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Tigers Come from Behind to Capture Pro Ball
Opener
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Internationals
Give Sparking Display in First Appearance
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By BILLY
FINLAY
[Vancouver
Sun, April 28,
1937]
Crashing
through with the deciding tally in the last frame, with two out and
two strikes on the batter, Tacoma Tigers grabbed off the laurels
over the Maple Leafs 5-4 in the return of professional baseball to
Con Jones Park last night.
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TACOMA
AB R H
PO A
E
Taylor, 2b . . . . . 5 1 1 3 3
0
Lewis, rf . . . . . .
5 1 2 2 0
0
Storey, 3b . . . . . 5 1 2 0 1
0
Springer, lf . . . .
4 0 0 0 0
0
Hornic, cf . . . . . 3 1 2 0 1
0
Raimondi, ss .
. . 4 0 1 2 3
0
Thompson, 1b . . 4 0 2 13 0
0
Millican, c . . . . . 4 0 0 1 3
0
Wilkie, p . . . . . . 3 0 0 0 4
0
Johnson, p . . . . . 0 0 0 0 0
0
Malman, p . . . . . 0 0 0 0 0
0
xMudge . . . . . . . 1 1 1 0 0
0
Guay, p . . . . . . . 0 0 0 0 0
0
-- -- -- -- --
--
Totals:
38 5 11 27 12
0
VANCOUVER AB R H
PO A E
Harriman, ss . . .
5 1
3 2 3 0
Ferraris, 2b . . . . 3
1 0 2 3
0
Veiling, rf . . . . . 4 0 2
1 0 0
Colbert, cf . . . . . 4 0 1 2 0
0
L. Cecil, lf . . . . . 3 0 0 1 0
0
Correll, 1b . . . . . 4 0 0 6 0 0
Kerr, 2b . . . . . . . 4 1 1 4 0 0
Samhammer, c . . 3
1 2 9 0
0
Smith, p . . . . . . . 3 0 0 0 6
0
xxMountain . . . . 1 0 1 0 0
0
-- -- -- -- --
--
Totals:
34 4 10 27
12 0
xBatted
for Johnson in 8th.
xxBatted for
Colbert in 9th.
Tacoma . . . . .
000 000
041—5
Vancouver . . . 000
030 100—4
2b—Kerr, Hornig. 3b—Veiling.
Balk—Smith. Sacrifice Hit—Smith. Struck out—by Smith 8, by
Johnson 1, by Malman 1, by Guay 0. Bases on balls—off Smith 1,
off Wilkie 2, off Malman 1, off Guay 1. 8 hits and 4 runs off
Wilkie in 6 1-3 innings. 0 hits and 0 runs off Johnson in 2-3
inning. 1 hit and 1 run off Malman in 2-3 inning, 1 hit and 0
runs off Guay in
1 1-3 innings.
Victory to Guay. Stolen bases—Veiling, Ferraris. Hit by
pitcher—by Wilkie (Cecil), by Malman (Cecil), Wild
pitch—Smith. Passed ball—Millican (2), Samhammer (1). Double
plays—Smith to Harriman to Correll. Left on
base—Tacoma 6,
Vancouver 10. Time of
game—2:30. Umpires—Sutherland and
Campbell. |
The
visitors took the verdict through a fighting finish when they
rattled off a bunch of base hits in the eight stanza to tie the
score with four runs, after being held runless all the way, and it
was manager Eddie Taylor who scampered across with the winning
marker in the next inning.
AUSPICIOUS OPENING
Outside of the downfall of the Leafs, after giving a
glittering display of baseball, the opening of the Western
International League was all that was promised. The teams, decked
out natty new uniforms, gave a finished display in the field and at
the bat, and the 1500 or so customers were more than pleased with
the smart performance.
Both teams played faultlessly in the field, not a semblance
of miscue being made and outside of the slowness of the hurlers, the
players showed professional training in all departments of the
game.
Henry Smith, a pitcher with a smooth action and plenty of
control, had a tough finish after holding the enemy in check with a
masterly display of hurling for seven
rounds.
The Vancouver hurler was
touched up for five solid blows in the eighth after he got excited
when Umpire Suds Sutherland called a balk against him. But the fans
gave the Tigers credit for showing fight at a time when they looked
like a well-beaten ball club.
WILKIE FAILS
Lefty Wilkie, who pitched Arrows to the top of the local loop
last year, started on the mound for
Tacoma. He showed
plenty of stuff most of the way, but was nicked for three runs in
the fifth and when he was touched up rather lively in the seventh
for another run, he was yanked in favor of a fellow by the name of
Johnson.
Eddie Taylor used four hurlers, Larry Guay, a smart-looking
righthander, finishing up and getting credit for the victory, though
he was in trouble when the final out was made on a close decision at
first base.
Mayor Miller of Vancouver and Mayor
Smitley of Tacoma did the honors
in opening the league in speeches and in the field. The Seaforth
Pipe Band and a brass band paraded the grounds with the players
looking real neat in the gay-colored uniforms. The Union Jack and
Stars and Stripes flags were raised and the opening was put over the
big league style.
