The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 16, 1938, Page 5

DOUGLAS WINS OPENING CANE, HURLERS" DUEL Walk and Error Push Across Lone Run of Con- test in Fifth Inning Everything that makes baseball the game it is, except good hot sun- shine, was present at Firemen's Park in Juneau Sunday for th» cpening of the 1938 Gastineau Chan- nel League Season. Fine pitching performances by the opposing hurlers, Erskine and Kimball resulted in nine innings of tight baseball, in which one un- earned run scored by Johnny Niemi of Douglas, in the fifth inning, gave the Islanders a 1 to 0 decision and a- jump on the other teams in the pennant race. Backing up the work of the moundsmen was exception- ally good early-season fielding by both teams. Even though the sun did refuse to shine, except for scattered min- utes sandwiched between intermit- tent light showers, the cloudy cold- ness of the day did not keep a large tungout of expectant fans from viewing the opening ceremonies, and the contest. Band Plays Following the opening parade be- hind the Juneau City Band from the ‘gathering place at Triangle Place, where fans and officials met at 4 o'clock, the band continued to play from the stands at the park | while the two rival squads ran through their. warm-up practices and, the fans filed to their places. Then, at 4:30, Secretary of Alaska E. W. Griffin mounted the mound tc hurl the ceason’s first ball. The honorary chucker split the plate with two pitches which were re- ceived by Mayor-Catcher Harry I. Lucas, before Collector of Customs J. J. Connors, in the batters’ bo; decided that the third pitch just 'more the rest of the game than threaten again in the first of the eighth, when MacSpadden missed a tag on a runner going into third to let Douglas fill the bags. Surprisingly good after so litile opportunity to practice was the play of both squads yesterday. though the pitchers showed themselves to be well ahead of the batters, who were swinging behind the fast ones, as is attested by Erskine’s seventeen and Kimball's nige strikeouts. In setting his record, Erskine worked easily and showed just as much stuii as ever, though with momen- tary losses of control. . Kimball Improves Lack of control was also Kim- ball's main difficulty. The Moos: hurler's form appeared, however, to be improved over last season and the bit of extra speed he was abl> to get yesterday will likely win him several games this season. Both catchers did good jobs of holding their hurlers, and Rex Pink- ley, Douglas’ new catcher showed enough that the Islanders should be set behind the bat, even without Bob Boyd who is heading their way Nothing got by the rangy Pinkley, no matter how much zipper Erskine turned loose. The Moose prize slugger, Tom Martin, was not yet well enough to play yesterday and another new- comer took his place in the out- field, Bert Beck, but got no oppor- tunity to show his fielding ability, as Douglas got only five blows past | the infield. Tcmorrow evening brings the sec- ond game of the season, when the Moose and the Elks meet at Fire- men’s Park, at 6:30 o'clock, in a seven-inning session. SCORE BY INNINGS Team Douglas Moose cow oo cow® - o loem 123456 9] 000010 0 000000 0 |o~wm THE BOX SCORE H PO A IR 15 Douglas Roller, ss 3 Pinkley, ¢ 4 2 Eiskine, p 4 20 Andrews, 1b 3 0 Manning, 3b 3 3 4 0 2 0 4 3 1 Jensen, If Niemi, cf Bonner, 2b Balog, rf *Nelson, rf |l ~mcocomwmar o 1 wlommcoomoo 9 5 8 2 Totals *—Replaced inning. Mocse F. Schmitz, 2b MacSpadden, 3b Blake, ¢ Snow, 1b Grummett, 1f J. Schmitz, ss Converse, cf Beck, rf Kimball, p for in 2 =3 Balog Tl DR coocoecoccowd> 21 ol coccocccococcwm sl coormcocomnE Bloorwosco~sad Totals 30 SUMMARY Errors—J. Schmitz, 1; MacSpaa- den, 1. Stolen base, Roller; double play, Moose (J. Schmitz, F. Schmitz, Snow); run batted in, Roller; bases on balls—off Erksine 2 (Blaki Grummett), off Kimball 5 2, Manning, Niemi 2); struck out— by Erskine 17 (F. Schmitz 2, Mac- Spadden 2, Blake 3, Snow, Grum- mett 3, Converse 2, Beck 2, Kim- ball 2), by Kimball 9 (Erskine, Jen- sen 2, Niemi 2, Bonner 2, Balog, Nel- son); pitching records—Erskine 4 hits 0 runs in nine innings, Kim- ball 3 hits 1 run in nine innings; earned runs—Douglas 0, Moose 0; hit by pitched balls—J. Schmitz by Erskine, Andrews by Kimball; left on bace: of game: 1 hour 53 minutes; pires: Shaw at plate, Coughlin first, Hagerty at third base; scorer: Clark. um- PORTLAND IN TOP POSITION Philadelphia 1; New York 1, game called at end of fifth on account of rain. Other scheduled games postponerl STANDING OF CLUBS Pacific Coast League suited him and belted it into cen- Won Lost Pc: ter field; setting the ball rolling. . Portland 25 19 568 Baseball’s traditions upheld, the i San Diego 24 20 545 honorary battery retired to the e Tom Hollywood 24 20 545 stands, umpires Red Gray, Bob ‘ o | €an Francisco ... 