1964 Snap Shots

The Western Canada Baseball League recruited most of its players from California colleges and high schools.  Four members of the Mount San Antonio College squad (of Walnut, California) suited up in Western Canada in 1964 - Darrell Tatem, Mike Steele, Jim Flammini and Rich Johnson.  San Antonio won the Eastern Conference and Southern California championships.

 Front (left to right)  Allyn Ayon, Greg Kritzer, Tatem, Don Bowman, Steele, Flammini, Bill Bryan.  Standing (left to right) - Bruce Young,  Johnson, coach John Arrambide.  (Los Angeles Times, June 21, 1964)
 

The Lethbridge Cardinals enticed high school star Greg Conger to join the WCBL squad.  Conger, pitching for Lynwood High School in Los Angeles, had been named the Player of the Year after finishing 14-0 with an ERA of 0.29 as Lynwood captured the city championship.  The left hander struck out 94 and walked just 7. (Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1964)
 

Saskatoon's Spero Leakos, a mainstay in keeping baseball alive on the prairies, was always on the lookout for recruits for his Commodores. 

May 6, 1964 letter to the coach of the baseball team at the University of British Columbia, Frank Gnup :

The Western Canada Baseball League is going to operate this year with teams in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Saskatoon.  I am definitely going to operate out of Saskatoon this year.

I am very much interested in this boy John Haar.  If he is interested in playing in Saskatoon I would appreciate hearing from him.

John Haar ended up signing with the Yankees and played for parts of three seaons in the minor leagues while he attended UBC and became an oustanding performer in soccer, football and baseball.  He was inducted into UBC's Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2002, Haar was appointed as Director of Baseball Operations for the Canadian Baseball League in 2003. He had been head coach of the National Baseball Institute for 13 years, three years as head coach of the Canadian National Youth Team and three as head of the Canadian National Team.