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Pitching fans got an
eyeful from Moose Jaw's Ernie Nevers who, in a three week period in
August and September, won five post-season games including two in the Global
World Series.
In the longest game in league history,
Lloydminster scored a 4-3 win in a game that finished nearly six weeks after
it started! The teams went nine and tied 3-3 in mid-June. In late
July, they continued the contest. It went another eleven innings
before another run crossed the plate.
The
Meridians' Tom Roberts had a game for the scrapbook -- five for five,
two homers, knocked in four and scored five. Ike Jackson of
Regina went one better -- a six for six day as he hit for the cycle, three
singles, a double, a triple and a homer.
 There
was the Riot at Renfrew with Emile
Francis getting the boot and Johnny Ford getting a police
escort. A beaning, a broken ankle, 21 runs, 24 hits, 10 errors. 22
strikeouts, and 16 bases on balls. Oh, the Eskimos lost.
Lefty Larry Miller of Moose Jaw tied
the league strikeout mark as he fanned eighteen.
Len Tucker
had at least one hit in twenty-three straight games.
In one of the more unusual runs of the
season, Jim Phillips of Saskatoon scored when he worked Ernie
Nevers for a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on
another, and crossed the plate on Nevers' third straight wild one.
Moose Jaw's Ernest Rodriguez hit .402 to win
the batting crown in a tight battle with Len Tucker of Saskatoon (.394) and
Ron Fairly of Edmonton (.388). The Meridians' Curly
Williams finished
5th at .343. Tucker led the loop in homers with 18 and RBI with
68. Williams and Tom Haller each had 15 homers, and Bob
Herron of North
Battleford had 14. Herron finished second to Tucker in RBI with 64,
while Haller had 63. Tom Roberts and Roberto Zayas, both of
Lloydminster, tied for the lead in stolen bases with 18. Tucker was
second with 17.
Three pitchers had 11 wins -- Dale Ziegler
and Blaine Sylvester of Edmonton, and Bill Vanderlaan of Regina.
Ernie Nevers of Moose Jaw was 10-2. Zeigler won the ERA title (2.40).
Bennie Griggs of North Battleford pitched the most innings, 147.
Ziegler topped the loop both in strikeouts (149) and walks (127) in 135
innings of work.
All-Stars:
 c - Ed Tanner (Lloydminster), Suge
Carter (Regina); p - Jim Hansen (Lloydminster), Jim
Stevens (Saskatoon), Bennie Griggs (North Battleford), Larry
Miller (Moose Jaw), Ralph Vold (Edmonton); 1b - Tom
Haller (Moose Jaw, at left); 2b - Jerry White (Regina); 3b - Cliff
Pemberton (Saskatoon); ss - Jose Cesar (Regina); lf - Ron
Fairly (Edmonton); cf - Len Tucker (Saskatoon); rf - Ernie
Rodriguez (Moose Jaw); u - Bob Heron (North Battleford),
Tom McGee (Lloydminster), Ed Sada (Edmonton), Mark
Bussan (North Battleford).
At the helm -- Floyd Temple (Moose
Jaw), Ed Tanner (Lloydminster), Wayne Tucker
(Edmonton), Cliff Pemberton and Allan Cross
(Saskatoon), Suge Carter and Pete Beiden
(Regina), Emile Francis (North Battleford).
 Ernie
(Let's Play Two) Banks would have loved the Western Canada League!
Here, the Moose Jaw Mallards prepare for a triple-header -- a makeup game
for one rained out the night before, the completion of a tied game, and a
regularly scheduled contest. (Moose
Jaw Times-Herald, June 15, 1957)
Western Canada
Baseball League teams and parks (with seating capacity and distances to
left, centre and right field fences)
Saskatoon Gems
Cairns Field, 4,000
324, 384, 334
North Battleford Beavers Abbott Field, 3,000
280, 350, 280
Regina Braves
Taylor Field, 6,500
450, 385, 450
Moose Jaw Mallards
Exhibition Grounds, 4,500 320, 440, 320
Edmonton Eskimos
Renfrew Park, 6,200
310, 488, 309
Lloydminster Meridians Sportsman's Park,
2,500 360, 385, 334
George Wesley's Granum
White Sox captured their fourth straight Alberta title downing Grande
Centre in the provincial final. Sox had earlier beaten Calgary to
take the Foothills-Wheatbelt crown. Granum took one of the major
tournaments, winning in Lacombe. Sandpoint, Idaho won top prize at
the Lethbridge Rotary tournament and Calgary won its own
tourney.
The 1957 season featured both outstanding
pitching and lots of hitting. Calgary's Don Kirk (who had
gone 13-1 for Saskatoon of the Western Canada League in 1954) went
7-0. He fanned 18 in a league contest and 19 in a tournament game.
Kirk and Granum's Bentley MacEwen combined for 35 strikeouts in a
nine inning contest. Tom McIntosh of Calgary tossed a
one-hitter with 18 strikeouts in an exhibition match. Picture
Butte pounded out 36 hits in a double-header, winning 19-2 and
13-1. Vulcan and Calgary combined for 29 hits, 12 errors and 35
runs. Picture Butte moundsmen had one of those days -- fifteen
walks and four hit batsmen. Earl Ingarfield of Lethbridge
had the best single day by a hitter with six hits and eleven runs batted
in during a twin-bill. In the power department, team honours went to
Granum with six homers in a game, including four, three-run blows,
in a 22-7 victory.
Foothills-Wheatbelt
League:
Granum (George Wesley), Calgary
Dodgers (George Brookman), Vulcan Elks (Marty
Norman), Picture
Butte Indians (Harry Watson), Lethbridge Miners (Clarence
Yanosik), Medicine Hat Superiors (Henry Jeske).