The same teams performs again tonight and Thursday at
8
o’clock. They move to
Tacoma Friday for the
remainder of the week.
CHATTER—Flashy
uniforms, smooth playing and heady pitching caught the fancy of the
fans who agreed that professional baseball has a lot of class . . .
Tigers garnered 11 bingles against 10 by the Leafs . . . Sparking
fielding stunts featured in which Gene Veiling, big right fielder
for the locals scintillated with a one-handed grab against the fence
. . . Elmer Smith also shone brightly by cutting off runs with fast
fielding . . . Leafs had the only double play . . . Managers Johnny
Kerr and Eddie Taylor have a lot of good baseball left in them
despite long years of service . . . They make their plays look so
easy . . . Taylor scored the winning run and Kerr was the only
batter to lift a ball over the right field
wall.
BOUQUETS—Veiling punched out the only triple, but he failed
to score as the next three batters were also retired . . . Harvey
Storey, former Athletic Park Leaguer, still packs punch in his bat .
. . He poked out two solid blows for the Tigers . . . Harriman at
short and Ferraris at third did some flashy fielding for the locals
. . . Correll’s one-handed stab of Millican’s grounder in the third
was one of the most sensational plays of a well-played game . . .
Harriman picked off three safe hits to carry off the batting honors
. . . Suds Sutherland behind the plate and Archie Campbell on the
bases did a nice job of umpiring.
REFLECTIONS—The
Leafs looked good to the fans despite the tough finish. Roger W.
Peck, president of the league, was highly pleased with the smart
play shown by the boys . . . Besides the mayor several directors of
the Tacoma Club were the guests of the Jones boys at the park and
they made themselves heard in that eighth frame . . . Six members of
the Chilliwack Amateur Association were also guests of the park
management . . . The natty appearance of the field attendants all
fixed up in white as they polished off the field after the practise
caught the fancy of the crowd. Tealy Raymond, the baseball fox from
Bellingham, got a great
kick out of the game . . . “A lot of smart ball players in those
teams,” said the veteran as he greeted the sports
scribes.
Tacoma Rallies
————
Vancouver Leafs
Edged Out in Ninth
————
Tacoma 5;
Vancouver
4.
TONIGHT’S
GAME
8:00—Tacoma vs.
Vancouver.
[Vancouver
Province, April 28, 1937]
Vancouver has its
own “Gas House Gang.” Scrappy, larruping, ball-hounding diamondeers,
the Leafs seem to have that inborn spirit of pugnacity that should
endear them to the baseball fan. That the dropped their opening game
to Tacoma’s Tigers
was only due to the breaks of the game.
Lanky, fiery “Hank”
Smith was the hero and goat of the Western International League
opener at Jones
Park last
night. He gave a sweet exhibition of controlled pitching, proved
an impregnable barrier for balls lined at him on the pitching mound,
and precipitated a double play that left the 1000 chilled fans fazed
by its speed.
BIG
FIFTH.
After shutting
Tacoma out for
seven innings while his mates bagged four tallies Smith pulled a
balk with Johnston on first.
The ensuing five minutes was a tornado of charging ball-players,
arguing, imploring and doing some fancy and assorted cussing. When
the dust settled, the excitable Smith was back in the box and a
Tiger rally was in full swing.
When it was all over
four Tiger runs had crossed the platter, knotting the count. Leafs
had their big inning in the fifth when Manager Johnny Kerr’s
two-base smash out of the park over the short right-field fence
swelled into a full-fledged three-run spree that slopped over into
the seventh for another tally.
Kerr roosted on third
when Ralph Samhammer poled out a long fly to centre but was caught
trying to stretch it into a double. Stub Harriman’s single to centre
scored Kerr and Harriman went to second when Angy Ferraris was
passed.
DOUBLE
STEAL.
Gene Veling,
brilliant right fielder, popped a single to right to score Harriman,
then came one of those rare treats of baseball, a double steal with
Ferraris pilfering home. Raimondi tried to cut him off at the plate,
but too late, and both were safe.
“Stub” Harriman
provided the blow that scored Samhammer in the seventh, but the
Tigers saved the day with a battling finish in the eighth and ninth
frames.
With two away in the
ninth, “Hank” Smith again returned to his role of “goat,” a wild
pitch putting Taylor on
second. Lewis singled to right to score him for the winning
run.
TYERMAN
LEAFS NOSE OUT BY
TACOMA IN PRO BALL START
Four-Run Rally In
8th Earns Tigers 5-4 Win In International
Debut
———
Tacoma Visitors
Use Four Chuckers; Smith Goes
Route
———
Tonight’s
Game—Vancouver Maple Leafs vs. Tacoma,
8:15
p.m.;
Con
Jones
Park
———
[Vancouver News-Herald, Apr. 28, 1937]
A four-run rally in
the eighth inning, when they combed pitcher Henry Smith of the
Vancouver Maple Leafs for five hits, gave Tacoma Tigers a 5-4 win in
the first Western International League baseball game out at Con
Jones Park last night.
