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The Canadian-American Baseball League
OK, it wasn't the New Yorker. But, it was my own column. And, lots of
people read the weekly Lloydminster Times. At least, my parents
did!
In 1959 it was the Canadian - American
Baseball League. The loop was down to five teams with the withdrawal
of the Moose Jaw Mallards. It turned out to be the year of the
Eskimo. Edmonton (with at least ten players from the University of
Southern California in the lineup) captured both the regular season crown and the
playoffs.
The Combines, in first place with just a week
to go, dropped seven of their last eight games to fall four games behind the
Eskimos.
There were some outstanding individual
achievements. Edmonton's Norm Forsythe won fourteen games,
finished second in ERA and had a string of 23 consecutive scoreless
innings. Williston's Bill Lynn won the batting crown with a
.376 mark and struck out just eight times in 263 at bats.
Curly Williams of Lloydminster-North
Battleford led the league in homers, with 11, and in runs batted in, 59.
Saskatoon had a rarity -- a "homer"
cycle. In a 15-4 win, the Commodores had a grand slam homer, two
three-run blasts, a two-run homer and a solo shot.
Edmonton and Regina combined for eight
triples in a single game.
Lloydminster-North Battleford and Regina
fought to an 11 1/2 inning scoreless tie.
In a single game, Williston pitchers allowed sixteen
hits, twenty-two bases on balls, and hit four
batters.
Saskatoon stunned the Combines coming back
from a 5-0 deficit to score fourteen runs in one inning. The
Gems got two grand slam homers as part of that single inning
offensive.
Edmonton won on the field but lost three games in the board room as a
result of a dispute over a player.
Lew Hobson of Saskatoon fanned
sixteen batters for a season high.
Edmonton's John Ducey imposed a
midnight curfew on his players after the team gave up 22 hits and made seven
errors in a 16-3 defeat.
The Combines' Eddie Tanner had one of
those games a hitter dreams about -- five for five, including a homer and a
triple.
Jim Sims of Edmonton and Mark
Clark of Williston tossed one-hitters. Regina's Bruce Gardner
had a seven-inning one hitter in the playoffs. Sims also pitched a 16-hit
complete game and Clark tossed a five-hitter but lost 7-1 as he allowed
eleven walks, a balk, hit a batter and threw four wild  pitches.
The Lethbridge
White Sox won the Southern Alberta Baseball title. Steve
Schott, (left) once a co-owner of the Oakland A's was among the White Sox
players as was future major leaguer Ray Washburn.
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1959 Stats
1959 Rosters
1959 Tournaments
1959 Fresno State Bulldogs
1959 Olean Athletics
CANADIAN-AMERICAN LEAGUE
W L PCT GB
Edmonton 39 29 574 -
Lloyd-NB 33 31 516 4.0
Regina 34 32 515 4.0
Saskatoon 31 36 463 7.5
Williston 29 38 433 9.5
(Lloydminster and Regina each
registered a tie)
