Thursday, August 26, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Salem ........ 30 20 .600 —
Vancouver .... 28 19 .596 ½
Yakima ....... 33 23 .589 —
Lewiston ..... 34 24 .586 —
Edmonton ..... 26 26 .500 5
Tri-City ..... 20 34 .370 12
Wenatchee .... 18 35 .340 13½

KENNEWICK [Tri-City Herald, Aug. 27]—The Tri-City Braves, so far out of the Western International league race that they couldn't win 'em all and move any higher than they are now, will have a lot to say about who takes second-half honors.
The four leaders, Salem, Yakima, Vancouver and Lcwiston are but a game apart at the top of the heap.
Tonight, the Braves travel to Lewiston for a series and an even break there may cost the Broncs the second half title. The series will be four games, possibly five, if the Broncs want to make up the 12-inning tie game there on the last road trip.
Tri-City finishes out its season with another-series at Salem and a home series with the Senators here.
Salem, which edged into first place with three victories over the Braves, were slapped down, 14-3, in Thursday night's action. The loss left them in first place, a bare few percentage points ahead of Yakima.
Tri-City had the game won by the second inning when the Braves scored four runs on five hits and a Salem error. Bill Franks, starter er for Salem, was racked for 17 hits.
Although Tri-City may be out of the race as a team, the Braves aided their efforts to meet various personal goals.
Little Dick Watson, who hit .242 in the Pioneer league last season and who has a personal goal of hitting .260 or better this season, reached the mark with four base blows in five times up.
Jack Warren, who long ago gave up hopes of defending his batting crown, and now hopes to finish his 16 season with an above-.300 average, got three for five and climbed to .302.
Artie Wilson, who dragged along at .265 in mid-season, is now up to 294 as the result of his three for four night.
Len Tran. who has an outside chance of winning the league batting title, got two for four and now has an average of .336. More immediate to Tran is hopes of passing the 100 RBI mark. He picked up one Thursday night for a season total of 92.
Dale Thomason, the winning pitcher for Tri-City, moved a notch closer lo breaking even in the won-loss column. He now has seven wins against eight loses.
During the game Thursday, Thomason scattered 11 hits in giving up three runs. Two of them came as the result of Tri-City errors in the ninth.
Thomason aided his own cause with a three for four night at the plate.
[WILfan notes: Every man in the Tri-City lineup, except Bob Moniz, got at least one hit (though Moniz had a sacrifice fly), and every man but Terry Carroll scored one or more runs ... Harry Warner four for five with a double. Glen Tuckett doubled and tripled in four times up and Bob Kellogg hit three for five.]
Salem ....... 010 000 002— 3 11 1
Tri-City .... 040 001 27x—14 12 1
Franks, Nicholas (8) and D. Luby; Thomason and Johnson.

LEWISTON, August 26 — Lewiston Broncs trimmed Yakima 8-6 on Thursday night to break a three-game losing spell and halt their plunge out of the upper brackets of the Western International League.
It was the third win in the last 16 starts for the Broncs who held down the league's top spot until Wednesday when the Bears, with their third win in a row, knocked them into fourth place. The Idahoans led the league most of the second half season and three weeks ago were 6½ games in front.
The Broncs spotted Yakima one run then came back with four of their own in the first inning. The scoring came on four hits, a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly.
Al Heist tripled and Larry Barton doubled during the rally. Lewiston iced the game in the third with three more runs on three hits and a walk, and Nick Cannuli's double in the fifth drove in an insurance run. Al Yaylian was the winner; Danny Rios the loser.
Yakima ...... 100 201 020—6 10 0
Lewiston .... 403 010 00x—8 12 2
Rios, Young (3), Schaening (9) and Summers; Yaylian and Garay.

Edmonton at Vancouver, postponed, rain.

Victoria Baseball Company Passes Quietly, at Meeting
[Victoria Colonist, Aug. 27, 1954]
Victoria Baseball and Athletic Company, born quietly almost nine years ago at a meeting attended by approximately 40 Victoria citizens, officially died even more quietly last night.
Fewer than 40 of the more than 700 shareholders in the company attended an extra-ordinary general meeting at the Chamber of Commerce board room, Wharf Street, to unanimously approve their directors’ suggestion that the company be wound up voluntarily.
The meeting also voted to retain business manager Reg Patterson as liquidator for a fee equal to his former salary for one month.
In the absence of president Arthur Cox, in Vancouver due to a family bereavement, and vice-president Robert Hew Fergusson-Pollock, detained in Duncan due to illness in the family, W.T. Straith, legal advisor and honorary director of the company, acted as chairman.
Straith, one of the men instrumental in obtaining a Western International League franchise for Victoria, noted that the company had been formed in the hope that professional baseball would become a fixture in the city.
Starting as the Athletics, the Victoria club shows a small profit through its first three years, paying a dividend to shareholders in 1947 and reaching its high point the following ear when 148,000 fans passed through the turnstiles.
From there, attendance skidded downward and only 28,000 had attended 44 home games of the Victoria Tyees this season when directors, deciding that further operations would only increase liabilities, forfeited their franchise on August 3.
At the annual general meeting last spring, an auditor’s report disclosed that a capital deficiency of $110,000 and it is estimated approximately $40,000 was lost this season. Among the outstanding debts are salary commitments of $3,500, which are expected to receive first consideration in liquidation proceedings.
The main portion of the company’s assets consists of its contributions to facilities at Royal Athletic Park although all fixtures are legally the property of the city. The company contributed $18,000 toward seating improvements and spent $12,000 for installation of lights.