That single scoring
splurge wiped out a 4-0 lead that the Maple Leafs had built up in
the fifth and seventh innings, and another counter in the ninth,
when Manager Eddie Taylor of the Tigers singled to left field, went
to second on a wild pitch and then pushed his brogans across the
plate on Rick Lewis’ single to right, put the visitors on the top
side of the ledger at the finish.
Up to that disastrous
eighth canto the Leafs had made their debut before
Vancouver fans an
auspicious one. Following the opening ceremonies, where Mayor Miller
of Vancouver managed
to foul the first ball of the season as delivered by Mayor Smitley
of Tacoma, the
Leafs proceeded to cut loose with a sparkling exhibition of
baseball.
A glittering double
play, Smith to Harriman to Correll, had cut off the only chance of
the visitors to score in the early stages of the game, and timely
hitting by Harriman, Kerr and catcher Ralph Samhammer had pushed a
neat four-run lead over the platter.
So handy, in fact,
did the Vancouver sluggers
prove to be at the plate, that Tacoma used four
pitchers in the effort to halt the hitter. “Lefty” Wilkie, who was
with the Arrows of Athletic Park last summer, lasted six and
one-third innings before he was retired after the Leafs had
collected eight hits and four runs. He was succeeded with the latter
coming through by Johnson, Malman and Guay, smartly in the eighth
and ninth to hold the Leafs in check.
Smith, in spite of
his lapse in the eighth, pitched a beautiful game. He struck out
eight, walked one and turned in the neatest fielding performance
seen for some time. The double play he started in the third was a
masterpiece and he ended up with five assists.
Manager Johnny Kerr
started the Leafs scoring in the fifth when he doubled over the
right field fence, went to third on Sanhammer’s single, and scored
on a single by Harriman. Ferraris walked and Veling singled to score
Harriman and chase Ferraris around to third. Then Veling and
Ferraris pulled a double steal to score one more run before Colbern
struck out to end the inning.
Singles by Samhammer
and Harriman in the seventh, coupled with a sacrifice by Smith,
produced the other Leaf tally.
A balk called on
Smith in the eighth was the reason for the
Tacoma rally.
Mudge started the inning for the Tigers, pinch-hitting for Johnson,
and he rapped a single to left field. On the next pitch umpire
Sutherland called a balk on Smith when he stepped out of the box
after commencing his windup and the Leaf pitcher was so worked up
about it that only the intervention of manager Kerr prevented a
minor war. Before Smith had called off the Tigers had laced out four
singles and a double for four runs.
The Leafs made a
gallant effort to the one-run deficit back in the eighth and ninth
innings. In the eighth they filled the bases with two out only to
have Smith retired when a third strike was called on him, and in the
ninth there were two runners on base when Lonnie Cecil grounded out
to first.
ELSEWHERE IN
THE LEAGUE THAT DAY—
WENATCHEE—In a heavy hitting battle,
Wenatchee Chiefs won 9 to 8 from Yakima Tuesday
afternoon in their Western International League opener here.
Glenn Wright,
Wenatchee manager, knocked a homer with
one on, as did Ray Jacobs, Yakima manager.
Yakima knocked pitcher Les Frost out of
the box in the fifth to run in five scores and lead by one point
until the last of the seventh.
Hank Bonetti, centre fielder, won the game for
the Chiefs by a homer with one on that gave his team their one run
lead. Jacobs flied out to Henry Blastic as the game
ended.
Second baseman John
Williams stroked two singles and a double for
Wenatchee.
The
linescore:
Yakima ..........
012 000 500—6 8 ??
Wenatchee .... 022
002 02x—9 14 2
Buzolich, Sanders
(7) and Klawitter; Webber, Olson (9) and Duggan.
LEWISTON, Ida.—Spokane Hawks smothered the
Lewiston Indians 16-3 in the opening game of the Western
International League under the lights at Bengal Field last night
when three Lewiston pitchers were unable to hold the visitors in
hand.
It
was a better night for hockey than baseball, some 2000 fans
shivering through the melee. Lewiston pitchers walked eleven and
Spokane three. Wild
flings were frequent.
Manager Bernie DeVieveros led the Spokane attack
with a triple and a home run.
The Hawks’
gap at firse base was filled just before game time by the
acquisition of Walter Lowe, 18, from Oakland of the Pacific Coast
League. He doubled and singled in four at bats.
The Indians also made two acquisitions of their
own before game time, signing rookies William McMullin, an
19-year-old lefthanded first baseman, and pitcher Donald (Bud)
Albright. McMullin was hitless in his only at bat in the game
while Albright did not see any action.
The linescore:
Spokane
...... . 003 005 143—16 11 2
Lewiston …. 000
100
200— 3 7 3
Fields and
Volpi; Hanson, Rasmussen, Anderson and
Metrovich. | |