1959 Game Reports
1959 Playoffs
1959 Photo Gallery
1959 Snapshots
1959 Edmonton Eskimos
1959 Regina Senators
1959 Saskatoon Commodores
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Estevan Maple Leafs 22 9
S-Current Indians 19 13 3.5
Moose Jaw Lakers 19 13 3.5
Weyburn Beavers 18 14 4.5
Regina Red Sox 17 15 5.5
Balcarres Braves 15 17 7.5
Marquis Wheat Kings 14 18 8.5
Notre Dame Hounds 12 20 10.5
Moose Jaw Mallards 7 24 15.0
1959 Game Reports
1959 Photo Gallery
1959 Snapshots
WINNIPEG SENIOR LEAGUE
1959 Game
Reports
1959 St.
Boniface Native Sons
NORTHEASTERN SK LEAGUE
NESBL
History
1959 Stenen
POLAR LEAGUE (MANITOBA)
1959 The Pas
Tee Pees
SOUTHERN ALBERTA LEAGUE
Lethbridge 36
12
Calgary
23 25 13.0
Vauxhall 19 29
17.0
Medicine Hat 18 30 18.0
1959 Game/Tournament
Reports
1959 Photo Gallery
1959 Snapshots
1959 Lethbridge White Sox
1959 Bow Island
Combines
NORTH PEACE LEAGUE
Peace River Stampeders
Hines Creek
Fairview Outlaws
Grimshaw
1959 Photo Gallery
1959 Snapshots
INTERCOUNTY (Ontario)
Galt
18 10
Kitchener-Waterloo 18 11 0.5 (a)
Brantford 17 12 1.5
(a)
Hamilton 14 14
4.0
St. Thomas 14 15 4.5 (b)
Guelph
13 16 5.5 (b)
Listowel 12 16
6.0
London
8 20 10.0
(a) Playoff for 2nd place
(b) Playoff for 5th place
1959 Game
Reports
1959 Photo Gallery
BASIN LEAGUE
Rapid City 27 21
Pierre 26 22 1
Huron 24 24 3
Watertown 23 25 4
Yankton 23 25 4
Valentine 23 25 4
Mitchell 22 26 5
Pierre Chiefs won the league title
in the playoffs.
1959 Game/Playoff
Reports
1959 Photo Gallery
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 Bill Lynn of Williston and Curly
Williams of Lloydminster- North Battleford were the 1959
batting champs according to
official records compiled and released by the Howe News Bureau. Lynn led the
loop with a .376 average, to give Williston its second straight
batting crown. Jerry Adair of the Oilers won in 1958. Williams
took the home run title, with 11, and led in runs batted in, 59.
Tom Satriano of Edmonton
finished second with a mark of .350. Saskatoon's Pete Estrada placed third with .333,
followed by Zoonie McLean of Williston with .323 and Cliff Pemberton of Regina with .309.
(Picture from Edmonton Journal,
September 15, 1959)
Lynn was high in hits with 99 and total bases with
139. Stan Charnofsky of Edmonton led in doubles with 17, Don Buford of Lloydminster-North
Battleford in triples with 11, while Satriano scored the
most runs, 61.
Ron Boone
of Saskatoon had the most sacrifice bunts,
six. Art Ersepke of Edmonton and Larry Exel of Williston tied for honors in sacrifice
flies with six apiece. The latter also struck out the most times, 68, while Tom Bergeron
of Lloydminister-North Battleford received the most bases on balls, 59. Buford
stole the
most bases, 19. Bill Hockenbury of Williston was hit by pitched ball the most times, 11.
Eloyd Robinson of Saskatoon was credited with the most official times at bat, 284.
Pennant-winning Edmonton won the club batting championship with a .276 average. Regina was
tops in club fielding with a .955 percentage. In club pitching Edmonton ranked first with
a .365 earned run average. Gene Graves of Saskatoon headed the pitchers with a 2.86 earned
run average. Norm Forsythe of Edmonton, who was second ERA-wise, compiled the best
won-lost record with 14 wins and three losses for an .824 percentage. Forsythe also won
the most games 14 and tops in complete games 13. Graves struck out the most batters,145.
Roland Jones of Edmonton issued the most bases on balls, 86.
Can-Am All-Stars
 (As
the representative for the Lloydminster Times and radio station CKSA, your
18-year-old correspondent had an opportunity to cast an All-Star
ballot. There were a few differences from the ultimate selections --
notably Don Buford over Tom Satriano for an outfield spot. Click on the
image for a larger version.)
c Bill Heath, Williston; Jim Garrett,
Saskatoon; 1b
Wayne Tucker, Regina; 2b Stan Charnofsky,
Edmonton; 3b
Curly Williams, Lloyd-NB; ss Zoonie McLean,
Williston; u
Cliff Pemberton, Regina; of Pete Estrada,
Saskatoon;
Bill Lynn, Williston; Tom Satriano, Edmonton;
p Norm Forsythe, Edmonton; Gene Graves,
Saskatoon;
Ted Richardson, Lloyd-NB; Alton Arnold, Lloyd-NB; Bruce Gardner,
Regina.
