Saturday, June 16, 2007

Games of Wednesday, May 7, 1947

BREMERTON, May 7 — Hub Kittle, veteran Western International League twirler, chalked up his second straight shutout of the season tonight when he handcuffed the Salem Senators to give the Bremerton Bluejackets a 4-0 triumph.
Kittle allowed one hit in registering his 82nd W.I.L. victory. Only one other Solon got on base, on a walk in the fifth and he was stranded there on a fast double-play.
The lone hit came in the second when Lou Kubiak singled to left field.
Salem ......... 000 000 000—0 1 1
Bremerton ... 000 022 00x—4 7 0
Wyatt and Beard; Kittle and Ronning.

VICTORIA — Taking advantage of the wildness of Tom Rose, who issued 14 bases on balls in a little over four innings, the Victoria Athletics tonight trounced the Wenatchee Chiefs, 12-5, to win the series two games to one, and move into a virtual tie with the Vancouver Capilanos for second place in the Western International League.
The tall right-hander walked three men in the first and escaped damage, but Max Hittle's triple with two on in the second, followed by Jack Harshman's booming double gave them a three-run lead.
The A's finally erupted for five runs in the third when more free transportation and errors by Bob Williams on sacrifice attempts put Rose in a hole. After a walk forced in a run, Vic Mastro greeted relief pitcher Suds Sutherland by hitting his first offering for a triple, clearing the loaded bags. Mastro scored after Babe Jensen's long fly for the fifth run of the innings.
Home runs by Harshman and Pat Patterson accounted for three runs in the sixth.
Wenatchee .... 002 110 100— 5 7 2
Victoria ......... 030 153 00x—12 7 3
Rose, Sutherland and Winter; Hittle and Mastro.

Yakima ..... 000 210 000 0—5 7 1
Tacoma .... 100 000 200 1—4 9 3
Simon, Strait (7) and Phillips; Walden and Kuper.

Spokane at Vancouver (rain)

ON THE SUNBEAM
By ALF COTTRELL
[Vancouver Sun, May 8, 1947]
It Was High Noon at the Ballyard
It was close to noon and the sun, after a night of rain, was splashing down on the seamed old planks just outside Bob Brown’s little office at the ballyard.
A car pulled up to the gate and Bill Brenner, in yellow t-shirt and brown slacks, came into the office. The manager of the Capilanos had the air of a man who hadn’t too many worries.
“Tried to get my wife to go down town shopping,” he said. “It didn’t work—someone already told her the stores are closed here on Wednesdays.”
Business manager Bob Brown, who has been going over the accounts with his bookkeeper, turned to tell Brenner that the doctor had said Hunk Anderson, the pitcher with the troublesome flipper, should be kept out of uniform for a couple of days.
“Uh-huh,” said Brenner, shaking his head in the negative. “He might just as well be out there coaching as running loose around the grandstand.”
“Fine, Bill,” said Brown. “He doesn’t have to do any throwing for a couple of days, that’s all.”
Did the ailments of Ron Bryant and big Hunk leave the mound corps under-staffed?
”We still have five starters,” said Brenner. “Sandy Robertson, Bob Hall, Jack Meister, Bob Snyder and Jim Hedgecock. That’s five, isn’t it?”
Only four would be available on the road, of course, as Robertson is strictly a home guard, due to his alternate career in town here.
Hall’s Display a Welcome Surprise
Brenner said that Hall’s pitching displays had been both surprising and welcome.
“His whole attitude has changed, too,” said Bill. “He’s one of the boys, instead of keeping to himself, the way he did at first.
“He is right in there all the time now, too. At Spokane when he was coaching at first base he was giving the fans as hard a ride as he was the Spokane team.
“And he dang near had the fellow who was playing first for them whacky. He was just about ready to hang one on Hall when he took a look up at him and saw how big he was and suddenly remembered what his Sunday school teacher had told him about being a bad thing to fight,” Brenner said.
What was this business of working both Lou Estes and Red Tran at third every night before the game. Wouldn’t it bother Red?
“It’s bothering Red so much he is only hitting about .370,” grinned Brenner. “Naw, nothin’ bothers Red. And big Lou is happier when he has something to do.
“We’re the luckiest ball club in the country. To have to gamble on two green kids like Tran and Bud Hjelmaa and have them both come through. That Hjelmaa is just a helluva shortstop, and he’s getting better every week.”
He turned to Brown and asked him if he had noticed Charlie Mead when he was on first base in one of the late innings.
Charlie Nearly Broke His Neck
“He was almost breaking his neck looking for the steal-signal,” chuckled Brenner, slapping his thigh. “We were about ten runs up, and did he ever want to go down there!”
He said the Spokane players had all laughed heartily when they came to town the other night and saw how close the right field fence was. Then when the Caps commenced rapping them over there the visitors started crying and complaining that short fences like this one were a crime.
I asked him if maybe his brief shot at right field the other night hadn’t given him ideas. With him in right and Bobby Stumpf catching, the batting attack might be stronger, I suggested.
“Uh-uh. I’m too much hooked now to go out there again,” he said, grinning at Brown. “Your shoes get all wet in that dewy grass out there—they wouldn’t last no time.”

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