Wednesday, August 25, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Salem ........ 20 19 .612 —
Yakima ....... 33 22 .600 —
Vancouver .... 28 19 .596 1
Lewiston ..... 33 24 .579 1
Edmonton ..... 26 26 .500 5½
Tri-City ..... 19 34 .358 13
Wenatchee .... 18 35 .340 14

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, Province, Aug. 26]—There are innumerable ways to win a ball game and of course, as the man said, they all look the same in the record book.
Bill Brenner’s Capilanos tried a new method in the first game of Wednesday’s double header against Edmonton. It worked, but it’s not a system you can count on, so they went back to the tried and true method of hitting the ball out of the park in the nightcap, and won that too. Scores were 3-2 and 7-4 and the result left the Caps one game out of first place in the tight, four-team WIL race.
A LOUD ONE
Dick Greco was the big gun in the second game, which saw Pete Hernandez gain his ninth win despite a shaky performance. Big Richard hit a three-run homer to sew up things for the locals, and he also added a 400-triple and a single.
Now about that first game. The Caps went into the seventh and last frame behind 2-1 with Edmonton’s Ray McNulty matching a fine pitching job by George Nicholas.
Then the fun began. Greco was safe on an error by John McKeown at third. Eddie Murphy ran for him, was sacrificed to second and advanced to third on an infield out. That’s two away and a man on third.
Jim Clark then lofted a routine fly ball to centre and Murphy jogged for home. But surprise! Veteran Andy Skurski dropped the ball and Clark stopped at second. He scored all the way from there when, you guessed it, the Esks made their third error of the inning, usually-solid Whitey Thomson bobbling K Chorlton’s grounder to short. Two runs, no hits, three errors.
THREE IN A ROW
The win was the third straight for the Caps over the Esks in the series, which winds up tonight with newcomer Keith Bowman opposing John Conant. It’s also “Photo Night,” with the first 2000 getting an autographed team picture of the Caps.
[Solo homers accounted for Edmonton’s last run of the first game and first run of the last game. Thomson hit one in the sixth inning of the opener and Don Gigli in the first inning of the night gap … McKeown singled in a pair of runs in the fifth inning of the finale].
First Game
Edmonton ....... 001 001 0—2 8 3
Vancouver ...... 000 100 2—3 5 1
McNulty and Partee; Nicholas and Greco.
Second Game
Edmonton ....... 100 003 000—4 7 0
Vancouver ...... 002 040 01x—7 9 1
Widner, Manier (7) and Prentice; Hernandez, Cordell (7) and Pesut.

LEWISTON, August 25—The Lewiston Broncs dropped all the way to fourth place in the Western International League after losing two to Yakima, 10-9 and 13-5, on Thursday. The win leaves the Bears just a few percentage points behind Salem.
First Game
Yakima ........ 103 030 3—10 10 3
Lewiston ...... 120 015 0— 9 12 1
Edmunds, Carmichael (6), Young (7) and Summers; Orrell, Derganc (7) and Garay.
Second Game
Yakima ........ 030 100 072—13 11 1
Lewiston ...... 030 101 000— 5 11 2
Lovrich, Edmunds (8) and Summers, Marshall, Martin (8) and Cameron.

KENNEWICK [Tri-City Herald, Aug. 26]—There are some fans in the Tri-City area who are getting a sneaking suspicion that the team which will win the close race for Western International league honors will be the one playing the Tri-City Braves most often.
On that basis, the Salem Senators will automatically qualify, for they have eight games left with the Braves, one of them tonight at Sanders Field.
Tri-City's other games, four and possibly five, are with Lewiston.
So far in the current four-game series, Salem has taken over the league leadership by the ability to beat the Braves consistently. The Senators took both ends of a twin-bill at Sanders Field Wednesday night, 2-0. and 9-4, for three straight.
The final game of the four-game series tonight starts at 7 p.m. It will be a Pop Pays night with only the father of the family buying a general admission ticket. Wives and children are admitted free.
In Wednesday's action, the home run ball figured heavily in both Salem wins. In the first game, Walt Clough, Tri-City righthander, shut out Salem on two hits for six innings. Then in the seventh, a play at the plate killed a scoring threat, but Connie Perez followed with a home run just a few feet inside the right-field foul line pole, scoring one runner ahead of him.
For Salem, Jon Briggs, the Willy wildman, sprayed the general vicinity of home plate with base balls, but got a sufficient number over the plate for 10 strikeouts. Briggs leads the league in "most strikeouts" department as well as "most-base-on-balls." His five walks in the seven-inning game along with the 10 strikeouts was good assurance he will retain the lead in both departments.
Briggs gave up one hit, a double to Len Tran in the first inning in the second game. Gene Johnson started for Salem and gave up four runs before being taken out for Jose Rayle who started the fourth inning. Rayle shut the Braves out the rest of the way. For Tri-City, starter Hal Flinn gave up two runs in the second and three in the fourth before. leaving the game with one out and two men on. Jess Dobernlc took over and Gene Tanselli promptly out one out of the park.
Two errors brought in another run but from then on, Dobernic put Salem down on three hits.
First Game
Salem ......... 000 000 2—2 5 1
Tri-City ...... 000 000 0—0 1 1
Briggs and Ogden; Clough and R. Johnson.
Second Game
Salem ......... 020 700 000—9 11 2
Tri-City ...... 121 000 000—4 8 3
G. Johnson, Rayle (4) and D. Luby; Flinn, Dobernic (4) and R. Johnson.

