Friday, July 11, 1947

               W  L  Pct GB
Bremerton ... 51 35 .598 —
Spokane ..... 48 37 .565 2½
Salem ....... 47 38 .553 3½
Victoria .... 49 41 .544 4
Tacoma ...... 42 44 .488 9
Vancouver ... 40 47 .460 11½
Yakima ...... 35 48 .422 14½
Wenatchee ... 30 56 .349 21

VICTORIA, July 11—The Vancouver Capilanos used five runs in the third inning and four in the fourth to score a 10-5 triumph over the Victoria Athletics in a Western International League game tonight.
Bill White punched out a long home run — his 11th — in the first inning after John Hooper had walked. That gave Victoria a 2-0 lead, which they couldn't hold, as Victoria starter Bill Woop gave up seven hits and two walks in 2 2-3 innings.
In the third, Lee Mohr and Frank Mullens singled, Lou Estes and Charlie Mead walked to bring in one run, and then Bill Reese and Bob Stumpf cracked out base hits to score four more. Ray Fortier came in for Woop after Len Tran singled, then Carl Gunnarson lined a ball back to the box which struck him on the pitching arm. He got the out, but had to come out of the game.
Jack Harshman's 25th home run of the season and successive doubles by Babe Jensen and Cavalli put the A's back within a run in the bottom of the third, but the Caps came right back in the fourth with a four-run barrage on singles by Buddy Hjelmaa and Mullens, a walk, an error and a double by Mead.
Leo Righetti singled and scored after singles by Pat Patterson and Hooper in the sixth.
Gunnarson allowed 13 hits in posting his tenth win of the game.
Vancouver ..... 005 410 000 — 10 15 3
Victoria ......... 202 001 000— 5 13 2
Gunnarson and Stumpf; Woop, Fortier (3) Blankenship (3) and Mastro.

YAKIMA, July 11 — The Salem Senators moved into third place in the Western International League by scoring an easy 10-5 victory over the Yakima Stars in the opener of a five-game series at Yakima tonight.
Salem put the game on ice in the first two innings when they scored two runs in the initial frame and then added four more in the following stanza on Mel Nunes' grand-slam homer.
Salem ......... 240 002 200—10 14 1
Yakima ........ 020 100 003— 5 8 1
Lazor and Beard; Brysch, Meister (6), Simon (9) and Phillips.

WENATCHEE, July 11 — Spokane pounded out five home runs in their 19-11 victory over the Wenatchee Chiefs tonight in a Western International League slugging jamboree.
Both Herb Gorman and George Schmees hit three-run homers for the Indians, Gorman's coming in the second and Schmees' in the third. Finding the short fences at Wenatchee to their liking, both Schmees and Levi McCormack homered in the fifth and Jake Phillips added another in the sixth.
Ted Greenhalgh hit both of the Chiefs' four-baggers.
Spokane ......... 056 041 003—19 25 0
Wenatchee ...... 130 231 100—11 13 5
Forsyth, Sampson (2) and Bufflap; Vivaldi, Osborne (3), Condon (9) and Pesut.

Bremerton at Spokane, postponed, wet grounds.

THE HOME PLATE
By KEITH MATTHEWS
[Vancouver Sun, July 12, 1947]

Bob Stumpf, the young catcher who brought the Bronx to Vancouver, is unhappy, and you’ll never guess why. He wants to go to the old men’s home, but doesn’t feel he has a chance.
The old men’s home, if you haven’t been following your baseball lately, is, of course, the Seattle Rainiers, whose youngest son is our Vancouver Capilanos.
On the Cap’s recent road trip to Bremerton, Stumpf, who is Seattle property, called in to see business manager Earl Sheely of the Suds. Stumpf, now hitting his 1946 pace when he batted .349, wanted encouragement from Sheely for the future.
According to young Bob, Sheely gave the impression that Rollie Hemsley, present Rainier first string catcher, would remain in this status fro the following five years.
This struck us as very funny. Very funny indeed.
Six years ago Hemsley was all washed up as an old man, when the war took all the professional players. The majors had to dip into their bucket and come up with some near pros to tide them through, and the New York Yankees resurrected Hemsley.
* * *
Rollie was in New York for one season and part of another before they washed him up again. He then went to Philadelphia Phillies on waivers. The Phils have long been known as a graveyard for tired old men.
Rollie didn’t spend too many summers in Philly before he was purchased by Seattle to spell off Hal Sueme, whose arteries were starting to harden.
As we remember it, Hemsley streaked past his 40th birthday a year or so ago. And yet Stumpf has been led to believe that Rollickin’ Rollie is good for another five moons.
Stumpf, if he does not keep a thorough look by Jo-Jo White and his Seattle overlords, can only hope he will be caught in baseball’s draft. Right now Bob looks ripe for the Coast League. He is naturally green on certain inside baseball items, but he will remain so until he gets out of Class B and into triple-A.
Stumpf is not the lone Capilano who rates a long look from the Sound City when they gather next spring at Bakersfield for spring training.
Frank Mullens, the Cap centre fielder, looks like a lead-pipe cinch to make it. He is Seattle property, and that may hurt him if Sheely and his gang forget to remember that baseball is played by the country’s youth—first childhood, that is.
At present, the Rainiers are staggering along famously with several old men and a prayer. The prayer has not been too strong, for the Suds have been challenged only once for the cellar, and they shook that off and have the place all to themselves right now.
* * *
The outfield, for instance, is composed of Lou Novikoff, Jo-Jo White and Bob Johnson. The latter two are over 35 with Novikoff a close challenger. When manager White wants variety he inserts Johnny Rucker in centre field and Johnny is just a kid of 32.
If you really want to hear a good one, though, listen to a few of the Rainiers’ battery. Pitchers—Dick Barrett, Rex Cecil and Bill Posedel. Catchers—Rollie Hemsley and Hal Sueme. Total those ages and if they don’t average 37, you can have the concession to the town’s parking meters.
The Rainiers, then, seem to be ready for a shot of youth. Mullens is set for his grooming in the Seattle outfield. He might now hit .300 his first year, but he’ll be up there in RBI’s, and that’s what they look for in the big tent.
Charley Mead, though not Seattle property, is a candidate, but not as strong as Mullens. Your two other best-bets would be catcher Stumpf and pitcher Carl Gunnarson, who would go to Seattle only if they paid the ante.
And if and when Sheely and Co., start their youth movement, the Caps will benefit, too. Out of all the WIL entries, Vancouver has been starved the most from lack of support from Seattle.