Wednesday, June 23, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Vancouver .... 34 19 .642 —
Yakima ....... 32 25 .561 4
Edmonton ..... 24 23 .511 7
Lewiston ..... 28 28 .500 7½
Wenatchee .... 28 30 .482 8½
Salem ........ 28 31 .475 9
Victoria ..... 23 30 .465 11
Tri-City ..... 25 33 .431 11½

YAKIMA [Vancouver Province, June 24]—General Manager Bill Brenner of the Capilanos made a deal Wednesday to strengthen his club for the Western International League’s second half race, and he took immediate steps to keep his charges in front in the first half, which ends July 5. Brenner Wednesday purchased pitcher Pete Hernandez, an 18-game winner with the Caps last year, from Seattle Rainiers for considerably less than the original asking price of $3500. In consideration of the cut-rate price, Seattle will get Vancouver outfielder K. Chorlton at the end of the first half.
AND ANOTHER
Chorlton, who has had several unsuccessful whirls with the Rainiers, but has been giving a great year with the Caps, was hitting .333 as of Tuesday. Hernandez will join the Caps immediately, but Brenner told The Province Wednesday by long distance phone that he refused to let Chorlton go until the end of the first half.
By that time, there will be another outfielder here. He’s a highly-recommended youngster out of San Francisco named Phil Marvier.
By then, too, Danny Holden may have cinched a starting spot in the outfield. The local boy, who’s been filling in for injured shortstop Jimmy Clark recently, has been getting his base hits.
ARNIE BENCHED
Arnie Hallgren, who has been in a protracted batting slump that’s starting to affect his fielding, too, was benched. Bob Duretto took over at shortstop for Clark, who pulled a muscle in Vancouver last week and still can’t run. Dick Greco was dropped from the cleanup spot to sixth, and Bob Wellman moved into the no. four slot.
The combination worked as the Caps took Yakima Bears into camp, 6-0, to move four game ahead of their second-place victims again. Brenner himself had much to do with the win. He was at his knuckling best as he gave up just five hits, all of them after the sixth inning, for his ninth win against four losses.
Bob Roberts will pitch for Vancouver tonight as the series winds up here. The Caps return home Friday for a double-header against Lewiston Broncs, with George Nicholas and possibly Pete Hernandez doing the pitching.
- - -
YAKIMA, Wash., June 23—Vancouver's Manager Bill Brenner held the Yakima Bears to five hits as the Capilanos widened their Western International League margin to four games over the Bears with 6-0 baseball Wednesday night.
The Capilanos sewed up the tilt in the third inning with four runs, all of them unearned.
It started with Nick Pesut getting an infield single. Dan Holden walked and K. Chorlton singled to centre to load the bases. Marv Williams was safe on an error, and one run was in.
Bob Wellman flied out, scoring the second run. Ken Richardson walked and Dick Greco singled, scoring two more.
Greco and Chorlton were both three-for-five, with Greco doubling twice to bring in two runs. Brenner and Richardson also doubled for the Caps, while the Bears were held only to singles. Brenner walked one and struck out three.
Vancouver ...... 004 001 001—6 13 1
Yakima ........... 000 000 000—0  5 3
Brenner and Pesut; Carmichael, Carter (9) and Summers.

SALEM [Tri-City Herald, June 24]—The Tri-City Braves and the Salem Senators go into the fourth and final game of the four-game series there today with Tri-City needing a win to break even.
Wednesday night, the Braves won the opening game of a twin bill, 6-1, and dropped the second game, 3-2.
When the Braves return here, they will play a four-game series with their “natural rivals.” The first game Friday night will be kid’s night. All high school youngsters and younger will be admitted free.
The games Friday will be 7:30 p m. Saturday the two teams will play a doubleheader and Sunday they will play a single game beginning at 5 p.m.
The early Sunday starting time is brought about by the necessity of leaving early for the long haul to Edmonton the following day.
Tri-City general manager Eddie Taylor, pleased with the fan support given the team last weekend, said today he hopes the Tri-Citians won’t let them down this weekend.”
“We can see our way out of the woods,” he said, “but we are not out yet.”
The series is the last before a payroll comes due and before the Edmonton trip.
“If we can get a turnout like last weekend’s, I think we will be okay.” Taylor said. He added that if Tri-City can hold its own during the first half, “perhaps we can do something about getting players who can help us in the second half.”
Taylor said he thought the primary need was pitching, and the overall record would indicate that is the case. However, it wasn’t pitching, that hurt the Braves Wednesday night.
Jess Dobernic, the old vet, jerked up a good one in the seven-inning opener. Jess gave up a homer, his tenth of the season, but the Tri-City batting lineup off-set that with six runs.
The homer was one of three hits off Dobernic.
“He looked like Jess of Old,” playing manager Vanni said. “All he needs is some work and he is going to get it.”
In the second game, starter Dale Bloom gave up one unearned run before being taken out. Lefty Earl Lemieux then pitched until Salem scored with winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
Lemieux gave up a hit to Carl Bellotti to start the inning. Bellotti was sacrificed along and catcher Floyd Ogden was intentionally passed. Lemieux was taken out and Don Robertson took over.
The first batter got an infield hit and squeeze bunt brought Bellotti in from third.
Lemieux’s weak hitting cost him heavily in the game. Once he came to bat with the bases loaded and struck out.
* * *
Tri-City playing manager Edo Vanni said today in Salem that pitcher Dale Bloom’s arm “tightened up a bit on him” in the game with the Senators Wednesday night, “but it is nothing serious.”
“I just wasn’t going to take any chance," Vanni said. “He is too valuable a man to the club.”
Vanni pulled Bloom in the third inning of the second game with the Senators although the pitcher was not in serious trouble. However, he gave indications that he was having arm trouble and Vanni replaced him with lefty Earl Lemieux.
Vanni said “I thought, the heck with it. I like to win games too but why let a pitcher throw his arm away for one game. He’s worth dough to the club and he has worked hard to get a crack at higher league ball. So I pulled him out.
“But he’ll be okay, now.”
Vanni said he will start Dale Thomason against Salem tonight and use Don Robertson against the Senators Friday night when they return to Sanders Field.
In the game Wednesday night, the Senators scored the tying run in the seventh inning when Lemieux threw a wild pitch.
“I don’t know where the kid got that one,” Vanni said. “Every once in a while these pitchers come up with some kind of a new pitch. That one cost him the game.”
But Vanni added, “It’s okay. He pitched darn good ball except for that one.”
* * *
The Tri-City Braves brought their roster up to the full 17 with the signing of Bill Tompkins, former Calgary pitcher.
The lefthander has pitched very little this season but is strongly recommended by former Calgary manager Gene Lilliard [sic].
This is his second season in professional baseball.
First Game
Tri-City ..... 500 001 0—6 10 1
Salem ....... 100 000 0—1  3 5
Dobernic and Warren; Del Sarto, Borst (1), Rayle (6) and Ogden.
Second Game
Tri-City ..... 000 002 000—2 8 2
Salem ....... 100 000 101—3 7 1
Bloom, Lemieux (3) Robertson (8) and Johnson, Warren (8); Johnson, Rayle (6) and Odgen, Scrivens ().