 Bobby Lee of Picture Butte won
the batting title with a .424 mark. John Vaselenak of Granum
had the most homers, 11. Marty Hurd (left) of Calgary was tops in
RBI with 41. Chuck Dailey of Vulcan led the pitchers with 8 wins
while Al Warnick of Lethbridge had the most innings, 113 and led
the loop in strikeouts with 92 and walks, 61.
Don Maclean of the Lethbridge
Herald picked his "dream team" at the conclusion of
the regular season:
"The
catching job must go to Hans Pung of the Picture Butte
Indians over Augie Scornaienchi of the Vulcan
Elks. Both are fine receivers with good arms but Pung rates as
being a little more dangerous with the timber.
At
first base, the nod goes to Bobby Lee of the
Indians who should win the batting crown and fields his position
with ease and efficiency. He wins the spot only barely over big Marty
Hurd of the Calgary Dodgers, possibly the better fielder
of the two, but not as consistent at the plate
The
second sacker spot must go to Lethbridge Miner's Earl Ingarfield,
on the strength of his big bat. Ingarfield leaves much to be
desired in the field and cannot compare with such men as Mako
Tashima of Picture Butte or Vic Link of
Medicine Hat in that department, but with his power from the
right side of the plate, he has to be the choice. The runner-up
spot belongs to Hank Bassen of Calgary who
combines a good bat with a fine pair of hands in the field.
Third
base is possibly the easiest of the lot at which to pick a
winner. It's Jim Lester of Granum leading the field by a
country mile over the lot. Playing-manager Marty Norman,
who can do just about anything including pitch, must be moved
over to the hot corner to supply power to the second team.
Owen
Goto of the Indians rounds out the infield from his
shortstop position, gained over Art Alvarez of the
Elks on the strength of his fine ability to make the double
play. Dennis Totland youthfuI shortfielder of the
Dodgers must be rated as the player with the most potential at
this position however. The Calgary player does everything well
and rates high with a bat in his hand.
In
the outfield it's Ken Mitchell of Calgary, Bill
Fennessey of Granum and Jim Houck of
Vulcan. Both Fennessey and Houck rake their spots mostly on the
strength of their superior hitting power combined with
efficiency in the field. With Mitchell it is his fine fielding
that puts him on the first team over John Vaselenak
of Granum who easily leads Miner's Joe Tarnava and
Clarence Yanosik to the second team.
Granted
there are a lot of fine outfielders in the league. One of the
better, defensively is Elroy Schaufele of Medicine
Hat, another is Terry Hanoian of Picture Butte.
But the latter two lack the power with the bat that is necessary
to make our dream club.
In
the pitching department the nod goes to four players. Don
Kirk of Calgary and Bentley MacEwen of
Granum have posted the most impressive records and rate high as
our choices.
But
we must include Willie Walasko of Granum and Al
Warnick of Lethbridge as two others who can be counted on
when the firing is the toughest.
Those
who rate high on the second team's roster include Gary Harrison of Picture Butte and Dave Gambee of Granum. Don
Swedelski of Medicine Hat is the only Superior chucker
who even manages a look-in as far as the Foothills-Wheatbelt is
concerned." (Lethbridge
Herald, August 9, 1957)
The National Baseball Congress also recognized the Southern
Alberta Big Five League and the Southern Irrigation
League.
Big Five: Vauxhall Jets
12-4, Lethbridge Niseis 10-6, Enchant 2-4 D's 8-8, Cardston
Cardinals 7-9, Pincher Creek Oilers 6-10.
Irrigation: Redcliffe Red
Sox 15-5, Bow Island Combines 11-9, Foremost Braves 11-9,
Conquerville Cubs 10-10, Medicine Hat Marvels 5-15, Grassy Lake
Panthers 4-16.
The final
season of the Mandak League ended in controversy and with
a forfeit in the finals. The regular schedule ended with
just four games separating first from last and much debate over
how many rainouts would be rescheduled. In the end, Minot
was awarded second place and met the Bismarck Barons in the final.
Bismarck had a 2-1 game lead in
the final series when Minot was hit with heavy rains. The
league tried to switch the remainder of the playoffs to Bismarck
but Minot declined to continue and forfeited the title to the
Barons. (From Barry
Swanton's The Mandak League)
Bismarck's Len Van De
Hey hit .404 to win the batting title well ahead
of Minot's Zoonie McLean who finished second with a .365 mark.
Williston's Bill Raehse was tops in homers,
with 19, and led the league in runs batted in, with 88 (a Mandak
League record). Jackie
Bowes and Jack Ackers, both of Bismarck
were the top hurlers, each with 10 wins. Bowes
finished with a 3.62 ERA, Ackers at 6.21
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The Western Canada Baseball League
return of campus stars as Dale Zeigler, plus veteran minor league star
Len
Tucker and Regina's Cuban connection led by outfielder Jose Tartabull and
shortstop Bobby Cesar (below).
For the Meridians, it was a forgettable season
-- last for the third time in four years. 
champion
United States. Lefty Dale Zeigler pitched a one-hit shutout. The Eskimos lost two heartbreakers to the Japanese squad, losing 3-2 in 13
innings and, in the final, 4-2 in 11 innings.
(Headline,
Edmonton Journal, June 23, 1957)
OF
Ron Fairly, Edmonton, pounded a
homer in his first game in the WCBL and went on to an All-Star season. He
was in the majors a year later. Fairly seen here crossing the plate in an
8-5 loss to Regina. The catcher is Braves' Suge Carter.
(Edmonton Journal, July 3, 1957)
Moose
Jaw's Larry Miller tied the league strikeout mark fanning
eighteen Edmonton batters. (Edmonton
Journal, July 9, 1957) 