Games of Saturday, April 26, 1947

Caps Make Clean Sweep of Ball Series
VANCOUVER, April 26 - Vancouver Capilanos completed a four-game sweep over the Yakima Stars after giving them the broom tongith, 8-4, in a Western International League game.
Tonight's win followed an afternoon game when the Caps cleaned the Stars, 10-9, as fans sat in 80-degree heat watching the game.
Centre fielder for the Caps, Frank Mullens, was the star of the game when he hit a home run with one on base in the eighth inning. In the same inning, the Caps pulled a single and a double also.
First Game
Yakima ....... 100 240 101 – 9 17 3
Vancouver .... 010 200 601 – 10 15 0
Simon, Wallerstein (7), Nowels (8), Hinkel (9) and Phillips; Bryant, Robertson (3), Hedgecock and Stumpf.
Second Game
Yakima ........ 010 000 030—4 5 2
Vancouver ..... 030 002 03x—8 8 4
Ward and Kerr; Anderson and Brenner, Stumpf (9).

11 Runs in One Inning for Salem
VICTORIA - The Salem Senators scored 11 times in the fifth inning to take an 18-3 opener in the first of two Western International League games Friday in Victoria.
Max Hittle made his first start to the A's and gave up four runs in the fourth inning before the roof caved in in the fifth. Before it was over, Bill Prior, John Wilkinson and Bill Rothrock were all knocked from the mound and manager Ted Norbert took over in sheer desperation until the ninth when outfielder Bill White got the final out.
Hits and walks killed Victoria in the big inning, as Prior gave up a hit and three walks in a third of an inning, Wilkinson gave up a hit and two walks in a third, while Rothrock surrendered three hits and failed to retire a batter.
Ken Wyatt coasted to an easy win, while Ben Gregory had four hits, including a homer and a triple to bat in six runs.
In the night game, Bill Woop picked up his second win despite walking 15 Salemites. But he also struck out the same number and left 17 runners stranded, eight of them in the first three innings.
The Senators finally got to him in a messy seventh inning. With one out, Gregory's line smash was kicked in centre field for a triple. Krug singled in the first run, and one out later, Woop fell apart and issued five straight walks and another hit to score six runs. Jim Gibson came on to retire Gregory on a pop up to the infield to end the game.
Victoria opened up on Bob Sporer, a Japanese POW for four years, for five runs in the first and added to their total from there. Mike Hafenecker, with three hits and two runs batted in, Bill White with two doubles, which drove in another trio, and Babe Jensen, with a triple and a double, led the night game attack.
First game
Salem ........ 000 4(11)0 120 - 18 20 1
Victoria ..... 010 000 101 - 3 9 2
Wyatt and Beard; Hittle, Prior (5), Wilkinson (5), Rothrock (5), Norbert (5), White (9) and Mastro, Fontaine.
Second game
Salem ........ 000 000 007—7 8 4
Victoria ..... 501 020 13x—12 12 0
Sporer, Lazor, (6) and Cook, Beard; Woop, Gibson (9) and Mastro.

Spokane ...... 020 005 301—11 14 2
Tacoma ....... 100 002 000 – 3 6 2
Samson and Bufflap; Greenlaw, Hedington (6), Nygard (7) and Clifford.

Wenatchee ........ 000 100 000—1 4 1
Bremerton ........ 000 100 03x—4 10 1
Condon and Winter; Lowman and Volpi.

Seals Option Kasparovitch to Athletics
VICTORIA, April 26 - The Victoria Athletics today announced Len Kasparovitch, who won 20 games for Salt Lake City in the Pioneer League last year, has been optioned to the club by the San Francisco Seals.
The Hawaiian-born Kasparovitch has been with the Coast League club since spring training and only a surplus of expetienced hurlers has kept him from staying with the club all season.
The team also announced more pitching is expected as Kansas City and Beaumont will both sent hurlers in the next two weeks. A hard-hitting outfielder is also expected.

Caps Send Down Two
VANCOUVER - The Caps have made their first cuts of the season. All-American Tony Brodie and Orrin Snyder have been shipped to Borger of the West Texas League, a new Class C circuit, for further experience.

Games of Friday, April 25, 1947

BREMERTON, April 25 — With Hub Kittle giving up only four hits and striking out ten, Bremerton coasted to a 4 to 0 baseball victory over Wenatchee tonight in the opening game of their Western International League series.
Bremerton scored first in the second inning on a walk, a single by Al Ronning and an infield out. In the fourth, Ronning scored the second run on a fly-out after singling. The final two outs came in the seventh on Bill Reese's single after Hooks Devaurs and Eddie Murphy had singled ahead of him.
Wenatchee .... 000 000 000—0 4 1
Bremerton ...... 010 100 20x—4 9 1
Frost and Dalrymple; Kittle and Ronning.

