(May 30) Breaking out on a scoring spree after being held without a run for six innings, the Regina Young Liberals swamped the Estevan Maple Leafs 13 to 3 in an exhibition encounter played in Weyburn. "Long John" Berner , who twirled for Estevan, had the Liberals tied in knots until late in the game when they ran wild to score 13 runs. Cliff Boll blasted a home run for the Grits. Ralph Hogg got the hurling triumph with a steady performance.
(May 31) Gayle Shupe returned to Regina as a member of Johnny Meyers' Wolf Point Montanans and pitched the visitors to a 10 to 7 win over the Regina Young Liberals. A member of last season's Regina Army & Navy Southern League squad, Shupe rang up 13 strikeouts against many of his former teammates. Grits' outfielder Earl Nicholson lit up Shupe for home run.
(June 12) The House of David ball club thrilled the largest crowd of the season, 2,000, at the Exhibition grounds when they walked off with a 5 to 2 victory over the Moose Jaw All-Stars. One big inning, the first, gave the whiskered gents their margin of victory. Mildred "Babe" Didrikson, the club's feminine acquistion, pitched a hitless first inning for the visitors.
(June 13) Rain put an early end to the exhibition game in the Queen City between the touring House of David and the Regina Young Liberals. The bearded performers took the contest 4 to 0. The Libs' Cliff Boll had three of his team's five hits to lead all batters. "Babe" Didrikson wowed the crowd with two innings of hitless work off the hill, striking out a pair of Grits.
(June 20) The Kansas City Monarchs, pounding out 13 hits and aided by a half dozen miscues by their hosts, romped off with an easy 12 to 0 victory over the Moose Jaw All-Stars.
(June 20) Making their way to the Queen City for a tilt under the lights, the Kansas City Monarchs then turned back the Regina Young Liberals 8 to 7 for their second win of the evening. Chet Brewer, the Monarchs' speedball pitcher, looked exceptionally good for seven innings but weakened considerably in the final two frames, surrendering circuit clouts to Danny McKenna and Andy Young of the Grits as the visitors' lead shrank to but one run.
(June 29) Lefty Vincent, tossed eight innings of one-hit baseball to lead the powerful Bismarck Churchills to a 4 to 1 win over the Regina Nationals. Losing chucker Aldon "Lefty" Wilkie was the only Queen City player to register a hit off Vincent and his one-inning replacement, Barney Morris.
(June 30) Bismarck's high-flying baseballers made it three straight over the Regina Nationals, sweeping a twin-bill by 4 to 1 and 10 to 5 scores. Regina's Murray Armstrong accumulated six hits in the double dip. The only home run in either game was garnered by Bismarck's catcher Quincy Trouppe.
(July 4) The Regina Young Liberals claimed first prize at the Glasgow, Montana Independence Day tournament when they knocked off the Great Northern club of St. Paul in the final 8 to 1. Lawrence Steinert hurled against his old teammates to pick up the win. Andy Young of the Grits cracked out two home runs during the tournament.
(July 10) Pitcher "Slim" Appel of the visiting Richey White Sox turned in a three-hit, 19-strikeout game but it wasn't enough as his group of Montanans were blanked by the Regina Young Liberals 2 to 0. Winning hurler Ralph Hogg was on the beam as well, fanning 13 and surrendering five scattered safeties.
(July 11) The Moose Jaw All-Stars recorded a pair of wins in exhibition action in the Friendly City, taking the opener from the Richey White Sox 9 to 8 and then being awarded the second contest 10 to 9 when the Richey pitcher, Manley, aroused the ire of the plate umpire to the point that he cleared the bench and handed the victory to the hosts.
(July 12) In a return visit to the Capital City, the Richey White Sox took it on the chin once again, going down to defeat at the hands of the Regina Young Liberals by the tune of 5 to 2. "Lefty" Steinert, also known as "Snake", struck out 14 in recording the win for the Reginans.
(July 17) A three-run rally in the seventh frame lifted the Regina Young Liberals to a slim 6 to 5 victory over the Border League's Estevan Maple Leafs. The Grits out-hit the visitors 13 to 6 but the short-handed Leafs made their base blows count to more advantage. Andy Young picked up the mound victory over Elmer "Lefty" White.
(July 21) John Donaldson, making his first start since rejoining his old club, pitched the Kansas City Monarchs to a 7 to 5 win over their touring cousins, the Israeli House of David, in an exhibition afternoon contest played in Moose Jaw as part of a two-venue doubleheader for both barnstorming teams. Wilber “Bullet Joe” Rogan led the winners offensively with a perfect four for four performance at the plate. Following the game, the two teams travelled 42 miles to Regina to complete their day-night double bill.
Miller (L) and Hill
Donaldson (W) and Duncan
(July 21) A new attendance record was set at Regina's Floodlight Park as 3,000 spectators filed through the turnstiles to witness a thrilling 1 to 0 victory by the Kansas City Monarchs over the House of David. Playing outfield in this game for the Monarchs was none other than John Donaldson, far better known as an elite pitcher. Donaldson, returning to Saskatchewan after tournament pitching chores for Moose Jaw several years ago, pulled off the defensive highlight of the game in the ninth when he leaned against the right field fence to pull down a scorching blast that had all the earmarks of a home run. The Monarchs' roster was totally different from the club that toured southern Saskatchewan a month ago.
(July 28) The Neilburg All-Stars topped Lanigan to win the Saskatoon Exhibition Tournament, one of the highlights of the summer on the prairies. It was the second tournament win for Neilburg, having won in 1931, and marked the first of four consecutive tourney victories.
The 1934 event marked the tournament debut of Neilburg's Pete Prediger (left) who went on to play in at least 20 consecutive annual tournaments and perhaps as many as 35 straight events. Record are not available for four years in the 1950s, but Prediger maintained he played in all 35 tourneys from 1934 to 1968.