23 21 523 Coughlin and Donald Hagerty took Pennant Race Best in Years Los Angeles ... .22 22 500 their places, behind the bat, at first Sacramento S ] 500 base apnd at third base respectively, | —Transfgr Reported Benttlo g o and the ball game was under way. | by President Lane Oakland 15" 30 ' 383 Hurlers' Battle Y . But though the ball had been set (By Associated Press) ¥ National League rolling, the hurlers kept it from ‘With the Pacific Coast League in i Won Lost Pel traveling much further during the| the midst of one of the best pennanl,! New York . 18 3 857 opening innings. Three infield outs races in years, the teams are still Pittsburgh 13 9 501 retired the Islanders in their first jockeying for winning combinations Chicago 4 1 560 time at the plate, while Douglas after San Diego was dumped out| Cincinnati 1213 480 hurler Claude Erskine used the of first place by losing a twin binl|St. Louis .10 12 455 Jast of the first to pile up three of to Hollywood. | Boston 8 11 421 the seventeen strikeouts that he President Lane has announced Brooklyn 100 15 400 was to record during the game; that Cedric Durst, outfielder, hes Philadelphia 4 15 400 fanning the first three batters. In been transferred to Hollywood to the first three innings, only nine make room for the return of Rupert American League Moose were to face Erskine. | Thompson, drafted by the Chicago Won Lost Pet But the Islanders did little better.| White Sox at the end of the 1937 Boston 16 8 667 Andrews did manage to drive a hot season. New York 14 9 609 liner through short for a hit in the| Portland has moved into first CleVel_and 14 9 609 second, but a double-play picked|place by splitting a twin game| Washington .16 1 593 him off: while in the third, Balog|Sunday with Los Angeles. Guy Chicago 8 1 421 scratched out a Texas Leaguer and Bush made his debut with a Los Detroit 9 13 409 advanced to second when Roller Angeles uniform on by dropping a | Philadelphia i SR | .350 -walked; then Balog was forced at| pitchers’ duel with Portland’s Bill St. Louis &1 292 third for the third out. First on Base ! Thomas in the opener. | Afeer losing the opener Sunday, Gastineau Channel League (Roller Douglas 9, Moose 6; time at RED SOX TAKE EIGHTH GAME, STRAIGHT ROW Lefty Grove Pitches His Sixth Win, Defeating Wash. Senators By Associated Press Heading westward for the first swing around the circuit of the American League, the Boston Red Sox, in first place, is sporting an eight-game winning streak that shows no signs of letting up. Lefty Grove chalked up his sixth straight victory Sunday by defeating the Washington Senators. The St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers in a tilt cut short |by rain on Sunday. The Cubs dropped the second | overtime decision in a row to the | Pirates with Johnny Dickshot's | PLAYERS GRAB ALL BUT ONE single in the eleven inning, send- | ing the winning run across the HPENER PRIZE plate. The Cardinals also went into an cvertime game before nipping the Cincinnati Reds on Pepper Mar- \Fritz Schmitz Whiffs and tin's pinch single in the tenth | . s e, | Assists for Heavy Winnings The Boston Bees exploded a| —Homerun Boum_v U[) three-homerun punch Sunday and trounced the Dod, | Nine of the ten prizes posted by | baseball-minded Juneau merchants | for performances in Sunday's open- ing game of the Gastineau Channel League season were captured during the contest; only the home-run award of one point of bonded Bour- q 7 ‘bon, offered by George Bros. Lig- W. Carter mortuary. adv. | yor Store, going un-claimed. - - | Try an Empire ad, | Top money player of the day was PIONEERS OF ALASKA Auxiliary members are requested to attend the funeral of Sister Fan- nie Estes which will be held Tues- day, May 17, at 2 p.m,, from the C. 7 Fritz Schmitz, Moose second-sacker, who walked off with two prizes; the baseball bat offered by the Thomas Hardware Company for the first as- sist made and the gallon of sour wine put up by the Juneau Liquor Company for the first batter to fan. Moose managey Art McKinnon hop- es Fritz did not have that wine in mind when he took his three cuts and sat down on his first time at bat. At any rate, Schmitz just barely nosed out MacSpadden and Bla to garner the gailon, The sl irt postea ny sanin’s for the first hit of the season was taken by Douglas’ captain, Walt Andrews when he laced a hot grounder through shorstop for a one-baser in the second inning; while Douglas’ Eddie Roller drew a pair of shoes from H. S. Graves for the first walk The Islanders’ top hurler, Claude Erskine lost no time in winning for himself the new hat from Fred Hen- ning’s Clothing Store, fanning the first batter to face him, then, just to make sure of his strikeout list. Joe Snow, Moose first sacker had the inside track on the case of beer Jakeway Distributing Company, making the first putout on Fritz Schmitz’ throw from second to re- tire the first Douglas hitter to tap the plate. Douglas’ Johnny Niemi was the undisputed claimant of the 350 pounds of potatoes from the Home Groceery for the first run, inasmuch