VANCOUVER, April 25 — Manager Bill Brenner tonight walloped a ninth-inning homer to give the Vancouver Capilanos a 6-5 win over the Yakima Stars and their fifth consecutive Western International League baseball victory.
Pinch-hitting for hurler Jack Meister after Yakima had tied the ball game at 5-5 in the first half of the ninth on a one-run homer by Art Lilly, Brenner showed his mates how it should be done by knocking a pitch over the left field fence to win the hard-fought tilt.
- - -
VANCOUVER [The Sun, April 26, 1947]—The good ship Capilano was sailing along full speed ahead today, after master pilot Bill Brenner poled a ninth-inning home run to defeat Yakima Stars 6-5 in another thriller enacted at Cap Stadium last night.
Brenner, who is authoring himself a Pultizer Prize biography in his first season as a manager, was in this game merely as a pinch-hitter. The clutch hit, on a waist-high inside fast ball, was a towering 370-foot drive which cleared the far-away left field fence by a furlong or so.
Jack Meister was the winning pitcher, the fifth in succession for the Caps. But Meister almost let this one get away. He had a 5-1 lead going into the seventh canto. Then the Yak-Yaks started to wait him out.
EARLY LEAD
Meister strolled eight batters [to first base during the nine innings; unreadable line]. Only five hits were recorded off large Jack, but one was Art Lilly’s ninth frame four-master which sewed it up at 5-5 and set the stage for pinch-hitter non-pariel, William Brenner.
As has been their habit lately, the Caps teed up early and gave Meister a working margin. Rowe Wallerstein, just out of the American Army Air Forces and down from Hollywood for a “control” trial, couldn’t find the plate at all. Before Harlond Clift hauled him out, the Caps had three pairs on balls, a pair of bingles, and three runs.
FAIR COMPANY
There were two more added in the third chukker and the Caps were through until Mr. Brenner, the Tumwater Terror, applied the finishing touches.
DIAMOND DUST: Yakima pitcher John Brysch, the Stars’ third tosser, kept goo company while in the U.S. Navy. ... While stationed at San Diego, John was playing on the same team as Pete Jonas, Cleveland’s Bob Lemon and Texas Leaguer Jack Paepke. ... Little Buddy Hjlemaa turned in another fielding masterpiece for the Caps. ... In the second, Sam Stasssi belted a hot shot through the box, and Hjelmaa, with a wild dive, came up with a one-handed stop and threw his man out. ... Lee Mohr, the flashy Cap keystoner, watched this game from the press box. ... Thursday night, Lee took a hot tip on the right toe and the member kept him hobbling all night. ... It isn’t serious and Lee will likely see action today. ... In his absence Len Tran was moved to second and Lou Estes came in at the hot corner where he turned in a good chore. ... Tonight at 8:30, Hunk Anderson will be looking for his second verdict of the week when he faces the Stars. ... Tony Brodie, an all-American boy, and Orrin Snyder have been shipped off to the West Texas League for further experience.
Yakima ......... 100 000 211—5 5 1
Vancouver .... 302 000 001—6 9 2
Wallerstein, Strait (1), Brysch (3) and Kerr; Meister and Stumpf.

VICTORIA — Pat Patterson crashed out two doubles and two triples to drive in five runs while Jack Harshman added an inside-the-park homer and a double for three runs as Victoria outlasted Salem 11-10 Thursday night in Western International League baseball.
It took a two-run seventh inning for Victoria to ensure a win. Reliever Joe Blankenship singled sharply with one out, then Harshman and Patterson followed with well-tagged doubles to make the score 11-8.
Patterson's double hit the Hudson's Bay sign above the scoreboard in centre to win a $50 prize.
A walk, a double and a single scored two Senators in the eighth to close the gap, but Blankenship retired the side in the ninth.
The Athletics jumped on Sinovic for seven runs in the first three innings. Paul Soderburg replaced him and gave up another pair of runs in the fourth for a 9-5 Victoria lead.
A series of errors gave the visitors five runs off 18-year-old Dick Mitchell in the first three innings. Blankenship was set in after a run in the sixth and three solid hits in the seventh.
The Athletics have sent speedy little outfielder Sol Isræl to Quincy in the Three-I League. He was batting .083 (two for 24) with three runs scored and two runs batted in.
Salem ...... 032 001 220—10 12 3
Victoria .... 232 200 20x—11 14 6
Sinovic, Soderburg (4) and Beard; Mitchell, Blankenship (7) and Mastro.