Tuesday, August 24, 1954

               W  L  Pct GB
Lewiston .... 33 22 .600 —
Salem ....... 28 19 .596 —
Yakima ...... 31 22 .585 1
Vancouver ... 26 19 .578 2
Edmonton .... 28 24 .520 4½
Tri-City .... 19 32 .373 12
Wenatchee ... 18 35 .340 14½

KENNEWICK [Tri-City Herald, August 24, 1954]—If the Tri-City Braves intend to do anything about Salem's late season drive toward second-half honors, It will have to come tonight in the doubleheader at Sanders Field.
The two teams square off in the first game beginning at 7 p.m. It will also be stockholder's night, with general manager Eddie Taylor requesting that all Tri-City Athletic Association stockholders attend and bring two or three "paying" guests.
The Association has 400 stockholders.
In the series opener with Salem G. M. Hugh Luby's "natural rival" Senators, the Braves rassled with them for 11 innings, three hours and 10 minutes Tuesday night before the roof caved in in the top of the final frame, and Tri-City lost, 9-4.
Up to that point it was a tense, exciting game with an above average share of weird incidents.
Topping the list of oddities was a Salem triple play that threw the game into extra innings.
Artie Wilson, Len Tran, and Vic Buccola were the goats, along with a couple or three Salem players who blundered into the triple killing.
With none away and but one run needed to win, Vic Buccola led off with his second hit of the night. Len Tran sacrificed and Buccola was safe at second on an error.
Artie Wilson, the next batter, made a couple attempts to bunt and failed. Then he lined a hot low fly ball to Bob Kellogg at third base.
All manner of strange things happened. Both Buccola and Tran thought the ball was trapped and were off and running. Kellogg pegged to second in an effort to trap Buccola off the bag but his throw was wild and went out into right field.
Mel Krause, the rightfielder, also thinking the ball was trapped, pegged into Catcher Dennis Luby in an effort to prevent Buccola from "scoring."
By this time Buccola was standing on third, Tran was on second and a good share of the Salem infield was standing on second base frantically calling for the ball.
Luby pegged it to second, Buccola was called out, and then the throw went to first where Tran was called out.
The ninth inning was not the only one where Tri-City missed a chance to score a winning run. In the eighth, Jack Warren led off with a double but got no further.
In the tenth, Bob Moniz led off with a single and was sacrificed to second. Warren was intentionally walked and Dick Watson struck out. Edo Vanni, playing manager, came on to bat for Jess Dobernic, and struck out. Ironically, it was but the fourth time Vanni has struck out in more than 250 times at bat this season.
Even in the bottom of the 11th, Tri-City had two runners in scoring position but couldn't bring them in.
Tom Herrara, Salem pitcher who went the distance, won his own game when he singled Luby home in the top of the 11th. Then followed an error, two singles and a triple by Harry Warner which iced the game.
All of the five runs came off Tri-City's Don Robertson, who replaced Dobernic. He was charged with the loss, his ninth against 16 wins.
The Salem victory enabled the Senators to gain a half-game on league-leading Lewiston. The Senators are now four percentage points out of first.
Games between Lewiston and Yakima and Edmonton and Vancouver were postponed because of rain. Those same teams play tonight, while cellar-dwelling Wenatchee is idle.
Salem ....... 200 000 200 05—9 15 1
Tri-City .... 000 300 100 00—4 10 4
Herrara and Luby; Hemphill, Dobernic (7), Robertson (11) and Johnson.

Yakima at Lewiston, postponed, rain.
Edmonton at Vancouver, postponed, wet grounds.

