REGINA NORTHSIDE BASEBALL LEAGUE
After flourishing for many years, Regina’s Northside Baseball League collapsed in early July following a normal start to the 1929 season. Lack of support by fans and indifference on the part of playing personnel both contributed to the demise of the circuit. Only eight games were run off before a scheduled ninth encounter drew an insufficient number of players from both competing teams, after which the league moguls decided to pull the plug. Although league play was suspended by the executive, an all-star team from within the three-team circuit banded together for exhibition-game commitments against the barnstorming Colored House of David and Texas Giants.
The Balmorals, leading the three-team Queen City circuit at the time of dissolution in July, were considered as de facto champions of the loop and, in spite of being idle for well over a month, went on to defeat the Moose Jaw St. Joseph's squad three games to two to take the Saskatchewan senior amateur championship in late August and early September.
TEAMS
Argos
Balmorals
Champs
(May 31) The curtain was raised on the 1929 Northside Baseball League season at Park de Young and saw the Balmorals administer an 11 to 2 trouncing the Champs. The Restaurant squad went wild in the seventh and eighth episodes to sew up the one-sided victory. Del Cottingham went to route on the knoll for the Cafemen, stifling the defending champions on four hits and six walks, striking out a dozen along the way. Cliff Hogg of the Bals was the big power hitter in the contest, slugging two home runs and a single. Cottingham added a triple and three singles while playing-manager Casey Moroschan singled three times and stole a like number of bases.
Cottingham (W) and Van Vliet
Dominas (L), McKenzie (7) and Andreen
(June 3) It took the Balmorals 11 innings to defeat the Argos 6 to in a fast-moving and well-played encounter at Park de Young. The Boatmen put up a plucky battle and only succumbed when the Eatery Aggregation scored three times in the top-half of the second round of overtime. The Scullers came back with a singleton in their portion of the canto but fell short of matching the output of their foes. The hurling of “Wild Bill” Rodgers and loser Dave Lebredt featured the game along with three smart double plays. Outfielder Dubois of the vanquished Argos, with three singles, was the tilt’s top hitter. Playing-manager Casey Moroschan doubled and singled for the victors.
Rodgers (W) and Van Vliet
Lebredt (L) and Kerr
(June 5) With big right-hander Swainey Swainson twirling a three-hitter and punching out six, Champs doubled the Argos 4 to 2. Playing-manager Andy Andreen, shortstop Del Canning and outfielder Scott each registered a brace of safeties for the Hotelmen with a triple part of Scott’s sum of swats and a two-bagger included in Canning’s total.
Swainson (W) and Andreen
Slominski (L) and Kerr
(June 7) Champs Hotel, defending champions, took a well-deserved 9 to 4 verdict from the Balmorals to move into a first-place tie with their victims in the early standings. It was a matter of letting the opposition run wild in the first three rounds that spelled the downfall of the Bals. Starting heaver Cliff Quest couldn’t find the plate with his offerings and had to be derricked. Winning hurler Pete Dominas went the distance and was, at no time, in major peril.
Dominas (W) and Leigh
Quest (L), Hogg and Van Vliet
(June 14) The Balmorals whitewashed Champs 11 to 0 to move a full game in front of their prey in the Northside League standings. “Wild Bill” Rodgers, on the hillock for the Restaurateurs, spun a six-hitter, fanned six and allowed two free passes. Pacing the 16-hit offensive attack of the Bals against losing chucker Swainey Swainson was outfielder Johnny Stoyand who registered a double and two singles. Stinging the pill for triple and a double was Webb Bird while playing-skipper Casey Moroschan followed with a brace of two-baggers.
Rodgers (W) and Van Vliet
Swainson (L) and Andreen
(June 21) With payback on their agenda after a severe pasting a week ago, Champs downed the Balmorals 11 to 8 to once again gain a share of top spot in the Northside loop. In arrears 8 - 7 after five heavy-hitting rounds of play, the Hotelmen took charge of things from then on, outs coring the Bals 4 - 0 over the final four frames. Errors proved costly to the Cafemen who booted the ball eight times. Short a pair of players to begin the match, the Innkeepers borrowed Bill Rodgers and James Thorburn from the Eatery Gang, the generous gesture coming back to haunt the Balmorals as Rodgers co-starred with Johnny Stoyand of the losers as batting stars of the evening, each stroking three singles. Cliff Hogg of the vanquished nine continued to shine in the power department, pasting the apple for a brace of doubles.