LEWISTON, June 23—Lewiston walked to a 10-3 victory Wednesday night as Victoria pitchers Joe Nicholas, Hal Flinn and Phil Page gave up 13 bases on balls in a wild Western International League game.
Nicholas, who was supposed to take over leadership of the Victoria mound staff, made his second start and didn't get past the first inning. The Broncs scored four times for all the runs they needed on four walks, a single and Clint Cameron's double. Flinn came in, gave up a run in the second then was knocked off the rubber in a five-run fifth that took 35 minutes to play.
Page stopped them tere but the Tyees could do nothing with Dean Kime, who scattered
seven hits while gaining his third victory against one defeat. Only one of Victoria's three runs was earned.
A bit of extra action was provided in the fifth when some rough play at second base brought players from both clubs to the centre of the diamond. The dispute was settled without too much damage being done.
Victoria ....... 000 000 021— 3 7 2
Lewiston ..... 410 050 00x—10 8 2
Nicholas, Flinn (1), Page (5) and Lundberg; Kime and Cameron.

EDMONTON, June 23—The Edmonton Eskimos handed Wenatchee its fifth straight loss, defeating the Chiefs, 10-5, in a Western International League game Wednesday.
Don Gigli and Bob Brown starred for Edmonton. Gigli homered with two aboard in the
Eskimos' four-run third inning. Brown contributed a bases-empty homer.
The loss dropped Wenatchee to fifth place, 8½ games off the pace.
Edmonton ....... 104 020 003—10 9 2
Wenatchee ..... 000 200 012— 5 8 1
Worth and Prentice; Beamon, Bowman (4) and Helmuth.

WIL Schedule Change Noted
TACOMA, June 23 — This is the official revised schedule for the Western International Baseball League, June 23 to July 5, according to Robert B. Abel, league president:
June 23-24 — Tri-City at Salem; Edmonton at Wenatchee; Vancouver at Yakima; Victoria at Lewiston.
June 25-26 — Lewiston at Vancouver.
June 25-26-27 — Salem at Tri-City; Victoria at Wenatchee; Edmonton at Yakima.
June 28-29-30 — Salem at Vancouver; Tri-City at Edmonton; Lewiston at Victoria; Yakima at Wenatchee.
July 1-2 — Tri-City at Edmonton.
July 1-2-3 — Yakima at Vancouver; Wenatchee at Victoria; Lewiston at Salem.
July 4-5 — Victoria at Tri-City; Vancouver at Salem; Edmonton at Lewiston; Wenatchee at Yakima.

Rainiers Obtain Three WIL Players
SEATTLE, June 23—(AP)—The Seattle Rainiers' management started to re-shuffle the roster of tne filth-place Coast League baseball club Wednesday and the first three cards it came up with were from the Western International League pack.
Dewey Soriano, general manager of the Rainiers, announced that players are being obtained from the Vancouver, Victoria and Wenatchee clubs.
K Chorlton, outfielder, who began his career with Seattle in 1950 after graduating from high school here, is being brought back from Vancouver in exchange for pitcher Pete Hernandez.
Chorlton flunked out with Seattle after going through spring training with the Rainiers. He has been hitting at a .380 clip for the Canadian club.
Joe Joshua, Negro fielder who also went through spring training with the Rainiers before going to Victoria, was the second man recalled.
The third is Lloyd Jenney, Wenatchee catcher and left handed batter who was been hitting at a .364 page for the Chiefs.
Hernandez has a 3-2 pitching record for Seattle this year, gained in his role of relief hurler.

Players Get New Jobs
SPOKANE, June 23—Sixteen players left without jobs when the Spokane Indians suspended operations this week are hooking on with other baseball clubs, manager Don Osborn said Wednesday.
Osborn said Larry Cummins, a free agent who joined the club on its last road trip, is the only player not yet signed. He said teams acquiring ether players will announce their choices.
The Spokane team dropped out of the League Monday after failure of a drive to raise funds to keep the club in business the remainder of the season.
Osborn said he will clean up the Indians’ business here, then take a job in the Philadelphia Phillies farm organization.

Ducey Hopes for Western Canada League Someday
EDMONTON, June 23 — John Ducey, manager of Edmonton Eskimos of the Western International Baseball League, has expressed hope that one day a Western Canada league might be formed, embracing such cities as Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Regina.
Addressing a service club here Tuesday night, Ducey said the idea of an all-Canadian baseball league strikes a responsive chord in most westerners. American cities, such as Spokane, were never very enthusiastic about playing in Canada.
He said it is hoped that both Calgary Stampeders and Spokane Indians, beset by financial difficulties this season, will return to the WIL next year. The two clubs withdrew from the league last Monday.

Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, June 24, 1954]
With the folding of two teams and the release of a manager or so, the semi-pro nines back east made a bigger haul than the teams in the Western International league.
When the Calgary Stampeders went under, all of the players were given releases, with the exception of Dennis Luby who belongs to Cleveland. Of that released group, almost all took off to Nova Scotia to play semi-pro ball at roughly $800 a month.
Tri-City’s hoped for deal for Harvey Storey also fell through and Storey has gone into semi-pro ball.
General manager Eddie Taylor tried to talk him out of it but Storey has played semi-pro before and is familiar with the risks — and the salaries.
All this information comes from Taylor, who has been busy sounding out the field on the possibility of getting some players. The one big fish he especially sought was John Anderson, former Spokane pitcher. Anderson belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies and Taylor tried to get him on option here.
They turned the deal down preferring to send Anderson to Schenectady in the Eastern League where they have a working agreement. Maybe it’s just as well. Anderson undoubtedly would have done something to help Tri-City’s lowly place in the standings but it’s getting to be [an] axiom of baseball that “he in the WIL who deals with the Phillies folds up.”
* * *
That Spokane Deal
Efforts to find out the wonderful procedure concerning disposal of the Spokane ballplayers and their status in relation to the Western International league amounted to nothing.
I really didn’t expect anything to happen and merely checked up just for the fun of it.
Specifically, the issue was this: It was pretty well-known throughout the league that all but three of the Spokane players belonged to the Philadelphia Phils through a working agreement. However, at the recent league meeting, league president Bob Abel, while discussing the situation, blandly said only two of the Philadelphia players were on option and that Spokane actually “owned” the rest of the group.
* * *
What Happened To Them?
Now ordinarily, when a team folds, the players are either taken over by the league and sold to pay any back debts, or given outright releases.
So the question was how about those Phillie players actually “owned” by Spokane? Why weren’t they put on the block so other teams could buy them? Or, if no one wanted them, why weren’t they released?
When these questions were put to Abel, they didn’t bring, what one would exactly call a direct answer. First off, he said it was seven players and not two optioned to the Phils.
Then he said, yes, the players could be sold and some of them have. Which ones? He didn’t remember. For how much? $4,000. Who bought them? The Phils.
Were other clubs given a chance to bid on them? Oh, yes, at the league meeting at Spokane.
Finally, it came out. It seems when Babe Hollingberry of Yakima put up $7,000 to pay the back salaries of the Spokane players, he received the following assurance he would get his money back: If Spokane folded, as it eventually did, the Phils would pay the league $4,000 for Wil Hafey, Eddie Murphy, and Virgil Giovannoni — the only three players the Phils didn’t have any real or working agreement control over. The rest of Hollingberry’s $7,000 was to come from the $3,100 each team must deposit with the national association before the season starts.
* * *
Control Stopped With Salaries
What about the others? Abel explained you would have to ask about some specific player via telegram before he could give an answer and the answer would apply only to that one player.
But then he added, “When I told Spokane manager Don Osborne to return and ordered that salaries no longer be paid, I could no longer exercize control over those players. I could not take it on myself to pay their salaries out of league money.”
So, as it was predicted in this column a week ago, the Phils came out landing on their feet. And took over Murphy, Hafey and Giovannoni, too.
* * *
That Day Is Slipping Away
What Abel and a lot of other old baseball men have soon to realize is that the day when eight guys with lots of money could form eight ball clubs and run them from the smoky rooms is fast slipping away. This club is owned by some 400 individuals and a lot of nice people kicked in $50 from the family budget to keep the club here.
It’s not only true here but in other places and clubs community owned are becoming the regular thing. As such those persons want to know what’s going on in the background and all 400 can’t attend league meetings or read league telegrams.
And who knows? Sunlight and air seems to be good out on the playing field. Maybe a little of it in the backrooms is just what the game needs.

Saturday, May 1, 1954

               W  L  Pct. GB
Salem ........ 3  0 1.000  —
Spokane ...... 2  1  .666  1
Lewiston ..... 2  1  .666  1
Tri-City ..... 2  1  .666  1
Yakima ....... 2  1  .666  1
Victoria ..... 1  1  .500  1½
Calgary ...... 1  2  .333  2
Vancouver .... 1  2  .333  2
Wenatchee .... 0  2  .000  2½
Edmonton ..... 0  3  .000  3

SALEM, May 1 — Salem won its third straight Western International League baseball game Saturday night, defeating the fading Calgary Stampeders 12-1.
Calgary, which was deprived of its WIL franchise effective May 6 earlier in the day, was held to a single run by Jim Petersen, Salem pitcher. That came on singles by Don Lundberg and pinch hitter Al Smith. When Salem’s Connie Perez let Smith’s hit get away, Lundberg scored.
Ed Kapp, Calgary starter, and Rod Owens, who relieved him in the seventh inning, gave up 12 hits to Salem batters.
Calgary .... 000 000 100— 1 3 6
Salem ...... 202 214 01x—12 12 2
Kapp, Owens (7) and Lundberg; Petersen and Ogden.

LEWISTON, Idaho, May 1—Bob Donkersley hit a home run and Eddie Murphy singled in the winning run in the tenth inning Saturday night as the Spokane Indians handed the Lewiston Broncs a 6-5 loss, their first of the young season.
Spokane ........ 201 000 100 2—6 14 2
Lewiston ....... 020 000 002 1—5 7 2
Trautwein, Schildmeyer (9), Lawson (10) and Dean; McWilliams, Dergane (9), Tisnerat (10) and Cameron.

KENNEWICK [Tri-City Herald, May 2]—The Tri-City Braves beat the Edmonton Eskimoes 7-6 in the first extra-inning game of the season after Jack Warren tied it up with a dramatic ninth-inning homer and Des Charouhas drove in the winning run with his tailbone.
The two teams square off again today at 1:30 p.m. Bud Goldborg and Dale Bloom will draw starting roles for today's games.
The series of incidents leading up to Charouhas’ feat began in the top of the ninth when the Braves were leading, 5-2.
Then Edmonton’s Whitey Thompson, Bob Brown, John McKeown, Vern Campbell, Bob Sturgeon, and Dwayne Kling jumped on starter Walt Clough and reliefer Jess Dobernic for a series of hits to put Edmonton ahead 6-5.
The tie-breaking run was scored by Campbell on a close play at home and there is some doubt that he has touched the plate yet. In any case, Warren didn’t think so and when he came to bat in the bottom of the inning he was in a mean frame of mind.
Big Jack caught the second pitch thrown by reliefer Dale Hittle and whaled it out of the park. It evened things up for the inning and Tri-City was unable to score during the rest or the frame although the Bravos had the bases loaded when Robertson flied out.
Calgary was scoreless in the top of the tenth. In the bottom half, Vic Buccola walked, and Bob Moniz followed with a double. Pitcher Ray McNulty, acting on orders from manager Bob Sturgeon intentionally walked Wert, who had a double and two singles along with his homer in five trips to the plate.
McNulty then pitched to Charouhas. On about the third pitch, Charouhas was hit right where he normally sits down and thereby became one of the few batters who has driven in a winning run with the seat of his britches.
The force of the pitch sent Charouhas sprawling in the batter’s box but he recovered and limped down to first. Although it looked as if he might be seriously hurt the outfielder recovered quickly after the game and will be ready to play today.
Edmonton ........ 001 100 004 0—6 10 1
Tri-City ........... 103 001 001 1—7 12 2
Le Brun, Hittle (9), McNulty (10) and Self; Clough, Dobernic (9), Robertson (9) and Warren.