Sports Notes

By GIL GILMORE

[Tri-City Herald, August 25, 1954]
Recently, when Luke Easter, San Diego firstbaseman, belted one over the centerfield fence at Hollywood’s Gilmore (no relation) Field, it was pointed out that was the sixth home run knocked over the 400-foot barrier. Easter had hit one over once before so actually only five men have turned the trick.
This seems to be a surprising low production considering Tri-City’s centerfield fence is an equal distance away. Awhile back, Vic Buccola, Tri-City firstbaseman and the only player who has played in the park every year since it was built, myself and others figured at least a dozen have been hit over the centerfield wall at Sanders with five or six clearing the scoreboard.
However, there are differences. First off, the Hollywood park centerfield wall is 25 feet high while Sanders field wall is 12-14. (Later on I'll show it isn’t even that high.)
Then too, here in the Banana Belt, we have what Tri-City pitcher Don Robertson calls a “movement of air.”
Which brings us up to the point of this little discussion.
* * *
That Movement Of Air
Ordinarily, one would think a park with 340-foot right and left field walls and a 400-foot ccnterfield wall would be a fair pitcher’s park. But Robertson says not so, and cites two or three around the league which are much better designed for holding earned run averages down.
“In this park, a high fly ball blows out of here,” Don said. “They may look like they are hit hard but when I was playing outfield those homers just blooped over the fence about 10 or 15 feet on the other side.”
Well, what about the days when the wind isn't blowing and the flag in centerfield is hanging limp on the pole.
“There's still a movement of air,” Don said. “Tell you what to do. You go out to home plate and throw a ball as hard as you can toward centerfield. Then have some one mark the spot where it lands. Then go out to that spot and try to throw a ball back to home plate. You’ll be lucky if you get it back as far as the pitcher's mound!”
(Don’s giving me credit for a throwing arm I don'’t possess. I would have a rough time getting as far as the pitcher’s mound on the home plate-to-centerfield throw.)
* * *
She Slopes A Bit
Anyhow, Don is right but it isn't so much that movement of air as it is the sloping Sanders Field. It doesn't appear that way, but Hank Jepson, the former groundkeeper, put a surveying instrument on home plate last winter and took a look around.
He found that the bottom of the fences are some six feet below home plate. The infield also slopes off anywhere up to a foot to 18 inches.
This means the batter is standing on a low mound while the defensive team is on the lower side of a slope. It also means, in effect, the wall around Sanders Field is more like “six feet” high than 12-14 feet.
* * *
Looks Like A Mountain
This brings about some wierd and wonderful results, aside from the tendency of high fly balls to sail over the fence.
For example, some player from every visiting team here invariably points to the pitcher’s mound and cracks:
“Do you get a medal for climbing that mountain?”
But the mound is the standard 15 inches above home plate. It’s the surrounding infield that its low.
The only solution to the sloping field situation would be to fill ‘er up. But that would have the Matheson Sand and Gravel trucks going for three summers, and would either break association president Harold Matheson, or the association.
Anyhow, the field itself is still one of the best in the league — slope and all.

Monday, August 23, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Lewiston ..... 33 22 .600 —
Salem ........ 27 19 .587 1½
Yakima ....... 31 22 .585 1
Vancouver .... 26 19 .578 2
Edmonton ..... 28 24 .520 4½
Tri-City ..... 19 31 .380 11½
Wenatchee .... 18 25 .340 14½

LEWISTON, Aug. 23—Yakima moved within one game of league-leading Lewiston in the Western International League Monday night but failed to get out of third place in doing it. The Bears topped the Broncs, 8-4, in their series opener at Lewiston.
But percentage-wise Yakima till trails Salem by .002 points, though the Senators are 1½ games behind Lewiston. Salem was idle Monday night.
Yakima, trailing 2-0, tied the count in the top of the sixth when John Albini homered with Len Noren aboard. The Bears added the clincher in the eighth when they scored five times. The runs came on five singles and two walks. Yakima added its final tally in the ninth inning when Albini romped home on Dick Briskey's double.
Lewiston opened the scoring in the third frame with two runs off one hit and two Yaklma errors. The Broncs added single tallies in the sixth and eighth innings.
John Carmichael, who held the league leaders to seven hits, was the winning pitcher.
Yakima ....... 000 002 051—8 15 2
Lewiston ..... 002 001 010—4 7 2
Carmichael,Edmunds (8) and Summers; Fletcher, Derganc (8), Martin (9) and Garay.

VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, Province, Aug. 23]—If you think this is going to be a eulogy for Bill Brenner, you’re right.
It’s possible that Brenner has received a pretty good press this season—by why should we apologize? As the politicians say: Look at the record.
Brenner, as you should know by now, if the triple threat of the Vancouver Capilanos baseball team. He’s general manager, field manager and pitcher, and he hasn’t had to apologize for any of those roles, either.
As g.m. he’s gathered possibly the best team ever to wear a Vancouver uniform in the WIL. As field boss, he’s earned the respect—and the final tribute, hustle, of and from a bunch of fellows who’ve played a lot of baseball under a lot of men.
THREE IN ROW
As a pitcher, well, Bill’s been his own ace. Monday, he became the first hurler in the league to hit the hallowed 20 victory mark, as he turned back Edmonton Eskimos 4-2 on six hits. It was the third straight year that Brenner, who turned to pitching seriously just three seasons ago afer more than 10 years as a catcher, has achieved this goal.
As far as can be ascertained by a quick check of the records, no other WIL pitcher has had three 20-game seasons, consecutively or otherwise.
And Brenner, who has fashioned the league’s best earned run average, most complete games and most innings pitched in turning in his 20-7 season’s mark, added one more dramatic touch to last night’s winning effort.
With the score tied 2-2 in the seventh, thanks to Neil Sheridan’s two-run double in the sixth, Brenner won his own ball game with a 350-foot [two-run] homer off Ken Kimball. It was Bill’s third home run of the season and two of them have been here, in the league’s biggest park.
AGAIN TONIGHT
The win was a big one for the Caps, who won the league’s first half championship and are now within striking distance of the second-half leaders, Lewiston.
Wet grounds have caused postponement of tonight’s game, with a doubleheader now scheduled for Wednesday.
PROVINCE STARS—Brenner, of course, and Neil Sheridan, who had his best night here in an Vancouver suit, with three-for-four … And Andy Skurski for Edmonton, whose home run with nobody on in the fourth was the lone earned run off Brenner.
Edmonton ....... 010 100 000—2 6 1
Vancouver ...... 000 002 20x—4 8 0
Kimball, Manier (8) and Prentice; Brenner and Pesut.

Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, August 24, 1954]

For the first time in many moons the much-beaten Tri-City Braves are winning more games than they are losing.
True the four wins in the last six games are merely a drop in the bucket, considering they are rolling some 12-13 games off the pace. But for awhile, it looked as if they were going to lose ‘em all.
Why this sudden late season splurge?
Well, without putting too much stock on jinxes and other superstition, some have a sneaking hunch that the death of “Fearless” may have been responsible.
Technically, “Fearless” is not dead, for in reality he was never alive. For “Fearless” is a dummy who once joined the Braves. There are probably those, even among the players who will contend that it wasn’t the only dummy to join the Braves but we won't go into that.
Actually, Fearless never joined the Braves in the sense that he was bought, traded for, or signed as a free agent.
The confounded pile of sawdust, wood and papier-mache was “captured” when Tri-City played at Salem. That was about the time they were riding high with 15 wins in 20 games.
The Braves brought it back to Sanders Field, dressed it in a uniform, and packed it out to the dugout for games.
Then came the reckoning. Losses began to mount, Vic Buccola found himself talking to Fearless one day, and later, when he was carrying it to the clubhouse, he slipped and fell and the blame dummy spiked him.
There were more losses, and without saying much, the Braves began to look askance at the dummy. Gradually, they began forgetting to carry it out to the dugout and during the games, Fearless spent his time in the clubhouse with only Doc Hoyt for company, and he ignored it.
Although by this time a good many began to have sneaking suspicions about Fearless, it wasn’t until Bob Moniz spoke up that the suspicions came out in the open:
“I know what’s wrong with this team. It’s that dummy. Ever since we got the thing we have been losing games.”
To which playing manager Edo Vanni gave a halfhearted, “Nonsense, there’s things wrong with this team that dummy didn’t have anything to do with.”
But, after a few more losses, Fearless disappeared.
When asked what happened to him, Vanni said, “we had Doc burn it.” That night Tri-City broke its 10-game losing streak by beating Lewiston.

Sunday, August 22, 1954

                 W  L  Pct GB
Lewiston ...... 33 21 .611 —
Salem ......... 27 19 .587 2
Yakima ........ 30 22 .577 2
Vancouver ..... 25 19 .568 3
Edmonton ...... 26 23 .531 4½
Tri-City ...... 19 31 .380 12
Wenatchee ..... 18 35 .340 14½

WENATCHEE, Aug. 22—Less than two weeks ago, Lewiston had built up a 6½ game lead over its nearest rival in the Western International League standings. But the Broncs stumbled again over the weekend, losing three of four games to last-place Wenatchee. The teams split a Sunday doubleheader, Lewiston winning the opener, 5-1. and Wenatchee the nightcap, 19-10. The Chiefs came out on top Saturday, 6-3.
The Broncs are winners of only three of their last 12 games, and hold a slim two game lead over Salem and Yakima with less than three weeks of play remaining.
Lewiston and Wenatchee engaged in a real slugfest in the second contest of their Sunday doubleheader. The Chiefs banged out 20 hits and the Broncs 15. It was in direct contrast to the opener which saw Al Yaylian twirl a three-hitter for the Broncs.
Wenatchee erupted for 10 runs in the eighth inning of the second contest, getting the total on four walks, three singles, a double and bases-loaded triples by Charlie Beamon and Tom Self.
First Game
Lewiston .......... 030 020 0—5 7 0
Wenatchee ....... 100 000 0—1 3 0
Yaylian and Garay; Waters and Self.
Secoond Game
Lewiston ......... 100 500 013—10 15 1
Wenatchee ...... 120 100 5(10)x—19 20 1
Martin, Kime (7), Marshall (7), Orrell (8), Willams (8) and Cameron; Shandor, Romero (4), Hodges (9) and Helmuth.