Swainson (W) and Andreen
Cottingham (L) and Van Vliet
(June 24) Clipping the Argos 7 to 5, the Balmorals regained sole possession of the top rung on the Northside league ladder. The game resolved itself into a fine pitching matchup between winning heaver “Lefty” Shave and Dave Lebredt of the winless Boatmen. Five errors contributed to the downfall of the tail-enders.
Lebredt (L) and Kerr
Shave (W) and Van Vliet
(June 28) The Balmoral baseballers stretched their hold at the head of the Northside League by defeating Champs 6 to 2. The Restaurateurs iced the verdict in the fourth frame, sending four runners across the dish as Johnny Stoyand ripped a two-RBI single and Casey Moroschan singled home Stoyand. Moroschan, after stealing second and third base, plated an additional insurance tally during an out. Webb Bird copped the pitching win over Swainey Swainson, the latter’s support afield paling in comparison to that received by his mound opponent.
Bird (W) and xxx
Swainson (L) and xxx
STANDINGS W L Pct.
Balmorals 5 2 .714
Champs 3 3 .500
Argos 0 3 .000
(July 3) With neither the Argos nor the Balmorals having a quorum of players appear at Park de Young, a few paying patrons were recruited from the stands and an exhibition tussle ensued.
(July 5) The executive of the Northside Baseball League, citing the mockery of June 3, suspended operations for the season.
(August 31 – September 4) 1929 PROVINCIAL SENIOR FINALS (Moose Jaw St. Joseph’s vs Regina Balmorals)
(August 31) The first two games of the Leader Cup series ended in a split. Playing in Moose Jaw, the hometown St. Joseph's aggregation edged the Regina Balmorals 5 to 4 in the first game of a double-bill but dropped the second encounter to the Reginans by a 3 to 1 count. Elmer "Lefty" White hit a home run and pitched Moose Jaw to victory in the opener. The homesters had 11 hits off loser Cliff Hogg. Shortstop Johnny Dawson of the Saints led all swatters with a trio of one-baggers and swiped a pair of bases for good measure.
Hogg (L) and Van Vliet
White (W) and Cousins
In the twilight affair, cut short to six innings because of darkness, Regina's Cliff Hogg stretched his mound work to 13 consecutive innings before giving way to "Wild Bill" Rodgers, who toiled the final two frames. The Bals were never behind in this contest and out-hit their hosts 5 to 2. Outfielder Johnny Stoyand of the Bals was the only player to register two base hits.
Hogg (W), Rodgers (5) and Van Vliet
L. Mapes (L) and Cousins
(September 2) Games three and four of the provincial final were divided in contests played at Regina's Park de Young. The Regina Balmorals jumped into a two games to one series' lead by winning the matinee game of a Labour Day twin-bill, dropping the Mill City crew 9 to 6. Moose Jaw responded with a 4 to 2 triumph in the nightcap, coming from behind to score all four of their runs in the ninth. In the opener, both teams pounded the ball freely, each winding up with 11 base raps, as Regina's Bill Rodgers, with 8 strikeouts, hung on to take the hurling win over L. Mapes of the St. Joseph's nine. A four-run seventh-inning put the Balmorals in front to stay. Shortstop R. Hepburn of the Bals was the game's top hitter, stroking a pair of doubles plus a single. Moose Jaw's Danny McKenna also had three base knocks, one of which went for two bases.
L. Mapes (L) and Cousins
Rodgers (W) and Van Vliet
Facing elimination in the best-of-five series and trailing in the do-or-die second game of the double-dip, the Saints got to complete game loser Cliff Hogg for a last-at-bat quartet of tallies and lived to breathe another day. Elmer "Lefty" White picked up his second mound win of the series, tossing a five-hitter. Regina catcher E. Van Vliet was the only player on either club to garner two hits.
White (W) and Cousins
Hogg (L) and Van Vliet
(September 4) In less-than-ideal weather conditions at Park de Young, the Regina Balmorals won the senior amateur baseball championship of Saskatchewan when the took the visiting Moose Jaw St. Joseph's into camp by a convincing score of 7 to 0 in the rubber game of their playoff series. They thus take into their possession the Leader trophy. Del Cottingham pitched for the Reginans and had little trouble in keeping the Mill citizens at bay. "Lefty" White, on the mound for the Saints, was far from the form that had carried him to victory in games one and four, while his teammates failed to make things any better by their weak willow-wielding at the platter. The Bals struck for braces of runs in each of the second, third and fourth frames as the game was essentially over at that point.