YAKIMA, May 1—Despite nearly freezing weather and a sparse 1,318 opening-day crowd, Yakima’s Bears pounded Vancouver for 14 hits to win their second Western International League victory, 10-2.
Summers swung the big bat for the Bears with five hits—a home run, a double and three singles, good for four runs batted in. Len Noren cleared the jammed bases with a triple in the fourth, as Yakima broke a 1-1 tie.
Dick Greco accounted for both Vancouver runs, with a homer and a single.
Danny Rios allowed nine Vancouver hits in notching the win. Vancouver starter George Nicholas took the loss.
Vancouver ...... 001 010 000— 2 9 4
Yakima .......... 010 420 21x—10 14 1
Rios and Summers, Ling (9); Nicholas, Cordell (4) and Pesut.

ONLY GAMES PLAYED

W-I League to Operate Calgary Team
SPOKANE, May 1—The baseball players and franchise of the Calgary team of the Western International League have been “surrendered” to the league, President Robert Abel said Saturday.
In a phone call from Yakima, Abel said the league will operate the team at least until May 6.
Meantime “every effort will be made to try to locate the team elsewhere by next Thursday,” he said.
“It is too early for me to say anything definite about it now but I would guess that Tacoma and Eugene both are very strong possible substitutes for taking over the Calgary franchise.”
“Everybody in the league has been notified that the Calgary owners are all through. I have given instructions to Gene Lillard (Calgary manager) to carry on with the team and they will go through with their games at Salem this week end and will be in Spokane on schedule to open their three-game series at Ferris Field on Tuesday night,” Abel said.
Abel did not speculate on what might happen if no owner were found immediately for the team. But as for Calgary, he repeated “That operation is all through.” He added he is reasonably confident the team can be relocated by Thursday.
He said it would be impossible for the league to continue operating the club beyond next Thursday, when it winds up an engagement in Spokane It is scheduled to move to Lewiston Friday for a four-game series there.
The possibility that Calgary might have to drop out of the ten-team league was first indicated more than a month ago when Lillard reported from the California training camp that no finances had been forthcoming to conduct the camp. However that hurdle was cleared and reports from the league indicated the club would make it through the season
Seventeen players were on hand for Calgary’s opener at Tri-City Thursday night. The Stampeders lost the opener, but squared the series with a 5-4 victory Friday night.
“It may turn out to be all for the best,” was the reaction of Roy Hotchkiss, owner of the Spokane Indians when informed of the Calgary move.
“The Calgary ball park was a bad one to play in. and while the owners had promised to make improvements they never did.”
The loss of Calgary leaves Edmonton, another of four Canadian teams in the league, alone in the far northwest comer of the league.

Lillard Hits Stamp Brass
SALEM, May 1—“Disorganization and lack of interest” were blamed Saturday by manager Gene Lillard for the loss of Calgary’s franchise in the Western International League.
“I had little hope that Calgary could remain in the circuit after noting the disorganization in the club’s front office prior to the season’s start,” he said in an interview.
“The club has eaten off the league since the start of the season,” Lillard reported. He said that when the team arrived at Kennewick, Wash., last Thursday he wired club headquarters asking for meal money for the players.
When no money was sent, Lillard said, he made arrangements with League President Robert Abel to handle the club food bill through May 4.
Lillard was critical of Norman Lacey, president of the Calgary Club, saying that he had not mailed out the players’ contracts in time. Only a few days before the contract deadline, Lacey turned the contracts over to Lillard and told him to handle the matter, Lillard said. Because of this delay only three players were on hand for the opening of the spring drills in Portervllle, Calif., Lillard added. Lillard said the club had not had a business manager since December. Lacey repeatedly told him one would be hired, Lillard said.

Tacoma Shift Is Explored
TACOMA, May 1—Steps were begun here Saturday night to explore the possibility of moving the Calgary franchise in the Western International Baseball League to Tacoma.
Clay Huntington, president of the Pierce County Baseball Assn., said immediately after learning that the Calgary charter had been taken up by the league that a meeting has been called here for Monday.
He said Robert B. Abel, WIL president, Ben Cheney, owner of Cheney Field, and others have been invited to attend. Both Abel and Cheney are out of town and it was not known whether they would be available Monday.
Cheney Field, former home the now-defunct Tacoma Tiger baseball team, is the only park available in Tacoma for professional baseball. It v.lll require considerable remodeling before again being usable.

Chiefs Get Catcher
WENATCHEE, May 1—The Western International League Wenatchee Chiefs hoped Saturday they had solved their catching problem with the optioning of Lloyd Jenney to them by the Seattle Rainiers.
Jenney hit .367 and drove in 152 runs with Tucson last year to lead the Class C Arizona-Texas League.
The Chiefs have had only one catcher this spring, Matthew Kellum-Rose, recent Oakland, Calif., high school graduate.

4 Players Suspended
[Tri-City Herald, May 2, 1954]
Eddie Taylor, general manager of the Tri-City Braves, announced Saturday he has asked that four players carried on the Braves roster and who failed to report for spring training to be placed on the suspended list.
The four are pitchers Bob Snyder, Ken Michelson, Charlie Beers and infielder Tom Marier.
Taylor said he has asked that infielder Charley Davis be put on the temporarily inactive list. Davis acquired appendicitis just prior to spring training.
Taylor indicated, however, that he may have some trouble signing Davis even when the player recovers. “I thought we had it al1 set,” Taylor said, “Then he asked more concessions."
Marier and Michelson did not reach terms. There was some talk of Michelson going to Calgary but so far he has not indicated any interest.

Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, May 2, 1954]
Because of circumstances, a peculiar “battle of the outfielders” is shaping up this year between the Braves and Vancouver which may mean Tri-City will give the Caps the toughest tussle of all the teams in the league this season.
The situation is this:
Vancouver, with Dick Greco, K. Chorlton and possibly Bob Wellman in the lineup, has the most powerful group of long-ball hitters in the league. Ordinarily, in almost any park except the Vancouver stadium and Sanders field, the trio would beat other teams with homers alone.
But while having the team with the punch, Vancouver also has the longest fence distances in the league. What would normally be a homer elsewhere, usually goes for a triple there. Next to the Vancouver stadium, Tri-City’s field is probably the second toughest park for long-ball hitters. Here, however, the ones that get through but not over usually go for doubles.
Defensively, It’s A Good Outfield
Now for Tri-City’s outfield. We haven’t anyone in the trio of Bob McGuire, Des Charouhas, and Bob Moniz (or Ernie Hockaday, Bob Cassidy, and playing manager Edo Vanni) who is going to set the world afire with home runs. Yet defensively, I don't think there is a better outfield in the league.
Take the first three — McGuire, Charouhas, and Moniz. All three are fast and cover a wide range of territory. All three have been around the league enough to know something of who hits, where, and how high.
That combination is going to rob a lot of hitters of extra-base blows in any park. But it is especially true when they are playing in parks the size of Vancouver’s and Tri-City’s where the outfielders have room enough to move around.
We will know, soon, how this outfield-offensive; outfield-defensive battle shapes up when the Braves play Vancouver there this week. And the odds are the Tri-City trio will have to do a lot of fly ball shagging.
Eyesight And Confidence
Probably a lot of factors enter into hitting ability but the two biggest ones seem to be eyesight and self-confidence. Babe Ruth was said to have had remarkable eyesight and could read the numbers on a license plate before his teammates could sec the plate.
Ted Williams has exceptional eyesight.
Here close at home, Jack Warren, Tri-City catcher who led the league in hitting last year, has extremely good eyesight. One day while talking with him I held up a copy of the Sporting News to show Jack the cartoon on the front. He was leaving the office at the time and was some 20 feet away. Yet without squinting, he could read the cartoon.
Back a few months ago, when the argument of whether a curve ball really curves came up for the millionth time in the last 20 years, one of the local umps expounded this theory — and one I agree with.
Yes, he said, the curve ball curves but not as much as it appears. Furthermore, it appears to curve more for some batters than it does for others.
Players with exceptionally good eyesight and that hit .400, have the ability to “Take” a lot of the “curve” out of the pitch.
Beanie Is An Example
But the hitter with the eyesight isn’t going to be worth a hang unless he has the self-confidence.
It sounds like bragging at times, but you never hear Warren say “I hope I can get a hit.”
Beanie always comes up with “I’m goin’ to get me lots of doubles.” In his mind there is no doubt that he is going to hit.
The guy is remarkable at times.
Back last year he said one time before the game, “Tonight I start hitting them through the box.”
He did.
Jack was getting three for five, two for four, three for six for a series of games and just about taking the legs off the pitcher each time he hit the ball.
Then one night he was skunked.
“Trouble is they are wise to me,” Warren concluded the next night. “They're playing me for hits through the box. Tonight I start pulling them down the lines.”
He did that, too. Not quite as high a percentage as through the box but they were going down the line.
He just goes out with intentions of “getting me lots of doubles” or “hitting ‘em through the box” and there seems to be no doubt in his mind that he is going to do just that.

Opening Day, Thursday, April 30, 1954

              W  L   Pct GB
Spokane ..... 1  0 1.000  —
Lewiston .... 1  0 1.000  —
Tri-City .... 1  0 1.000  —
Salem ....... 1  0 1.000  —
Vancouver ... 1  0 1.000  —
Yakima ...... 0  1  .000  1
Wenatchee ... 0  1  .000  1
Calgary ..... 0  1  .000  1
Edmonton .... 0  1  .000  1
Victoria .... 0  1  .000  1

That New Capilano Look Spells Attack With Punch
Dick Greco Warms Heart of Shivering Fans
By CLANCY LORANGER
[Vancouver Province, April 30, 1954]
For two innings, it was the 1953 baseball opener all over again. It was cold enough to preserve icicles, and the Capilanos were behind 4-0.
But then the 1954 Capilanos came up with something last year’s WIL entry sought in vain all season—an attack.
By the fourth inning, the score was tied 4-4, and before the onslaught was over last night at Cap Stadium, the Vancouver team’s big bats had boomed out 15 base hits, including two triples and three doubles to just plain overpower the Victoria Tyees, 12-7.
In one inning, the Caps scored five times and in two other separate frames they sent three runs across. That isn’t exactly world shaking, but by comparison with last year’s opener, in which the locals got one hit as they were booted about, 8-0 by Lewiston, it was heartwarming for the 2500 fans who braved the chill.
The folks came to see Dick Greco hit, and the huge outfielder, who signed his contract a half hour before game time, didn’t let them down. He was, in fact, the spearhead of the attack—the “big” guy.
He got three-for-three, including a triple, and it was that three-bagger with two on base in the third, that started the Caps on the victory trail. Again in the fourth he batted in the run that tied the score.
All But Two Get Into Act
Dick got some help from a batting lineup that won’t have an “out” man in it, except for the pitcher, if and when Bob Wellman puts on a Vancouver suit. A pair of veterans, Ken Richardson and Nick Pesut, each batted in four runs, and Nick may have to rest for two days after running out a triple.
Marv Williams proved his spring hitting was no fluke as he wrested out a pair of doubles. Jimmy Clark got three hits, in fact, everybody but first-baseman Ellis Daughtery and pitcher Bob Roberts his safely.
Roberts, who relieved starter Bill Franks with nobody out in the third, got credit for the win, but he weakened in the ninth after looking reasonably good for six innings. But it just wasn’t a pitcher’s night. Victoria used two, Bob Drilling and Mike Kanshin, and their earned run averages are currently not too enticing.
Tonight, when the clubs finish the short two-game series, Bill Brenner will be on the mound for the Caps, opposing Hal Flinn, last year with Yakima. Game time is 8:15.
DIAMOND DUST — Brenner and club president Tommy English visited Britannia High School Thursday afternoon to find their candidate for the “first pitch” honors ... He was young Gordie Spencer, who pitched a no-hit game for the Brits the other day ... “Are you guys crazy?” he asked incredulously when the Caps’ braintrust told him what they wanted him to do ...
Hometown Boy Makes Good
Blonde singer Wendy Martin, the Irish Fusiliers band and a color guard from HMCS Discovery added to the first night glitter ... Arnie Hallgren’s home debut was definitely successful ... The young outfielder made one mistake, throwing to the wrong base, but he collected a single, came up with a perfect bunt, made the catch of the night in the left field corner in the ninth with the bases loaded, and picked up two assists with his fine throwing arm ... Marv Williams displayed something he’d kept under wraps in spring training, speed ... He scored from second base on an infield hit on one play ... Some firsts: First child lost, Ronnie Evans; first man to concede the Caps the pennant, Jimmy Tang, Victora Colonist sports editor ... The Caps roster was cut again on Thursday when Lloyd Janney was returned to Seattle ... After tonight’s game, the locals head to Yakima for Saturday and Sunday, then return home Monday for their exhibition game with Seattle Rainiers ... Province stars: Dick Greco, for the way he swung that bat with little or no spring training ... Arnie Hallgren, under the gun as a hometown boy ... and Victoria’s Tom Perez, who had four-for-five and should have been tired chasing those shots hit around him in centre field.
Victoria ....... 310 000 102— 7 11 2
Vancouver ... 003 105 30x—12 15 0
Drilling, Kanshin (6) and Martin; Franks, Roberts (3) and Pesut.