YAKIMA [Tri-City Herald, Aug. 23]—It's still theoretically possible for Don Robertson, Tri-City righthander, to be a 20-game winner this season but unless he wins a couple in relief, the Braves winningest pitcher will have a tough time turning the trick.
Robertson, though, has lived up to his pre-season prediction that he will win more or lose less games than last season. During 1952 [sic], he had a 14-9 record, and Sunday at Yakima he racked up another victory to go along with the win over Lewiston last week to run his total to 16.
The win came in the first game of a twin bill which the Braves and Yakima split. Tri-Clty taking the opener 9-4, but losing the nightcap, 4-2.
The Braves have 13 league games left on the schedule which are jammed into 11 playing dates. This does not include two exhibition dates this week with the semi-pro team at Coos Bay, Ore.
In order to win four more before the season ends, Robertson would have to start every four days and pitch Tri-City to a victory each time. He will probably get his first shot at the four Wednesday night in the doubleheader with Salem here.
Tonight, the Braves have the day off but will open against the Senators here Tuesday night. Then they take off for Coos Bay for the exhibition dates which fill in for the missing Victoria games.
In the games Sunday at Yakima, Robertson's win, along with one pitched by Hal Flinn Saturday, and another by Jess Dobernic Thursday, gave the Braves three out of five. It marked the first time Tri-City had beaten Yakima in a series all season: in fact, it marked the first time they have beaten Yakima more than once in a series all season.
Tri-City came through with an easy scoring punch in the first game Sunday. They picked up a run in the first and four in the third to go ahead 5-2. Three more runs in the sixth frame put them way out in front and out of danger.
In the first game, Vic Buccola rapped out his first triple of the season, and Bob Moniz came up with his 39th double. Jack Warren, who went two for two, also got a double.
Len Tran was the big man at the plate during both games. In the first one he hit three for four and then in the second got a triple in three trips to the plate.
Dale Thomason, making his first league game start since returning from the Bob Abel All-Stars, went the distance for Tri-City. He had one bad inning, the fourth, when Yakima scored all of its runs.
[WILfan note: the bottom of the order did all the damage in that last game for Yakima. Mike Catron singled in one, Dick Briskey doubled in a pair and came home on Danny Rios' double. Terry Carroll brought in the first run in the third inning, and Bob Moniz singled after Tran's triple one inning later].
First Game
Tri-City ......... 104 003 1—9 15 1
Yakima .......... 020 001 1—4  8 1
Robertson and Johnson; Albini, Schaening (3), Young (6) and Summers.
Second Game
Tri-City ......... 001 100 000—2 5 0
Yakima .......... 000 400 00x—4 9 1
Thomason and Johnson; Rios and Albini.

EDMONTON, Aug. 22—Salem moved just a few percentage points ahead of Yakima in the Western International League standings after defeating the Edmonton Eskimos Sunday, 11-5.
Salem spotted Edmonton a 4-2 lead early in their contest but came back strong to build up the winning margin.
The win gave the Senators the series, five games to two.
Salem ........... 200 130 122—11 14 4
Edmonton ...... 040 000 100— 5  8 2
Franks, Briggs (3) and D. Luby; Conant and Prentice.

Saturday, August 21, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Lewiston ..... 32 20 .615 —
Yakima ....... 29 21 .580 2
Salem ........ 26 19 .577 2½
Vancouver .... 25 19 .568 3
Edmonton ..... 26 20 .565 3
Tri-City ..... 18 30 .375 12
Wenatchee .... 17 34 .333 14½

WENATCHEE, Aug. 21—Lowly Wenatchee subdued Lewiston 6-3 Saturday night for its second straight win over the Western International Baseball League kingpins.
The Chiefs, resting in the league basement 14½ games behind the Broncs, collected half their runs in the fourth and fifth innings and put the game out of reach with a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth.
Lewiston got its first tally in the opening inning on successive singles by Al Heist and Don Hunter. Gabby Williams' none-on homer in the fourth provided the second counter and Lewiston wound up the scoring with a singleton in the ninth on safeties by Clint Cameron and Eddie Bockman and a walk to Heist.
In Wenatchee's big eighth, Pumpsie Green homered after Tony Rivas walked for two runs.
The final score came when Larry Monroe walked, went to second on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on Jake Helmuth's single.
Lewiston ........ 100 100 001—3 8 1
Wenatchee .... 000 120 03x—6 9 2
Marshall and Garay; Oubre and Self.