White (L) and Cousins
Cottingham (W) and Van Vliet
SENIOR-LEVEL BASEBALL IN SASKATOON
Although four separate senior amateur baseball clubs existed in the Hub City in 1929, they did not join forces as a league but, instead, played independently in exhibition games, often against one another.
The spring of 1929 began with two teams, one called the Quakers and the other referred to as the All-Stars, playing head-to-head contests. As the season progressed, the frequency of appearances by these two, particularly the Quakers, began to wane and another pair of intra-city senior amateur aggregations, the Monarchs and General Motors, picked up the slack and kept the diamond at Cairns Field busy. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for a single player to wind up in the line-up of more than one team over the course of the summer. None of the quartet of Saskatoon senior clubs made a challenge to play a southern representative for the 1929 provincial crown.
All-Stars
General Motors
Monarchs
Quakers :
(May 31) Coming from behind to chase six runs across in the seventh stanza, Cory defeated the Saskatoon All-Stars 6 to 5. With several Hub City players on their roster, the Cory nine rode the hurling of veteran Jerry Cummings to annex the win. Cummings fanned nine while losing chucker Alf Bennett whiffed three. Cummings clubbed a triple and single in support of his mound effort.
Cummings (W) and W. Johnson
Bennett (L) and J. Johnson
(June 7) Avenging an earlier loss, the Saskatoon All-Stars trimmed Cory 25 to 11 in a slugfest. Hank Hilldrup garnered five hits for Cory, including a home run and triple. Joe Johnson and “Pee Wee” Smith launched four-baggers for the winners while shortstop Cherry and outfielder Goodman joined Hilldrup in slamming round-trippers for the losers.
Postlewaite (W) and J. Johnson
Cummings (L), Hilldrup (3) and W. Johnson
(June 10) Bruno’s classy aggregation of baseballers split the proceeds of a three-team twin-bill, hammering the Saskatoon Quakers 10 to 0 before dropping a narrow 3 to 2 nightcap decision to the Saskatoon All-Stars. A. Weber had three hits for Bruno in the opener.
F. Tegenkamp (W) and Hofbauer
Bennett (L), Goodman (4) and Robertson
The Stars needed a deuce in the last-half of the ninth inning to salvage the win in the evening game. A RBI-triple by flychaser Goodman and a dropped fly ball accounted for the tying and winning tallies.
J. Weber (L) and Hofbauer
Roseborough (W) and Aitkenhead
(June 12) The young Saskatoon Quaker balltossers fell twice to the mighty Broderick squad, dropping a one-sided 14 to 1 decision in the afternoon before losing 3 to 0 in a five-inning evening encounter.
(June 15) The newly organized General Motors team proved little opposition for the veteran All-Stars in their exhibition game at Cairns Field. The Stars pounded the offerings of two G.M. pitchers to all corners of the lot and walked off the diamond with an easy 19 to 5 victory. Ray Watkins was the leading hitter for the winners with three base knocks, one of which was a home run.
Walsh (L), Thomas (5) and Morban
Roseborough (W) and Downie
(July 6) A sharp single by outfielder Sam Carter in the eighth inning spoiled a no-hit, no-run bid by Alf Bennett at Cairns Field in which the All-Stars blanked the Monarchs 7 to 0 in a clash of independent Saskatoon senior squads. Bennett, with 13 strikeouts to his credit, easily won the mound verdict against fellow portsider Fred Cuff who was nicked for a dozen base knocks including a double and two singles by Sid Robinson and a triad of one-baggers by “Hobb” Wilson.
Bennett (W) and Downey
Cuff (L) and Postlewaite
(July 10) A five-run rally in the top-of-the-eighth episode fell one run short as the All-Stars hung on to defeat the Monarchs 11 to 10 at Cairns Field. Darkness prevented any ninth-inning attempt at scoring the equalizer. Both teams clouted the horsehide for ten safeties. Hitting honors went to Archie Birney of the Monarchs who collected a double and two singles.
Fletcher (L) and Morban
Rogers (W), Robinson (4) and Downie
(July 13) The All-Stars once again succeeded in downing the Monarchs in an all-Saskatoon battle, this time annexing a 12 to 9 victory in a tussle limited to 5-1/2 innings because of darkness. “Pee Wee” Smith, who came on as a reliever after the Monarchs had grabbed a substantial lead in the third round, hung on to cop the knoll triumph. With the hickory, he helped his cause by scorching a pair of doubles.