Dick Greco Leads Attack as Capilanos Crush Victoria 12-7 In Baseball Opener
City Club Shows Power at Plate, Gets 15 Hits
By KEITH MATTHEWS
[Vancouver News-Herald, April 30, 1954]
The man’s name is Dick Greco. He eats pitchers and burps basehits and it is on his gigantic shoulders that the 1954 Capilanos may ride high, wide and handsome.
All of the ’54 cast passed on review for the first time this season as baseball opened its gates again and the Capilanos won a rather well-decided decision from Victoria, 12-7 at Capilano Stadium.
It was a magnificent opening. If only because the bleak memories still remained from this time last year when the Capilanos looked like they were swinging magazines instead of baseball bats.
The attack echoed through the dales of old Little Mountain in a 15-hit attack on two Victoria pitchers. The defence stood up well as Victoria answered in kind with some rather solid knocks of its own. Jim Clark, Ken Richardson, Marv Williams and Arnie Hallgren were great in the field.
FRANKS YANKED
Bill Franks, the starting Caps pitcher, lasted “quick.” He gave up three first-inning runs, another in the second, and when he couldn’t shake control troubles by the third, Bill Brenner yanked him for another day and Bob Roberts became the lucky fellow who grew rich on that heavy Vancouver batting order.
It began in the third when Greco, with K. Chorlton and Marv Williams on base, blasted a line drive triple to the centre field wall. Dick, a recent Vancouver signee, has seen no pitching this spring. He probably didn’t see any last night, but whatever it was the man murdered it.
The Caps tied it in the fourth through the box with Jim Clark on second. And from there, the poor old Tyees just had to sit back and take it on the whiskers.
The big inning was the sixth when Vancouver scored five times on walks to Chorlton and Greco (the latter on purpose) and a two-run single by Ken Richardson. Nick Pesut brought home another two with a triple and Hallgren singled in the fifth.
In all, the Capilanos left very little for criticism. Hustle? They had it in spades.
DRILLING LOSER
In the seventh inning with the bases loaded, Richardson hit a little hopper down the third base side about half-way. He beat it out for a hit as Chorlton scrambled in from third, but Richardson got his fourth “rbi” for the night when Williams kept right on coming from second and easily beat Don Pries’ throw.
Tonight the same clubs do it again and Bill Brenner, his knuckle-ball now behaving, will pitch for Vancouver. It will be tall Hal Flinn for the Tyees. Game time is 8:15.

Caps Show Off Plenty o’ Power
Brenner’s IX Beats Vics In Opener
By SKIP RUSK
[Vancouver Sun, April 30, 1954]
Vancouver Capilanos opened their Western International Baseball League season Thursday night, displaying more hitting power in nine innings than last year’s Caps provided in practically the entire season.
Bill Brenner’s boys belted Victoria Tyees all over Cap Stadium to the delight of 1977 paid customers, who braved 38-above temperatures to watch Caps whack two Tyee pitchers for 15 hits and a 12-7 victory.
Last year, if you remember, Caps were cooler than an Arctic ice-cube, losing 8-0 to Lewiston Broncs, then managed by William Brenner.
This year, however, Brenner is back in the Little Mountain play-pen as general manager and he’s brought something besides his knuckle ball with him. It spells p-o-w-e-r.
NEARLY DID IT
Victoria, under new manager Don Pries, sought to wreck Bill Franks’ pitching debut and ruin Caps in the first inning. They nearly did, shellacking the Redhead for four hits and three runs while Vancouver burped politely in their half.
Tyees added another run in the second, making it 4-0. Then the Capilano power started to introduce itself to Tyee pitcher Bob Drilling
K Chorlton, first man up in the third, singled. Marv Williams doubled and Tyees were in trouble. Big Dick Greco, the man with muscles everywhere, even in his fingernails, lined a triple to left-centre field, scoring Chorlton and Williams. Greco came home on Nick Pesut’s single.
Brenner, meanwhile, had lifted starter Franks, who was having trouble with his control. It was Bob Roberts who tasted victory thanks to that potent Vancouver lineup.
Vancouver tied it 4-4 when Clark scored on Greco’s single through the box. The Tyees, from then on, were hooked but good.
BIG SIXTH INNING
Caps’ big inning was the sixth. They scored five times, on walks to Chorlton and Greco, the latter was intentionally passed, a double by Williams, his second of the night, and a two-run single by Ken Richardson. Catcher Pesut tripled, scoring two more and Arnie Hallgren singled sharply to left field for the fifth.
Caps chased in three more runs in the seventh and Victoria replied briefly in the ninth when Roberts grew careless, allowing three walks and two singles for two runs.
Victoria managed 11 hits but Jimmy Clark, Richardson, Hallgren and Williams were to much defensively. Hallgren made the best play of the night, going deep and to his right in left field to catch Dan Clay’s sinking line drive.
Tonight, at 8:15, it will be Brenner (22-12) opposing Hal Flinn (8-9) with Yakima last season.
LINE DRIVES – Dick Greco, who has had little batting practice this season, fitting into the No. 4 hitting position … Tom Perez, Tyee centre fielder, had four hits, including a line-drive triple as the first man up in the seventh .. Lloyd Jenny is back with Seattle … Bob Wellman would provide more power to the Cap lineup … Marv Wiliams can not only hit but he can run, too …Marv proved this, scoring on Ken Richardson’s infield single.

