of runs with three hits ] … And pesky little Ron Jackson, who collected three of the Victoria hits [a double and two singles. He also scored twice].
Victoria .......... 101 000 000—2  8 2
Vancouver ...... 000 005 21x—8 15 2
Flinn, Drilling (7) and Martin; Franks and Duretto.

YAKIMA, June 17 — Salem and Yakima split a Western International League baseball doubleheader Thursday night, with Salem taking the free-hitting, 9-inning opener, 7-1, and Yakima the low-hitting nightcap, 2-0.
Salem scored three runs in the first inning of the opener and never was headed. Danny Rios turned in a three-hitter for Yakima in winning the afterpiece.
First Game
Salem ......... 302 000 101—7 13 3
Yakima ....... 000 001 000—1  6 0
Rayle and Ogden; Young, Schaening (1), Machado (7) and Summers.
Second Game
Salem ....... 000 000 0—0 3 2
Yakima ..... 200 000 0—2 4 1
Briggs and Ogden; Rios and Summmers.

EDMONTON, June 17 — Spossne Indians swept both ends of a Western International League doubleheader here Thursday night, 7-2 and 4-1, to leave Edmonton skimos without a victory in a three-same series.
Charlie Ruddock began the first game of the twin bill with a two-run homer in the second inning and Bob Donkersley repeated in the third to give the Indians a 6-1 bulge.
Pitcher Ralph Romero, who went the route for the Indians, also hit and inside-the-park homer in the sixth of the seven-inning opener.
Indians picked up an unearned run in the first inning of the second game and the game went run-less until the last of the seventh when Eskimos Bobby Brown deadlocked it with a homer.
With two out in the ninth, Ruddock staged a double steal with Mike Durrock to break the tie and John Anderson singled Durrock home.
First Game
Spokane ........ 033 001 0—7 9 0
Edmonton ...... 001 001 0—2 7 1
Romero and Sack; Kimball, LeBrun (6), Manier (7) and Prentice.
Second Game
Spokane ........ 100 000 003—4 7 2
Edmonton ...... 000 000 100—1 4 1
Anderson and Dean; McNulty, Manier (9) and Prentice.

CALGARY, June 17 — A bases-loaded home run in the sixth inning by playing-manager Gene Lillard pushed Calgary Stampeders into an 11-2 victory over Lewiston Broncs here Thursday night before a small crowd.
The victory gave the Stamps a 2-1 edge in their Western International League series aganst the American club.
Charlie Lundgren hit a two-run homer to give the cowboys a 4-2 lead in the third inning and they never looked back. Despite the home run being his only official time at-bat, Lundgren scored four runs. He also walked four times.
Veteran Joe Orrell spaced five hits to pick up the victory.
Lewiston ..... 200 000 000— 2  5 3
Calgary ....... 022 005 11x—11 12 2
Martin and Garay; Orrell and Lillard.

WENATCHEE [Tri-City Herald, June 18]—The Tri-City Braves open a vital four-game home stand against Yakima tonight at Sanders Field and if the early morning weather holds through the evening it will go a long way to solving one of the troubles confronting the club.
The Braves are drastically in need of cash — a shortage brought on by small gates caused by poor weather. Tonight, in an effort if not to boost the take, at least to boost the volume, Tri-City general manager has slated a family night.
Fathers will be charged the usual admission price: Mom and the kids get in free. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Saturday Tri-City plays a single game at 7:30 and Sunday a double header at 1:30 p.m.
Also with an eye toward the gate, playing manager Edo Vanni has juggled his pitching lineup to throw one of his more consistent hurlers against the Bears. Likely starter will be Walt Clough, right-hander who has won six games and lost three.
The series will also be a critical one for Tri-City from the standpoint of Western International league standings. A series of losses could shove them down next to Calgary in the WIL cellar. A series of wins could boost them into the first division.
Yakima and Tri-City played one series there and the Bears took all three games. Tri-City fans can take consolation in one fact, however. The last time that happened was when the Braves lost three to Victoria. Then in a four-game series here, Tri-City beat the Tyees three of four games.
Also in a similar parallel, the Tyees were then in second place and the losses eventually led to their tumble down the ladder Currently, Yakima is in second place.
Tri-City and Wenatchee finished up the first half play even up Thursday night when the Chiefs edged the Braves 7-6 there it gave Wenatchee a 2-1 edge in the series. Tri-City took its three-game series here with Wenatchee by a similar margin.
Jess Dobernic was the loser, his fourth of the season. It was his first start and Jess went six innings before being taken out for a pinch hitter.
Wenatchee's big inning was the fifth when the Chiefs scorcd four runs off him. Tri-City came back for five runs in the seventj which saw Edo Vanni make his first appearance since being injured early this season and Terry Carroll doubled with the bases loaded.
However, the game clinching tally came when Tom Munoz homered with none out in the eighth off lefty Earl Lemieux. It was the only base blow off the rookie but represented the exact margin of victory.
Tri-City .......... 000 000 510—6 11 1
Wenatchee ..... 110 040 10x—7  9 3
Dobernic, Lemieux (7) Thomason (8) and Warren; Shandor and Helmuth