YAKIMA [Tri-City Herald, Aug. 22]—Hal Flinn, the San Francisco beanpole righthander for the Tri-City Braves, pitched a six-hitter Saturday night to shutout the Yakima Bears at Yakima, 6-0.
The win gave the Braves a 2-1 edge in the current five-game series. It marks the first time Tri-City has beaten the Bears twice in a series since the season started.
The victory also marked three wins in four starts since snapping a 10-game losing streak Thursday night.
Today, the same two teams play another twin bill at Yakima. Likely starters for Tri-City will be Dale Thomason and Don Robertson.
After today Tri-City returns to Sanders Field for the opening of a four-game home stand against the Salem Senators Tuesday night.
In Saturday's action, Flinn was seldom in trouble against the home standing Bears. The closest Yakima came to scoring a run was in the eighth frame, when Danny Rios, pinchitting for starter Ted Edmunds, doubled off the left-centerfield wall. The ball lacked inches of clearing the wall.
Rios moved to third on a fielder's choice but the next batter filed out to end the threat. In earlier innings, Des Charouhas walked and moved to second on a single, and Lon Summers walked and moved to second on a fielder's choice for the only two times Yakima had runners in scoring position.
Three times Dick Watson-to-Len Tran-to Vic Buccola double plays erased and [any] Yakima gains.
For all practical purposes, Tri-City had the game sewed up right when lead-off man Terry Carroll was walked by Yakima's Edmunds in the first inning. Carroll scored on Vic Buccola's double. Then Buccola moved to third when Edo Vanni grounded out and came home on Len Tran's long fly to center field.
The Braves scored steadily throughout the game. They picked up single runs in the third and sixth innings and then added two more with two away in the eighth.
In that frame, Jack Warren rapped one to the outfield and moved to second on Dick Watson's single Another single by Flinn scored Warren and Watson came home on Carroll's base blow.
Tri-City ...... 201 001 020—6 10 2
Yakima ....... 000 000 000—0  6 0
Flinn and Johnson; Edmunds, Young (9) and Summers.

EDMONTON, Aug. 21—The Edmonton Eskimos and Salem Senators split a doubleheader Saturday night, Edmonton claiming a 6-1 win in the first, and Salem coming back to take an 11-5 victory in the second meeting.
Larry Manier pitched the five-hit 6-2 opener for Edmonton and Vern Campbell hit two doubles and drove in two runs for the winning club. Manier lost a shut-out in the last inning when Salem's Bob Kellogg, Harry Warner and Dennis Luby each connected with a double.
In the second game, Gene Johnson of Salem had a two-hit shutout going for seven innings while his teammates piled up a nine-run lead.
Leading Salem at bat were Harry Warner, with a home run, a triple and a double and Connie Perez who hit a double and two singles.
First Game
Salem .......... 000 000 2—2 5 0
Edmonton ..... 101 031 x—6 9 1
Roenspie and D. Luby; Manier and Prentice.
Second Game
Salem .......... 303 020 012—11 12 1
Edmonton ..... 000 000 023— 5  7 1
Johnson and Luby; McNulty, Worth (4) and Prentice.

Friday, August 20, 1954

                W  L  Pct GB
Lewiston ..... 32 19 .627 —
Yakima ....... 29 20 .592 2
Salem ........ 25 18 .581 3
Vancouver .... 25 19 .568 3½
Edmonton ..... 25 21 .548 4½
Tri-City ..... 17 30 .362 13
Wenatchee .... 16 34 .320 15½

WENATCHEE, story unavailable
Lewiston ......... 000 210 021—6 10 3
Wenatchee ..... 001 300 003—7 11 1
Orrell, Kime (8) and Garay; Hodges, Tierney (8) and Self.

EDMONTON, story unavailable
First Game
Salem ........... 032 000 0—5 6 2
Edmonton ...... 002 000 0—2 6 0
Herrera and Luby; Kimball, Manier (7) and Prentice.
Second Game
Salem ........... 000 000 007—7 10 2
Edmonton ...... 010 000 001—2  6 0
Briggs, Krause (7) and Ogden; Widner, Manier (9), LeBrun (9) and Prentice.

YAKIMA [Tri-City Herald, Aug. 22]—One of these days Walt Clough, Tri-City righthander, is going to wonder what it takes to win a ball game.
Clough came up with a five-hitter Friday night against the Yakima Bears at Yakima, not exceptional pitching, but usually good enough to be offset by Tri-City scoring.
But it didn't happen that way, and he was charged with a 3-1 loss, his 14th of the season.
In the second game, Tri-City and Yakima went at it for 13-innings before the Braves pushed three runs across to win, 9-6. It marked but the second time Tri-City has beaten Yakima this season.
Terry Carroll did most of the damage to the Bears. He doubled two runners home in the top of the 13th and later scored on Vic Buccola's single.
Jess Dobernic, who took over for Jack Hemphill in the fourth, was the winner. Don Robertson pitched the final frame.
In the first game, which was played in an hour and 20 minutes, Yakima scored three runs in the third on Don Briskey's triple, scored when a pickoff play went amiss, added two more when an error put Des Charouhas on base followed by hits by Don Pries, Herm Lewis and Len Noren.
Tri-City's run came when Bob Moniz walked, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Len Tran's single. The base blow was the third off winning pitcher Dick Young who gave up but three hits.
[WILfan note: Jack Warren and Clough had the only other hits of Young, both singles ... Warren was also four-for-five in the night game, and Buccola added three hits ... Lewis and Hal Summers both homered for Yakima and were responsible for a pair of runs each. Tran batted in a pair in the second game.]
First Game
Tri-City ....... 000 000 1—1 3 3
Yakima ........ 003 000 x—3 5 1
Clough and Johnson; Young and Albini.
Second Game
Tri-City ....... 311 001 000 000 3—9 16 0
Yakima ........ 203 001 000 000 0—6  8 1
Hemphill, Dobernic (4), Robertson (13) and Johnson; Lovrich, Schaening (8) and Summers.