Spokane ... 000 130 005—9 10 1
Tacoma .... 010 030 010—5 10 4
Costello and Bufflap; Gilson, Shapley (6) and Kuper.

THE HOME PLATE
By KEITH MATTHEWS
[Vancouver Sun, April 26, 1947]

Starting out on a first columnistic venture, and where do we go from here? ... The boss suggested bringing to you the intimate and technical sides of baseball—the lives and loves of the glamorous ball player, so to speak.
When you come right down to it, this life is not all glamor. Sure, the kids are always outside the dressing room, waiting to claim their autographs. But you wouldn’t call a week at home and then “hit the road, Bo” all glamor, would you?
It’s a hard, gritty life. A schedule such as the Western International’s finds the Caps on the road for 77 games. On the split week basis, that’s over 35 road trips. And you’re seeing the same faces, hearing the same jokes and looking at the same fruitless poker hands all the way.
* * *
That’s when you need a couple of fellows like Bob Stumpf and Jack Meister, a pair of dyed-in-the-wool kibitzers. Stumpf and his tenor frog voice with its Bronx rasp, give you the laughs. Meister is the straight man. He is until he takes off on his Al Jolson pantomime, anyway. On the opening Salem jaunt, Meister sang a Jolson repertoire which lasted for an hour.
These, then, are the fellows who make it a happy life for the rest. On every club there is the kibitzer. The players will tell you he is the most valuable on the team, not the man who hits that long ball, or wins 20 games.
Ball players all have their peculiarities. The wad in the cheek, for instance. Some demand the time honored chaw. Others settle for gum.
Since the days of Joe “Chaw” Daily, Bill Wright has been the greatest lover of the plug. Bill, present Cap right-fielder, is never without it. Off the field Wright is an El Cigaro addict. In the ball game Bill is always well and truly plugged.
Big Bill, the Walla Walla walloper, rarely chews his own. In 1942 Don Osborn was also tapped for Will’s supply. Last season Wright didn’t play any favorites, although Bob Snyder, another lover, gave up the most. As far as I have seen this year, Bill has been chewing his own. But he’s likely just sizing up his field.
* * *
Off the diamond the players live much the same as the man who works the four to 12 at the shipyards. Up at the crack of noon, they lay into a hefty breakfast, which consists of three eggs, ham or bacon, toast (four pieces), coffee and likely a repeat dose of the whole order.
Most of the Caps go for lacrosse. To Americans this is something new and intriguing. Frank Mullens, Jim Estrada, Bill Brenner and Lou Estes attend regularly when their ball game is rained out. Once last year Alex Palica sat through an entire game reading the comics. They’re not all the same, you see.
In the afternoon, the players gather in hotel lobbies and “barber,” which is baseball slang for gossip. Movies are high on the agenda, but an overdose of this is hard on the batting eye. It’s most an afternoon spent in a lazy-dazy way. Ball players, incidentally, are not allowed to swim. Bad for the muscles, you know.
That’s just a brief outline of a ball player’s life. As you can see, you don’t have to live, eat and sleep baseball, but it helps.

Games of Tuesday, April 22, 1947

TACOMA, April 22—Behind the four-hit pitching of Cy Greenlaw, veteran lefthander, Tacoma defeated Wenatchee 8 to 2 before 5,236 fans in the Tigers' home opener in the Western International league here Tuesday night.
Greenlaw also touched off a four-run Tacoma attack in the sixth inning when he knocked a home run over the left barrier.
Wenatchee ..... 000 100 001—2 4 2
Tacoma ........ 000 004 13x—3 12 3
Vivalda, Adam (8) and Winter; Greenlaw and Kuper.