Placing second in the balloting
were Miles McWilliams of Williston at first base, Ron
Stillwell of Regina at second, John Werhas
of Edmonton at third, and Dan Adams of Saskatoon
at shortstop. The team was chosen by league managers and
sports writers and sportscasters.
 Bob
Bourbeau of Lethbridge staged dramatics at the beginning and end of the Southern
Alberta season. The White Sox shortstop belted a grand slam homer in
the 1st inning of the Sox opening game then, at the end of the campaign,
went on a tear as the club won the playoffs. In the three games for
which box scores are available, Bourbeau went 10 for 13 with two homers, a
triple, three doubles and eight runs batted in as Lethbridge downed Calgary
in the final. He capped off a terrific season hitting for the cycle,
with a homer, triple, double and two singles, in the last game of the final
series.
Lethbridge won 48 of 62 games, including
tournament and exhibition play. While the club had four players finish
over .300 (Brack Bailey topped the group at .341) the Sox starting
staff was something to behold. Steve Schott was 10-1 overall, Dick
Creighton 10-3, Ray Washburn 9-2 and Mountie Bedford
8-3
Washburn added to his laurels with a
no-hitter, the news of which got underplayed as a "riot" erupted
over allegations of racial taunts. The episode drew major coverage in
the Lethbridge and Medicine Hat papers for a few days until the White Sox
threatened to take it to court. 
"Nobody really thought it was a
no-hitter" said Washburn, "I walked so many, eight I think, and there were
runners on the bases all night. I walked in two."
Lethbridge won fifteen consecutive games as they ran
away with the pennant finishing thirteen games up on second place
Calgary. Counting exhibitions and tournament games, at one stretch the
White Sox won 31 of 34 games.
The Dodgers were never happier to feel the rain as in an
August tilt against Vauxhall at Buffalo Stadium. The Jets had run up a
25-5 count when the contest was called after just five
innings.
Tom Wilcox of Vauxhall, who failed to
catch on with two other clubs, won the batting  crown with a .362 mark
just ahead of teammate Tom Gonzalez, who finished at
.353. Brack Bailey (left) of Lethbridge, who was the
runner-up in 1958, was third at
.341. Bob Mosteller of Vauxhall won the home run derby,
with 13 while John Vaselenak of Lethbridge batted in the most
runs, 56. Jerry McClure of Calgary won the most games,
eight, while Steve Schott of Lethbridge finished at 7-1 for
the best pitching percentage. Ray Washburn of the Sox
won seven of nine decisions.
Southern Alberta All-Stars
c Larry Koentopp, Lethbridge; p Dick
Creighton, Lethbridge, Ray Washburn, Lethbridge; 1b Marty
Hurd, Calgary; 2b Tom Gonzales, Vauxhall; 3b Glen
Rediger, Medicine Hat; ss Bob Bourbeau, Lethbridge; lf Brack
Bailey, Lethbridge; cf John Vaselenak, Lethbridge; rf John
Harmon, Vauxhall.
Managers: George Wesley,
Lethbridge; David Abel, Calgary; Garland Lalibert,
Vauxhall; Tom Schecter, Medicine Hat.
Larry Koentopp of the White Sox was
named the league's Most Valuable Player. In a poll by sportswriters,
Koentopp finished one vote ahead of teammate John Vaselenak.
Vauxhall's Tom Gonzalez was third. Other players to
receive votes were Bob Bolingbroke and Glen Rediger
of Medicine Hat, Frank Amaya of Calgary, John Harmon,
Jack Cravens and Tom Wilcox, all of Vauxhall.
