1916 Vancouver, Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley
1916 BC Interior
1916 Vancouver Island
As fan interest in professional baseball began to wane in Vancouver, the amateur scene saw an impactful resurgence in 1916.
The 1916 Commercial Baseball League of Vancouver, chastised by the B. C. Amateur Athletic Union for allowing participation by a few players from the outlawed New Westminster City Baseball League, was reinstated by the amateur body after a brief suspension. The players in question were accordingly issued amateur cards.
The five-team circuit was highly competitive. Only two games separated the first and last-place finishers. Two teams, Malkin’s and Snider & Brethour, tied for first place with identical records while the defending champion National Biscuit Company aggregation muffed an opportunity to make it a three-way stalemate when they dropped their final contest.
Vancouver Commercial Baseball League
Arnold & Quigley, Malkin’s, National Biscuit Company, Purdy’s Pets, Snider & Brethour
Final standings W L Pct.
Malkin’s 9 7 .563
Snider & Brethour 9 7 .563
National Biscuit Co. 8 8 .500
Purdy’s Pets 7 9 .438
Arnold & Quigley 7 9 .438
First-place tie-breaker (best-of-three) Malkin’s vs Snider & Brethour
(August 4) The Malkin’s baseballers got the jump on Snider & Brethour in their battle for Commercial League supremacy when they blanked the Contractors 4 to 0 at Recreation Park. Camille “Lefty” Delcourt stymied S & B on three scattered hits in cruising to the knoll triumph. Brother Freddie Delcourt had two of the six hits garnered off the slants of losing flinger Ira Brethour. The Wholesalers’ fly-chaser and leadoff batter got things going for the winners with a third-inning single, a theft of second and a trip to the plate on third baseman McConvey’s single. The victors wrapped things up with a three-run outburst in the fifth canto.
C. Delcourt (W) and L. Foley
Brethour (L) and Blochberger
(August 8) The W. H. Malkin balltossers captured the 1916 Vancouver Commercial Baseball League crown by defeating Snider & Brethour 4 to 3. Pitchers Camille Delcourt and Ira Brethour were dominant on the hillock, surrendering just three and four hits respectively. Fielding miscues were responsible for each and every run in this game. Seven errors by the Contractors ultimately cost them the game and another shot at the pennant.
Brethour (L) and Blochberger
C. Delcourt (W) and L. Foley
Dogged by sanctions from the B.C.A.B.A. and the B. C. Amateur Athletic Union, the 1916 New Westminster City Baseball League also had serious internal problems which reduced an already thin three-team circuit to just two clubs after the Fraser Mills aggregation disbanded in mid-July. Lacking competitive parity from the outset, the circuit saw the B. C. Electrical Repair squad, considered as a semi-pro team by the amateur governing bodies, run away with the pennant race, repeating as champions.
New Westminster City Baseball League
B. C. Electrical Repair, City, Fraser Mills (disbanded)
The W. H. Malkin team, champions of the 1916 Vancouver Commercial League, and the B. C. Electrical Repair, three-peat winners in the outlawed New Westminster City League, agreed to play a best-of-three showdown for the de facto Lower Mainland tiara. With no official championship at stake, the tussles will essentially be for bragging rights only. The B. C. Amateur Athletic Union only agreed to temporarily lift their sanction against the New Westminster circuit for this short series under the condition that all financial gate receipts be turned over to a patriotic fund for the Great War effort.
1916 Lower Mainland inter-city challenge (best-of-three)
(August 22) The classy semi-pro B. C. Electrics of New Westminster, a team that has met and defeated some of the best Pacific Northwest semi-pro clubs this season, fell 5 to 1 to the hosting Malkin’s nine, pennant-winners of the 1916 amateur Vancouver Commercial League in the opening match of their inter-city challenge series. With a few of their regular players absent, the Repairmen utilized members of other Royal City teams. Pitching was dominant and, although outhit by a 3 to 2 margin, the Wholesalers outplayed the Electrics during all stages of the skirmish. The Commercial League champions played snappy ball afield, handling a number of difficult chances while the New Westminster diamondeers were weak defensively, committing seven errors. Winning heaver “Lefty” Delcourt rang up 11 strikeouts while losing twirler Bill Brand whiffed four. Catcher Lorne Foley of the victors was credited with a questionable inside-the-park home run when rival backstop Bill Davis fumbled the relay peg at the plate. Outfielder Bob Williams of the vanquished nine had two base hits, the only player from either side to accomplish this feat.
Brand (L) and Davis
C. Delcourt (W) and L. Foley
(August 26) Playing at Queen’s Park in the Royal City, the semi-pro B. C. Electrical Repairmen of New Westminster squared their inter-city challenge series with the Malkin’s crew of the Vancouver Commercial League by edging the Wholesalers 4 to 3. The Electrics held a healthy 9 to 4 margin in acquired base hits and played a much better game than in their first outing. Shortstop George Fenney, first baseman Jack Wyard and outfielder Bill Davis all collected a brace of base smacks for the winners with a triple included in Wyard’s sum of swats. Initial sacker “Casey” Clarke of the Vancouverites also tattooed the apple for a pair of base knocks.
C. Delcourt (L) and L. Foley
Brand (W) and Whyte
(August 29) Unable to agree on a satisfactory date for the concluding game of their inter-city challenge series, the lower mainland combatants called off the third and final contest. It was hoped that an afternoon game would have been best for both players and fans since an evening tussle would have been almost impossible to complete given the early darkness problem. However, player work commitments made that option untenable. As well, several members of the Malkin’s club have enlisted in the Artillery and will don the khaki soon.