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 Fans in
Saskatoon must have thought they had Cy Young on the hill.
18-year-old Floyd Thionnet posted four consecutive
shutouts at Cairns Field. In
tournament play, Lloydminster/Medicine Hat copped both
major events winning in Lacombe and in Lethbridge. Tim
Cullen had a rare day in tourney play -- consecutive
grand slam homers. Curly Williams loved
Lacombe. He had three hits in the semi-final and another
trio in the final. The previous year at Lacombe he had
reached base 14 times in 15 plate appearances. Eventually,
five members of the Commodores would advance to the major
leagues -- Boccabella, Cullen, Fazio, Schneider
and Sutherland. In
mid-August, bugs forced delays in two games in Lethbridge.
Moths were so thick they forced Stan Busch to flee
from his outfield position. Competition
was often fierce but not without compassion. In a
twin-bill in Lethbridge, Lloydminster catcher Bob Milano
was injured in the first game leaving the club without a
backstop. Between contests the White Sox released catcher Jerry
King who suited up with the Meridians for the second
game. The
Bee-Boys were a big hit. Ray Barboza of
Edmonton led the circuit with 15 homers and Boccabella
was second with 13.
Glee
to grief. July 31st Saskatoon announced it had acquired
outfielder Kenny Washington, from USC, to
replace all-star Bob Levingston who was forced to return to
university classes. Washington, son of a former NFL great,
scored a run and made a sensational catch in his first
game. He had two hits, including a double in his second
game. In his third game he had a homer, two runs batted in
and two steals. Then, in the 6th inning, disaster. On a
double steal, Washington collided with catcher Bob Milano
at the plate. Fractured leg.
A
touch of irony is that coinciding with Eskimos' return to the
WCBL, it almost came to pass that there was a Charnofsky bossing
the Saskatoon Commodores this season ... When Spero Leakos
was here last weekend, he disclosed that Roland Jones,
who is back with the Esk pitching staff, was one of the last
three when the Hub City managerial candidates were narrowed down
... Obviously, another was Lyle Olsen, the
eventual choice ... Now it turns out that the third was Hal
Charnofsky, twin brother of Stan Charnofsky,
who is Rex' predecessor at the helm of the Eskimos (Edmonton
Journal, June 9, 1961) In
their return to the league, the Eskimos had a new look at the
top. Long-time general manager John Ducey was no longer
affiliated with the team. Roy Edwards headed up the new
organization with Lou SImon, Bob Sharp and Lou Hiatt also
prominent.
The
1961 season was the end of baseball for one of the league's most
colourful characters. Clif Pemberton started the
season as the playing-manager of the Meridians but, in late
June, a fractured hand put him on the sidelines. He wasn't
inactive for long, getting back on the field as an umpire as he
turned over the Meridians to veteran Curly Williams.
While his stint as an official drew high praise, he was soon
back in uniform as playing-manager of the Edmonton
Eskimos. The Esks would soon fold and Pemberton packed his
bags for his last trip home from Canada.
(July
14) Lyle Olsen, playing manager of the Saskatoon
Commodores was fined $15 for "directing abusive language at
game officials" during a July 6th tilt in Saskatoon.
Also, Jim Lester, third baseman for the Lethbridge White Sox,
was fined $10 for being evicted from a game July 2nd after he
had "threatened an umpire with a bat".
Neilburg downed Unity 3-0 in the
deciding game of the final series to win the Northern
Saskatchewan title. Peter Prediger, the
47-year-old playing-manager, belted a homer to win it for the Monarchs.
1961
marked the revival of the Manitoba Senior Baseball League.
Five teams competed in the inaugural season which each team
playing 16 games. Hamiota Red Sox easily won the pennant
but was upset in the playoffs as the Dauphin
Red Birds captured the title with playoff wins over
Binscarth and Hamiota.
Brandon placed four players on the All-Star team. First
baseman Tommy Town, second baseman Lloyd Brown,
right fielder Don Hunter and pitcher Lorne
Lilley all made the squad. The pennant-winning Red
Sox had just one player selected, pitcher Neil Amy.
Dauphin had a pair, shortstop Gerry Shumanski and
left fielder Al Evason. Bill
Berezinski of Binscarth took the centre field slot with
teammate Del Stainer at third base and Cliff
Seafoot of Riverside chosen as the catcher.
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With the exception of the playoffs, it was a
season dominated by the Saskatoon Commodores. They
finished with 46 wins in 62 games, had the batting champion in Lyle
Olsen (left) and the pitching leader, Dan Schneider.
Commodores won 10 of the 11 spots on the all-star team. Outfielder Stan Busch of Lethbridge
was the lone all-star not from the Saskatoon roster.
Among
the season's highlights were one-hitters by Darrell Sutherland
of Saskatoon and Dave Dowling (right) of Lethbridge. Dowling
also registered 18 strikeouts on two occasions -- in
the final playoff game and in the Lethbridge tournament, and he fanned 17 in a regular season match. 