EXHIBITION
VANCOUVER [Province, Aug. 20]—It took a home run by the WIL’s leading home run hitter to beat little Johnny Ruck and Burnaby Athletics, who gave some 2500 pro-Burnaby supporters something to cheer about Friday at Capilano Stadium.
Marv Williams, whose 21 home runs head the Class A pro league, hit one far over the left field wall with two on base in the eighth inning to give Bill Brenner’s boys a 4-2 decision over Ed Henry’s squad, who finished atop the Northwest semi-pro league.
Up until then the 18-year-old Ruck, who has been offered a scholarship to Washington State University, was the big show. Johnny, displaying a knowledge of the art of pitching far beyond his years, had limited the Caps to three hits until the eighth. Then successive singles by Eddie Murphy and K Chorlton paved the way for Williams’ game-winning blow.
{WILfan notes: Chorlton tied the game game in the sixth when he doubled, went to this when shortstop Bill Kinder bobbled Williams’ grounder and scored on Kinder’s overthrow to first base ... Caps’ Reliever Sandy Robertson allowed a two-run double to Bernie Zender after waling the bases loaded in the eighth inning ... Ruck singled in Andie Parker for the first run of the game off Bud Beasley.]
Burnaby ....... 000 100 020—3 10 1
Capilanos ..... 000 001 03x—4  7 2
Ruck and D. Zender; Beasley, Robertson (6) and Pesut.

WIL STATISTICS
(Compiled by William J. Weiss, Official Statistician, San Mateo, Calif. Standings and averages include games of Sunday, August 15 except Wenatchee at Lewiston, July 21st; All-Stars at Edmonton, August 13-14-15.)
TEAM BATTING
Vancouver, .303; Tri-City, .290; Lewiston, 281; Yakima, .279; Edmonton, .276; Wenatchee, .275; Salem, .274.
Hits, Tri-City, 1130; Runs, Lewiston, 686; Doubles, Tri-City, 198; Triples, Yakima, 53; Home Runs, Vancouver, 98; Stolen Bases, Tri-City, 88; Bases on Balls, Lewiston, 615; Strike Outs, Lewiston, 634; Runs Batted In, Lewiston, 634; Hit Batsmen, Wenatchee, Salem, 36; Sacrifice Hits, Tri-City, 135.
TEAM FIELDING
Yakima, .970; Edmonton, .969; Vancouver, .967; Salem, .965; Lewiston, .964; Tri-City, .960; Wenatchee, .959.
Errors, Lewiston, 156; Double Plays, Yakima, 117.
BATTING LEADERS
Percentage, Marv Williams, Van., 359; Runs, Al Heist, Lew., 112; Hits, K Chorlton, Van., 163; Total Bases, Chorlton, Van., 237; Two Base Hits, Bob Moniz, T.C., 27; Three Base Hits, Herman Lewis, Yak., 13; Home Runs, Bob Wellman, Van., 19; Sacrifice Hits, Dain Clay, Wen., 23; Stolen Bases, Chorlton, Van., 25; Bases on Balls, Heist, Lew., 98; Runs Batted In, Wellman, Van., 101; Strikeouts, Tom Munoz, Wen., 101.
PITCHING LEADERS
ERA., Bill Brenner, Van., 2.50; Wins, Brenner, Van., 19; Losses, Billy Joe Waters, Wen., Walt Clough, T.C., 13; Strikeouts, Briggs, Sal., 189, Bases on Balls, Briggs, Wen., 136; Innings Pitched, Brenner, Van., 245; Complete Games, Brenner, Van., 21; Home Runs Allowed, John Marshall, Lew., Bob Drilling, Vic., 19.





Name                  G  AB   R   H RBI  Ave
Williams, Van ..... 102 393 100 141  76 .359
Greco, Van ......... 81 288  64 103  78 .358
Wellman, Van ....... 99 366  72 130 101 .355
Chorlton, Van ..... 106 460 102 163  71 .354
Storey, Lew ........ 57 209  31  23  33 .349
Vanni, TC .......... 43 200  27  68  34 .340

Weeks’ Work
By CLANCY LORANGER
[Vancouver Province, Aug. 21, 1954]
THURSDAY—Had to fold up a few teams to do it but Vancouver Capilanos now sport the first four hitters in the latest WIL averages: Marv Williams, .359; Dick Greco, .358; Bob Wellman, .355; K. Chorlton, .354 … Incidentally, the Caps’ important series in Lewiston failed to pack ‘em in, as it should have, which makes one wonder just what will draw in the league, short of the Yankees on a barnstorming tour…
FRIDAY—Another popular young man, Arnie Hallgren, has brought solicitous enquiries from sweet young things because of his absence from the Caps’ lineup … A bad ankle has him sidelined, girls.