VANCOUVER, April 22—Vancouver Capilanos tonight defeated the Salem Senators 8-3 to capture their first win of the Western International League baseball season.
The game, featured by the first triple play of the 1947 season, was witnessed by 3,500 fans.
Lavis York led the Capilano onslaught with a double and a triple, driving in two runs. Frank Mullens shared the heavy-hitting honours by poling out a homer on the first pitch in the initial inning for Vancouver's first run.
The Senators pulled off the triple play in the second inning when shortstop Hank Bartolomei snared Meraloma hurler Hunk Anderson's grounder, forced Bill Brenner at second with second baseman Al Spaeter relaying it to first to nab Anderson. Buddy Hjelmaa was caught stealing home for the third out.
Anderson held the Senators to four hits, striking out eight and walking three. Portsider Ken Wyatt gave up five hits in four innings while Bob Sporer was nicked for four in the four innings he worked.
Caps Note—Duke McLeod will be without partner Leo Nicholson on the Caps' baseball broadcasts on CKMO this year. He will be broadcasting home games on Mondays and Thursdays.
Salem ....... 000 030 000—3 4 4
Vancouver ... 120 050 00x—8 9 3
Wyatt, Sporer (5) and Kerr; Anderson and Brenner

VICTORIA, April 22 - Sam Stassi's home run after consecutive singles by Art Lilly, Gene Thompson and Bud Beringhele gave the Yakima Stars a first-inning jump as they took an 11-7 Western International League contest over the Victoria Athletics tonight.
The Stars got to starter Bill Woop for three more in the fourth then scored twice off reliever Les Palmer in the fifth and two more in the eighth.
Woop had car trouble in Wenatchee and didn't arrive at Royal Athletic Park until today.
Keith Simon staggered through his start for the Stars, walking ten and hitting two, as well as uncorking a wild pitch. Four errors by his teammates kept him in constantly difficulty, as four of the runs against him were unearned. He struck out 12.
Jack Harshman homered and singled for the losers.
Yakima ...... 400 320 020—11 14 4
Victoria .... 000 113 011— 7 6 2
Simon and Phillips; Woop, Palmer (5) and Mastro.

Spokane ...... 001 103 000—5 10 2
Bremerton .....201 100 000—4 7 1
Spitzer and Bufflap; Federmeyer, Ahearn (8) and Volpi.

Before and After
By Ken McConnell
[Vancouver Daily Province, April 23, 1947]
PRE-GAME JITTERS
There was the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet. A few slightly soiled sweat shirts adorned the makeshift clothesline. Trainer Reg Wallis, the pudgy one, who once toiled on the hillock for the North Van club, was rubbed Hunk Anderson’s arm. There was the smell of wintergreen; of sweat and there was tension in the air.
“Not so much tape this year,” said Manager Bill Brenner of the Capilanos. “Last year it was all tape and guts. This year we won’t need that tape...”
Brenner took a peeck at his neighbor’s letter.
“You may be manager,” reproved the individual, as he fought to conceal whatever his gal had jotted down, “But you can’t read my mail.”
“That so? Well you better start playing ball, then...”
It was forced levity.
“Who said we are gonna lose?”
* * *
A Broken Toe-Nail
Baby of the team is 18-year-old infielder, Russell Brodie.
“But nobody calls me Russell,” patiently explained the young shortstop. “I have been Tony ever since I broke a toe-nail once when we were playing an important high school game.”
We say and talked to this clean-cut youngster. Last year he played in the Esquire game at Chicago. It was the thrill of a lifetime.
Now, as he endeavors to fulfill the dream of a big league career, he thinks of the day he’ll get his professional baseball chance.
“Oh, sure, I ran for Bill (Brenner) on Sunday and I guess that was my debut in professional ball,” said the young man.
“That team would you like to play with in the Big Time?”
“Any team,” and then, hesitating, he said, “Well, if you give me my chance I’ll take the Brooklyn Dodgers. Or maybe Detroit.
“Why those two clubs?”
“Well, I don’t know exactly,” was the grave reply. “But I just like them.”
Hunk Anderson came over, had some tape put on his torn shirt sleedy and Brodie did the job for him.
I like Brodie. Sincere ... Dreaming of diamond conquest ... He just wants to do anything he can do help. But mostly he wants to play ball.
* * *
More to Come
The tension was relieved, there was an entirely different atmosphere in the Caps’ dressing room, as the club trooped back following their 8-3 triumph over Salem.
“That’s the first,” declared Brenner somewhat defiantly. There will be plenty more.
He concerned us and said: “What about that basketball series? Do you think that it is absolutely necessary that Sandy (Robertson) should play?”
I pointed out that Sandy was a mighty important member of the Meralomas; that tonight the Vancouver club will be playing the first game of a best-of-five series for the Canadian championship against Windsor.
“I guess he’s really needed,” admitted Brenner. “Well, mind you, I am not going to tell him he can play basketball or anything like that. But if Sandy does play, well I guess I can overlook the fact he is not with us for one night.”
So Sandy, there it is.
You can play tonight with the Lomas and I am confident neither Bob Brown or Bill Brenner will say a word.
Especially, Sandy, if you help the Meralomas win.