Tyees Show Power at Plate But Caps Take Opener, 12-7
BY JIM TANG
[Victoria Colonist, April 30, 1954]
VANCOUVER—There was only one thing wrong with the Victoria Tyees here Thursday night as they dropped a 12-7 decision to the Vancouver Capilanos in the Western International League opener. It was the fact they were scheduled against the Vancouver Capilanos.
Playing before about 3,000 fans on a bitterly-cold night, the Tyees came up with a promising display of hitting and indicated strongly they will be hard to get out this season. But the Caps, with the benefit of three extra weeks of spring training, and in warm weather, too, presented a batting order with seven potential .300 hitters to fully justify their claim as pre-season favorites. Bill Brenner’s club is going to be hard to beat and if they get big Bob Wellman, a .350 slugger with Yakima last season, to play first base, they may never be headed.
TYEES START FAST
Tyees got a quick jump with three runs in the first inning and went ahead by 4-0 in the second. They had starting pitcher Bill Franks out of there before he got a man out in the third and they threatened continuously against relief pitcher Bob Roberts. But they couldn’t stop a Vancouver batting order which had Jim Clark leading off, followed in order by K. Chorlton, Marvin Williams, Dick Greco, Ken Richardson, Nick Pesut and Arnie Hallgren. Only first-baseman Ellis Daugherty failed to get a hit and he, it’s said, will soon be replaced by Wellman.
Greco, playing without the benefit of any spring training, was the big man for the Capilanos. The Tyees couldn’t get him out as he clouted a triple and two singles and got two bases on balls, one intentional. He tripled in the Caps’ first two runs and scored their third, singling in the tying run in the fourth inning and drew walks in the sixth and seventh, when the Caps scored five and three runs, respectively.
TYEES PRESS
However, despite the Vancouver show of power, the Tyees were right in the game until the ninth inning and only a spectacular catch by left-fielder Hallgren saved what would have been a serious situation in the ninth. Earlier, the Caps had been saved possible trouble when Mesner was doubled on an outfield fly in the seventh when he mistakenly thought it was the third out.
Trailing 12-5 going into the ninth the Tyees could still have pulled it out had they got a couple of breaks. Pries and Perez singled to start the inning and Mesner was called out on a close play at first base when the Caps got a bit confused as to what to do with his slow bouncer down first base way. Pries scored on the play and the Tyees got the bases loaded when Lake and Joshua fought out bases on balls. Then Clay hit a curving liner to the left field corner which would have scored three runs had not Hallgren come up with a sensational backhanded catch just inches from the fence.
HUSTLE BACK
All three Tyees had to hustle like mad to get back to their bags to avoid a double play. But for the catch, it would have been 12-9 with a man on and only one out and with Martin drawing another walk as the next hitter, the Caps would have been in serious trouble.
Perez particularly impressed for the Tyees with four solid hits in five trips, one of them a lengthy triple over centre-fielder Chorlton’s head. Pries, Mesner and Joshua each got two hits and there was every evidence that the Victoria batting order will produce some big rallies this season.
Drilling, still needing more work t get the control he needs, couldn’t hold the hard-hitting Caps, although Pries went a long way with him. Mike Kanshin looked reasonably good in a relief role, some hard luck getting him in trouble in the three-run eighth inning.
For Friday’s game, the Tyees will send Hal Flinn to the mound against Brenner. Bill Prior is scheduled to pitch the first game in the Wenatchee series. From there, Pries’ pitching plans are indefinite although it is likely that Drilling will pitch the home opener against Tri-City on Monday.
- - -
Tyees Note from Apr. 29 Colonist: Left at home are outfielders Jerry Kane and Tom Keough and infielders Jerry Parker and Primo Santini. All have looked good in training and the Tyees hope to place them with another club, believing that all they need at the most would be a season of seasoning.

HALLGREN SHOWS WELL IN DEBUT
Weather Called For Blankets, But Booming Capilano Bats Helped Warm Things Up A Bit
[Vancouver News-Herald, April 30, 1954]
As baseball opened its 1954 campaign at Capilano Stadium before 2500 fans, one was appropriately remarked, “This is great. It`s the only time of the year a guy can walk down the street with a girl under one arm and a blanket on the other and nobody asks any questions!”
It was cold, as suggested, but the Capilano bats helped warm up the evening and gave a hint that this us going to be quite a summer of it.
As the Caps prepared for the inaugural in batting practice, one young man, Arnie Hallgren, was obviously feeling the pressure of playing his first pro game in his hometown … The boy felt all right, though when he blasted two of George Nicholas’ batting practice pitches far over the left field wall … Arnie went on later to play quite a ball game getting two outfield assists and making the game’s greatest catch with a one-hander off Dain Clay in the ninth inning.
Minutes before the game started, veteran Ken Richardson, who hadn’t been hitting in spring training, picked up Nick Pesut’s bat, a “Vern Stephens” model and hit two balls on the nose … He decided to use the lumber during the game, got two-for-four and four runs batted in.
The Capilanos are down to 18 players, just one over the limit, now with the return of outfielder Lloyd Jenny to Seattle … Lloyd will be re-optioned by the Rainiers, maybe to Wenatchee … Baz Nagle, the Vancouver pitcher who was released Wednesday, will likely catch on with Victoria after a meeting with manager Don Pries today.
The bobby soxers were well represented in the grandstand and the object of their attention was Hallgren and Danny Holden … The latter didn’t play.
Of the first-nighters, Marv Williams was one of the most impressive, living up to his spring notices and displaying a type of base-running speed which previously had been strictly reserved for K. Chorlton.
The pre-game ceremonies were brief … Wendy Martin sang the National Anthem, the Irish Fusiliers played it and the Navy formed the color guard … Bill Franks then walked the first man to face him, Ron Jackson, and the other firsts for the night went to Tom Perez, first hit, Jackson, first run, Eddie Lake, first run batted in, Jim Clark, first extra-base hit and Nick Pesut, first to hit the sacrifice fly … Bobby Roberts became the season’s first winning pitcher and Bob Drilling, and old Capilano cousin, the first loser … Other cities, you see, were on standard time.