Waking up with Walkingshaw At
the Lethbridge reunion, Stan Busch related his introduction to
prairie ball :
"I got a call from Lester (Jim) and a
couple of hours later I was on a bus, 48 hours on a bus, all the way to
Calgary ... I was picked up there and, two hours later, we were in Lacombe
for a tournament. It was past midnight and they take me into my hotel
and tell me I'm in a room with Darwin Walkingshaw, who I've never met
before. What they didn't tell me, it was the same bed with Walkingshaw! Well, we got up at six or seven, as we had a
triple-header that day, and shook hands for the first time."
Must have been something about the pairing --
in the final, Lethbridge took the title with a 5-0 win as Walkingshaw hit a
solo homer and Busch had a three-run blast.
The Lloydminster payroll is worked out on the back of a
schedule. It's not known, but assumed, that the handwriting is that of
Slim Thorpe the team's president. (Click
image for a larger version.)
These were pretty good salaries back in the
'50s.
The top salary is $400/month. The
monthly payroll for the whole team (14 players) is about 45-hundred
dollars. For a look at the team's Financial Statement, click here.
At the club's annual meeting (in
February, 1960) Bill Ritchie's financial statement showed the Meridians
with a surplus of about $1,000. The team had revenues of $38,
711.27. Team salaries came to $16, 469.39.
There was talk at the meeting of forming an
all-Saskatchewan league for 1960.
 Conrad
"Connie" Munatones (Moose Jaw 1956, Edmonton 1957, Saskatoon
1960) a slugging third baseman and outfielder during his days in Canada,
was a catcher in pro ball. He had the prized opportunity to
catch both Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, both Hall of Famers, during a
spring stint in Vero Beach in 1959. One of his Canadian highlights
was as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos in 1957 playing for Canada in the
Global World Series in Detroit. The club came within a whisker of
taking the title (losing to Japan in the 11th inning of the
final).
I suppose, if you're the head honcho, you
won't find much difficulty in getting a couple of batters out! In
a UPI photo (carried
in the Calgary Herald, July 28, 1959)
Fidel Castro is seen taking some warm up pitches before
an exhibition game in Havana. Castro was reported to have set
down the side in order in his one inning appearance. The match
was a benefit for Cuba's agrarian reform program.
Former
ManDak League hurler Al Spearman walked away from baseball
shortly after ending an amazing streak of pitching in the pro ranks. In a May,
1959 game
with Triple-A Houston, the side-arming righthander was taken out for
a pinch-hitter in the 8th inning of a 2-2 game. It ended Spearman's
streak of 33 consecutive complete games. He had tossed a pair of
complete games with Stockton of the California League at the end of the
1957 season, then finished all of his 28 starts in 1958 before beginning
with three complete game efforts in 1959.
Spearman,
who pitched with Carman and Winnipeg in the ManDak League and the Hankyu
Braves in Japan, joined Stockton in 1956 and had an All-Star season in
compiling an 18-3 record which included 16 consecutive wins and complete
games in 18 of 19 starts. He faltered early in 1957 in a promotion to
the Western League and was back in Stockton by mid-summer to finish up
14-4, 2.73, finishing 17 of 19 starts. That set the stage for an
incredible 1958 as Spearman took the mound in 28 games, completing all
of them, en route to a 20-9, 2.60 campaign. With his three
complete game performances to begin 1959, Spearman had finished an
amazing 48 of his last 50 starts. With the death of his
father Spearman, then 32 (although the papers claimed he was 27) quit in mid-season to return to Chicago.
Regina's Bob Theiss had a remarkable professional debut. On
August 1st, 1955, in the Class C Provincial League, the 19-year-old
tossed a no-hitter for the Quebec Braves. He missed a perfect game because
of a walk to the first batter he faced in the seven inning contest, the
first game of a double-header against the Trois-Rivieres Phillies. After the
base on balls, he retired 21 in a row.
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