Luby Is Salem Field Manager
SALEM, Ore., June 17—The Salem Senators announced Thursday that Hugh Luby will take over as field manager, replacing Harvey Storey in an economy move.
Luby, who formerly was field manager, has been general manager of the Western International League team this season.
Storey, who has been a playing manager, was offered a players’ contract. A third baseman, Storey had not decided Thursday whether he will accept, the spokesman said.
Storey will be field manager for the last time in a game scheduled at Yakima Thursday night.
Luby will take over the following night.

Nearly $40,000 Needed to Save Spokane Indians
SPOKANE, June 17—The committee working to keep Spokane in the Western International Baseball League learned Thursday it must raise $39,866.41 by next Monday to do the job.
Mayor Arthur Meehan, head of “Save the Spokane Indians, Inc.” said the figure was disclosed in a meeting with Roy Hotchkiss, owner of the Spokane club who gave up the franchise Sunday.
Meehan said the figure “includes the amount we would need to take over the franchise and the team’s equipment.”
Time it the most important thing now, he said. The league has agreed to carry the team, now playing at Edmonton, until Monday.
“There is no doubt in my mind that we can get the money,” said Meehan. “The only question is can we get it in time?”

Tyees Begin Changes by Returning Joshua
[Victoria Colonist, Friday, June 18, 1954]
Victoria Tyees, who have been playing several player changes to make an all-out bid to capture second-half honors in the WIL, made their first move after last night’s game at Vancouver when they returned outfielder Joe Joshua to Seattle Rainiers.
General-manager Reg Paterson, who made the announcement after a post-game telephone conversation with manager Don Pries, gave no reason for the action which will probably surprise most fans. He declined to state whether or not the fact Joshua was thrown out of last Saturday’s game here and again last night for verbal abuse of the plate umpire had anything to do with it.
Joshua, the only colored player with the Tyees this season, joined the club at the start of the season on option from Seattle after spending spring training season with the Capilanos.
GOOD AVERAGE
He was installed in left field and hit steadily after only a fair start to boost his average to .338 on June 8 and rank as the club’s second-best hitter on the basis of average. However, the big fellow, who took over at first base when Pries broke some bones in his hand, had failed to hit in his last six games and his average through last night’s game was an even .300.
Playing in all 48 Victoria games, he had made 54 hits in 180 times at bat, scored 30 runs and batted in 37. He had been charged with 13 errors, nine as an outfielder, and four as a first baseman.
To replace Joshua, Pries states he has a “real good” first baseman but he is not expected to join the club for several days. Meanwhile, it’s likely southpaw Berlyn Hodges will guard first base. Pries will be out of action for a week or more yet according to his own statement.
MORE CHANGES
Other changes are in the making. The Tyees hope to add the first of three or four new pitchers before the week is out and they may have a new infielder before they return home next Thursday for a 12-game stand.

Lewis Released
[Tri-City Herald, June 17, 1954]
Glenn Lewis, an almost forgotten Tri-City catcher received his outright release today from the Tri-City Braves, general manager Eddie Taylor announced.
Lewis played second-string to Nick Pesut in 1952 but did not report for either the ’53 or ‘54 seasons because he wanted to stay in school.
He was one of the players that came with the club when the Braves were bought from Dick Richards and associates.