as he crossed the rubber with the only tally of the game; while Pap short-patcher Jack Schmitz in mak- ing the boble that had much to do with letting Niemi score, secured for himself the carton of cigarettes ofs fered by the Triangle Inn for the first error of the season. Probably however, Jack was more burned up than the smokes will ever be. The one prize offered to opening - day fans, the season baseball ticket posted by the Royal Blue Cab Com- pany for the fifth ride to the ball- park in one of their cabs, went to Bud Anderson, who seldom misses & ballgame. Explorer Washburn Making Plane Trip With Alex Holden Flies Here with Bob Ellis—= Bound for Valdez Country Although two women friends of Bradford Washburn's were killed only a few days ago in Seattle when a plane which Washburn was flying, crashed, the noted Harvard Uni- versity mountaineer-explorer pass~ :d through Juneau this morning for Valdez, making the entire journey by air from Seattle. Washburn flew from Seattle to Vancouver with Al Dillon, flying Hans Mirow's “duck” to Nome. From Vancouver, he flew to Prince Rupe{t with Canadian Airways. At Prince Rupert yesterday, he was picked up by Bob Ellis, Ketchi- kan pllot, and flown to Ketchikan and thence to Juneau, arriving here early this morning. Stopping in Juneau only an hour, Washburn left for Cordova with Alex Holden in the Marine Airways Bellance. From Cordova he will fly to Valdez to join members of his ad- vance party, and spend the summer in mountaineering-exploratory work in un-mapped areas of the Chugach Mountains, | The Moose got their first man on| Seattle came back to nose out Oak- Won Lost Pect. base when Kelly Blake drew a pass land by virtue of a_circuit clout in Douglas ol S [} 1.000 in the fourth, but Snow fanned for | the fourth inning by Hunt. Moose s [ 1 .000 the final down. Sacramento took both ends of a Elks : 0 0 000 s It was the first of the fifth that saw the ball game won. With one away, Kimball handed Niemi a walk to set the stage. Bonner followed with a beautiful bunt that sent Nie- mi_to.second and on which Bonner himself reached first, for Douglas’ third and last hit, before Blake could chase down the ball. The next play was a beastiful | chance for the Moose to kill the rally with a double play; but, with a dhance even easier than that on which he had started a double kill- | ing in the second inning, shortstop Jack Schmitz tried to throw the ball to second before he had control of | it, and all runners arrived safely. Then Roller hit to deep second for a fielder’s choice on which Niemi crossed the plate with the season’s first run; the tally that won the game for the Islanders. Two on Base ‘The Moose tried to even it when a walk amd Jack Schmitz’ singie filled first and second with none away in the last of the fifth, but Erskine fanned the next two hii-- ters and forced an infield out, to Jold the Paps in hand. | The Moose gathered three more hits, the rest of the‘way through the game, but were unable to make any of them count, even when two came in a row in the eighth; while the Islanders were able“to do no | doubleheader from San Francisco. | GAMES SUNDAY | | Pacific Coast League | Hollywood 3, 8; San Diego 2, 0. Portland 5, 2; Los Angeles 4, 3. Seattle 4, 3; Oakland 8, 2. San Prancisco 1, 3; Sacramento 4, 4, National Leagud Pittsburgh 4; Chicago 3, eleven in- % . Boston 10; Brooklyn 7. Cincinnati 11; St. Louis 12. New York-Philadelphia, rain. American League ‘Washington 3; Boston 4. St. Louis 4; Detroit 1, five innings," then called on account of rain. Other games. postponed on ac- count of cold. Gastineau Channel League Douglas 1; Moose 0. GAMES SATURDAY Pacific Coast League Seattle 4; Oakland 1. Portland 9; Los Angeles 4. | Hollywood 1; San Diego 3. | San_Prancisco 6; Sacramento 3. Sport ‘Briefs The Santa Anita race track em- | ploys 1400 persons with an addi- | tional 600 in the concessions depart- tion of the track averages $48,405. Gen. John J. Phelan, Chairman of the New York State Athletic Com- ment. The daily expense for opera- | FOR REALLY FINE, {AND. COMPLETE, mision, has rewurned trom sbrosa PRINTING: SERVICE and announces the International Boxing Association has recognized | |all champions recognized by the United States. nounced by the St. Louis Browns. Tazip Nuvolari, Italian winner of | | the 1936 Vanderbilt cup race, has| entered the 500-mile Memorial Day Crystal Pennant, winner of the Release of Catcher Armond Pay-| | ton on option to S8an Antdnia is an- | $100,000 Coffroth Handicap at the| Phone 374 Empire P o AND . . .. . . while you focus you;'; attention on the stuffed poultry in the photographer’shand . . . . . . . he focuses his lens on you —— AND GETS YOUR PICTURE! 3 TP WELL - PRINTED STATIONERY will draw a prospective client’s atten- tion . . . . justasthebird does . . . . and while he focuses on your sales letter . « . . you focus your array of appeals onhim . . .. result—YOU GET THE BUSINESS! 1 B rinting Company