Cuff (L) and Morban
Bidgood, Smith (W) (3) and Downie, Johnson
(July 17) The General Motors nine surprised the Monarchs by coping a 6 to 1 verdict. Bill Wilson made his debut in the Saskatoon hurling circles, spinning a six-hitter for the win. Young Jack Ritchie had a good evening at the plate for the GM. nine, stroking three singles, the last of which drove in two runs.
W. Wilson (W) and Downie
Postlewaite (L), Kearns (7) and Morban
(July 22 – 27) Saskatoon Exhibition week tournament
(August 2) With winning chucker Walsh fashioning a three-hitter, the General Motors aggregation walked off with a decisive 10 to 2 victory over the Monarchs. The Motormen clubbed the offerings of losing twirler Cec Bennett for a eleven hits including two singles apiece by Joe Johnson, Hub Dafoe and H. Taylor. Garnering two of the three safeties acquired by the losers was Len Talbot who rapped a double and a one-bagger.
Fletcher (L) and Morban
Walsh (W) and Johnson
(August 5) The Monarchs turned the tables on their rivals, the General Motors contingent of balltossers, when they handed them a 12 to 1 pasting at Cairns Field. The Kingly Crew clinched the verdict in the second stanza when they chases nine tallies across the platter. Southpaw Fred Cuff limited the Generals to three base raps, all singles. First baseman Charlie Kearns of the victors was best with the bat in this contest, drilling three singles.
Cuff (W) and Loken
Wilson (L) and Johnson
(August 7) The Monarchs, with “Pee Wee” Smith doing the chucking, nosed out the rival General Motors nine 6 to 5 at Cairns Field.
Smith (W) and Loken
Walsh (L) and Johnson
(August 17) Alf Bennett scattered five hits in pitching the Monarchs to an easy 4 to 0 victory over Asquith’s tournament baseball team. Carl Mohr, veteran spitball artist, was the loser. Charlie Kearns had a double and single for the victorious Kingly Crew.
C. Mohr (L) and Talbot
A. Bennett (W) and Loken
(August 13) The Leader-Post of Regina carried a report from Sceptre that the local team had just returned from a barnstroming tour of the "north country" to close out the baseball season. The report claimed Sceptre had won 31 of 38 games. They lost 5 and tied 2. Out of 13 tournaments played, Sceptre was in the money in every one, taking the top prize in ten of them.
OTHER SK LEAGUES/TEAMS/ROSTERS
MOOSE JAW CITY LEAGUE
Gray Campbell Cats
Malden's Colts
Moose Jaw St. Joseph's
SASKATOON CHURCH INTERMEDIATE BASEBALL LEAGUE
HilltopsWesley
Westminster
MOOSE MOUNTAIN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Arcola Juniors
Carlyle
Kisbey Juniors .
Willmar
C.N. & C.P. BASEBALL LEAGUE
Crestwynd
Dunkirk
Expanse
Mayberry :
Mitchellton
Spring Valley .
W.S.T. BASEBALL LEAGUE
Springside
Theodore
Willowbrook
FINAL STANDINGS W L T Pct.
Springside 5 2 1 .714
Willowbrook 5 2 1 .714
Theodore 1 7 0 .125
SK LEAGUE - NAME UNKNOWN
Denholm
Maymont
Ruddell :
SK LEAGUE - NAME UNKNOWN
Central Butte
Lawson
Riverhurst
Tugaske
REGINA JUNIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE
Cubs
Falcons *
Shamrocks **
Wheat Pool
* first-half winners
** second-half winners
FINALS
(August 28) The Shamrocks beat the Falcons 16 to 4 to annex the Regina Junior Baseball League championship for 1929. After dropping the opening-game of the best-of-five series, the Irish reeled off three consecutive wins over the first-half winners to claim the title. Right from the start of the fourth and final game, it was evident that the Shamrocks were going to walk away with the verdict. Winning hurler Harvey Stirrett tamed the Birds on four hits. Heading the 12-hit attack of the victors were catcher Art Sihvon and keystone sacker Mac Ferguson who both ripped three safeties.
Diewold (L), Hoffart (5) and Ast
Stirrett (W) and Sihvon