The All-Stars broke out with three runs in the 7th inning and another three in the 8th go on to defeat Lanigan 8-3. Left fielder Wright led the offense with three hits, including a double. Prediger, playing second base and hitting in the cleanup slot, was one of four Neilburg players with two hits. Al Flohr was outstanding in a relief role for the All-Stars, allowing just one hit - an 8th inning homer by "Mitch" Mitchell - over five innings to register the win.
Arlo Harris, Flohr (W) (5) and Tom Bessie
Lefty Gunther (L), Mitchell (8) and Tannihill
Langian defeated Aberdeen 8-5 to reach the final. Neilburg won a bye
(August 15) House of David shortstop, Dick Atwell, slugged four home runs, two in each game as the whiskered clan drubbed the Regina Young Liberals 9 to 1 and 13 to 4 in an exhibition double bill. Interestingly, the House of David pitcher in the second game was "Bud" Spiesman, all decked out with a beard, who was the ace pitcher of last season's Edmonton Army & Navy Cubs, the team that defeated the Regina Nationals for the Alberta - Saskatchewan interprovincial senior title.
(September 3) The Regina Nationals, Saskatchewan senior baseball champions, visited Estevan on Labor Day for an exhibition doubleheader with the Estevan Maple Leafs. After being held to a 2 - 2 draw in the afternoon game, the Nats took the late affair by a 6 to 1 count. John Berner of the Leafs and Aldon "Lefty" Wilkie of the Reginans were the opposing hurlers in the early game while Hector McLeod out-dueled Elmer "Lefty" White in the finale.
The Regina Leader-Post, in its August 30, 1934 edition, ran an article announcing that a barnstorming band of major league players, all from the American League, would be appearing in Regina on October 9, 1934.
The group of players, managed by Connie Mack's son, Earl, was headlined by offensive stars Jimmy Foxx (.344, 44 homers and 130 RBI's), Heinie Manush (.349, 42 doubles, 89 RBI's), Roger "Doc" Cramer (.311, 202 hits) and Frank "Pinky" Higgins (.330, 37 doubles).
All of this fearsome foursome except Manush, who was an outfielder on the Washington Senators, were members of the 1934 Philadelphia Athletics who, despite finishing in fifth place in the junior circuit, led the league in home runs and slugging percentage. It would be the second trip for the Macksters into southern Saskatchewan, their first being two years previous. Those players returning from the 1932 squad included Manush and three of his Washington Senators' teammates, catcher Luke Sewell, infielder Ralph "Red" Kress and pitcher Earl Whitehill. The other returnee was Boston Red Sox' pitcher Rube Walberg. Other members of the American Leaguers included shortstop Marty Hopkins and pitcher Ted Lyons of the Chicago White Sox, catcher Charlie Moss of the Philadelphia Athletics, outfielder Bruce Campbell of the St. Louis Browns, outfielder Dick Porter of the Boston Red Sox and pitcher Tommy Thomas of the Washington Senators. Also mentioned as travelling with the team was Al Schacht who provides comedy relief and pitches an inning or two of mop-up relief.
Regina players, selected by Al Ritchie, who was named as manager of the Queen City contingent, were, for the most part, the nucleus of the Nationals. Two of those originally selected, shortstop Murray Armstrong of the Nats and outfielder Andy Young of the Young Liberals both had to decline as the pair headed to Winnipeg for a tryout with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. One other selectee, Jack "Jersey" Cambell was also involved in another sport during October, that being as a gridironer with the local Roughriders, but he was able to appear for the exhibition doubleheader. Ritchie's choice as field manager seemed odd as his forté was in coaching football in Regina and he was not actively involved with the Southern League. His leadership abilities were unquestioned, however, and he was ultimately inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame. The locals were hampered by a month of inactivity and the first time they practiced together was a mere two days before the scheduled event took place.
Seventeen Regina players in all, seven from the Young Liberals, suited up and played in the pair of games. These were:
Nationals : pitchers Hec McLeod, "Lefty" Wilkie and "Swainey" Swainson; catcher Marty Kokran; infielders Jack Campbell, Stan Shaley and Joe Trapp; outfielders Johnny Stoyand, Art Sihvon and Joe Haberman
Young Liberals : catcher Dave Clayton; infielders "Babe" Brossard, Webb Bird, Danny McKenna, Bryan Forster and Mike Karahan; outfielder Cliff Hogg
When the major leaguers arrived in Regina, they were without slugging first baseman Jimmy Foxx who had been hit in the head by a pitched ball the previous night in Winnipeg and was still recovering there.
The fact that both games resulted in lopsided scores for the tourists didn't seem to bother the fans as both games were run off snappily and kept the large crowd highly entertained, especially with the antics of Al Schacht. The final scores were 12 to 3 in the afternoon contest and 12 to 1 in the encounter played under the lights.
In the absence of Foxx, Ralph "Red" Kress and Frank "Pinky" Higgins took up the task of pounding out home runs for the visitors. Kress drove one out of the park in the matinee event and Higgins sent one soaring over the fence in the nightcap. The outclassed Southern Leaguers were set down on eleven hits in the two games.
Joe Trapp, Nationals' rookie third baseman led the locals with three hits, two in the afternoon and one in the evening. Bryan Forster and Johnny Stoyand were the only other Reginans to get more than one hit, Forster getting a pair in the opener and Stoyand one in each game. Stoyand's double in the first game was the only extra-base blow the Queen City crew collected in either game. "Red" Kress led the American Leaguers' attack with seven base knocks, five of them coming in the night game. Regina's "Lefty" Wilkie struck out six major leaguers in the second affair.