1959 Snapshots      

Ed TannerTanner, Dayne, Kosteniuk

Left - Skyward.  Umpire Tom Foran and Combines' catcher Ed Tanner follow an Edmonton fly ball. (Edmonton Journal, July 9, 1959)

Above - (June 24, 1959) Three of the Combines hang Spero Leakos in effigy.  Leakos, the Saskatoon general manager, got a Combines win tossed out on a protest to the league. Left to right are Eddie Tanner, Mike Dayne and Dave Kosteniuk.
   

Manager & GM

Bruce Gardner

Left - Edmonton manager Stan Charnofsky with General Manager John Ducey  (Edmonton Journal)

Above - Bruce Gardner pitched a 1-hitter as Regina took a 3-0 lead in the playoff series with Lloydminster. (Saskatoon Star Phoenix, September 5, 1959).  Gardner, an All-American at the University of Southern California, committed suicide on the USC diamond in 1971, despondent over a failed pro baseball career.

Big Lee Murphy belts one

Dick Dyer

Left - Lee Murphy (Fresno State) connects. Murphy came north to join Saskatoon, for his third summer on the Canadian prairies.

Right - A year before joining the Meridians, pitcher Dick Dyer was a trophy winner at the Global World Series.

Dyer, pitching for Houston Fed-Mart, won three games as the Texas team won the 1959 semi-pro championship.  Dyer was the tournament's leading pitcher.  (National Baseball Congress, 1960 Annual)

Edmonton playoff win

Eskimo quintet - Five players who figured prominently in Esks' 5-2 playoff win over Regina. Left to right, Don Buford, Jim Sims, Art Ersepke, Stan Charnofsky, Freddie Scott (Edmonton Journal, September 9, 1959

Don Buford

Don Buford, cap flying, gets tagged out by Edmonton third baseman John Werhas
(Edmonton Journal, July 9, 1959)

Don Buford, USC                   John McLane

A pair of stars from the University of Southern California, Don Buford (left) and
John
McLane (right).  Both played in Western Canada with the Lloydminster-
North Battleford Combines.

1959 SNAPSHOTS page three >>>