From The Sun Tower
By DICK BEDDOES
[Vancouver Sun, April 30, 1954]
Prior to last night’s ball game at Cap Stadium, William Brenner sank his gums into a microphone to express the sentiments of a man who has been away from Vancouver for three years. He last managed the Capilanos in 1950, subsequently spending three seasons guiding clubs in Yakima and Lewiston.
“Gad!” he said, “but I’m glad to be back in Vancouver.”
Mr. Brenner did not eat those words later, being a gourmet who prefers hot-dogs for his repast. But, in the early innings, the Caps must have tempted him to alter his viewpoint.
Before prevailing 12-7 over Victoria Tyees, the Caps rudely jolted Mr. Brenner and 1977 paying fanatics by allowing the Tyees to dash ahead, 4-0. Victim of the Victoria merrymaking was Bill Franks, a righthander who consequently became the first pitcher of the 1954 Western International League season to mix judicious amounts of soap and water in the showers. When the second inning was done, so was Franks.
As it developed, the Tyees played well enough, getting seven runs and 11 hits, a respectable night’s labor. They made one mistake, however. They allowed the Caps to bat in the home half of the sixth inning.
For Victoria the result was catastrophic, not to mention disastrous, calamitous, obscene ... Caps rattled the gizzard of Tyee pitcher Mike Kanshin in the sixth, accumulating four hits and five runs, and a 9-4 lead that was never threatened.
Watching Vancouver batsmen Marvin Williams, Ken Richardson, Nick Pesut and Arnie Hallgren ride baseballs to faraway places in the rally, a guy couldn’t help feeling that here, surely, is a batting order to atone for some of the fandangos that have masqueraded in Capilano uniforms in recent seasons.
Greco Useful Citizen
Altogether, the Caps collected 15 base hits. Three of them were delivered by Richard Anthony Greco, a useful 227-pound knot of muscles.
Mr. Greco hit two singles and a triple, got two walks, scored two runs and drove home three of his playmates. Makes one wonder how he’ll look on his good nights.
Dick Greco has had some very good nights, both in the WIL and elsewhere. Playing for Tacoma in 1950, he hit 36 homers and drove in 154 runs. In 1951, serving Montgomery in the South Atlantic League, he homered 33 times for a league record, and in ’52 Richard was voted the Sally’s most valuable player. He’ll do.
There is one way, of course, for WIL pitchers to ensure against destruction by Greco, but it is unlikely they will resort to it. Murder is illegal.
Wendy Handsome Thrush
In addition to the season’s first triple, Greco drove in the first Vancouver run. Other “firsts” included:
First hit—The singing of Miss Wendy Martin, a handsome thrush whose voice contained more pitch than was displayed by the Victoria side. She sang “O Canada,” managing to keep pace with the accompanying Irish Fusiliers, which tried manfully to beat her to the finish.
First base hit—a single by Tom Perez, Victoria’s centre fielder.
First walk—to Ronnie Jackson, Victoria’s second baseman.
First winning pitcher—Bob Roberts, Vancouver right-hander.
First sacrifice fly—by Nick Pesut, bulky Vancouver backstop.
First stirring catch—by Arnie Hallgren, Vancouver left-fielder. Hallgren raced into the left field corner in the ninth inning, snagging a line drive lashed by Victoria’s Dain Clay. Robbery like that in civilian life would net a man a 10-year sentence.
First post-game statement—By Don Pries, Victoria manager. “Oh, well, said Mr. Pries, “you can’t win ‘em all.”
Moran Colorful Dresser
The first chorus of boos was reserved for the umpires, Einar Sorenson and Ambrose Joseph Moran. Both looked sad in their vestments, although Mr. Moran jazzed his up with a pair of diamond socks of shrieking hue. “Sox” Moran he is known as.
Concerning umpires, the first beef was addressed by Mr. Brenner to Mr. Moran, the base arbitrator. Brenner thus lost the first debate of the year, on a close call at second base, after implying that Moran had made the first umpire’s error.
But, as always on this day of “firsts,” you must return to the Vancouver Caps. They were the first club to get back in a steamy dressing room and start talking about winning the WIL championship.
One thing is certain, though. They were the first, but they won’t be the last.

SALEM, Ore., April 29—Salem opened the Western International League here Thursday night before a slim crowd on a cold night, but with a red-hot rally in the ninth in for a 7-6 win over Edmonton.
Salem chased home three runs in the closing innings to please the hardy crowd of 1,352. Shortstop Mel Krause, trying to make up for two costly errors earlier, began it with a single. Manager Harvey Storey him with a double. Storey scored a few minutes later on an infield bouncer, and catcher Floyd Ogden batted in the winning run with a long single.
Edmonton never trailed until the last inning. The visitors got the opening run in the second inning when Dan Prentice singled and manager Bob Sturgeon scored him a few plays later with another single.
Krause's errors led to three more Edmonton runs in the third, and Andy Skurski and Dwaine Kining each drove runs home with hits in the fifth to give Edmonton a 6-2 lead.
Salem managed runs in the fifth and seventh to set the stage for the closing rally.
Edmonton .... 013 020 000—6 8 1
Salem ......... 002 010 103—7 15 3
Conant, Widner (9) and Self; Hemphill, Domenichelli (5), Johnson (9) and Ogden.

SPOKANE, April 29—John Anderson pitched Spokane, defending champions of the Western International Baseball League, to a 14-3 opening night victory over the Yakima Bears Thursday.
A slim crowd of 1,243 fans turned out in 36 degree weather to root for the Indians.
Yakima ..... 001 000 020— 3 7 2
Spokane ... 061 005 10x—14 14 0
Carmichael, Wulf (2), Elmore (7) and Summers, Ling (7); Anderson and Dean.

LEWISTON, Idaho, April 29 — The Lewiston Broncs were outhit two to one by the Wenatchee Chiefs Thursday night, but walked their way to victory in their Western International League baseball opener.
The Broncs were trailing 4-2 as they came up to bat in the sixth inning, but they tapped three pitchers for one base hit and seven walks in that frame, good for four runs.
Wenatchee .... 010 030 100—5 10 1
Lewiston ....... 110 004 10x—7 5 1
Oubre, Kline (6), Thompson (6) and Kalemrose; Marshall, Kime (9) and Cameron.

KENNEWICK, April 29 — Tri-City hammered three Calgary pitchers for 16 hits and a 13-3 win Thursday night as the two teams opened their Western International League baseball season before thoroughly chilled crowd of 1,961 hardy fans.
Tri-City led the game in the first inning as it reached Calgary's starter for five runs on six hits. Eddie Kapp pitched only one-third of an inning, striking out one man, before he was replaced by Gene Lillard, the manager.
Lillard, a former Pacific Coast League catcher, gave up six hits and six runs before he yaked himself in the third in favor of Bill Stites. Tri-City got two more runs off four hits before Stites gained control of the situation and shut off the scoring faucet.
Jack Warren and Len Tran did the heaviest stick work for the winners. Warren got three doubles in five trips; Tran three hits, including one double, in four trips; Al Smith got two for four for the losers.
Don Robertson spaced out eight hits as the Calgarians were held to three runs.
Calgary .... 010 000 110— 3 8 1
Tri-City .... 553 000 00x—13 16 1
Kapp, Lillard (1), Stites (3) and Lundberg; Robertson and Warren.

Edmonton Loses Trio of Players
EDMONTON, Alta., Apr. 29—General Manager John Ducey of the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western International League announced Thursday the loss of three players.
Catcher Dick Morgan, who trained with St. Paul of the American Association, will be out for a year with stretched right shoulder cartilages and tendons.
First baseman Elias Osorio, expecetd to be a slugger, has refused to report to the Eskimos.
Pitcher Lloyd Hittle, a leftie, reported he is quitting baseball.