Western Canada Baseball 1936
1936 Stats    
1936 Rosters
1936 Snapshots   
1936 Tournaments / Exhibitions 
1936 Kansas City Monarchs
       
SASKATCHEWAN
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
There was no formal league in 1936.  Instead, the teams performed in exhibition games before engaging in playoffs.
1936 Game Reports   
       
PRINCE ALBERT & DISTRICT LEAGUE
C.N.R., Canucks, Elks, Legion, South Prince Albert
       
GARRY LEAGUE 
Melville, Springside, Willowbrook, Yorkton
       
NORTHEASTERN SASKATCHEWAN   Buchanan, Canora, Hyas, Kamsack, Norquay, Pelly, Stenen, Sturgis
1936 Saskatchewan Game Reports   
1936 Saskatchewan Photo Gallery   
1936 Broderick  
       
ALBERTA
NORTHERN ALBERTA LEAGUE

Calgary Mustangs, Edmonton Cardinals, Edmonton Shastas, Ponoka Panthers, Wetaskiwin Indians
       
SOUTHERN ALBERTA SEMI-PRO LEAGUE
Calgary Mustangs, Lethbridge Bears, Medicine Hat Royals
       
RED DEER VALLEY LEAGUE
Delia, Drumheller, East Coulee, Hanna
       
FOOTHILLS BASEBALL LEAGUE
 Arrowwood Panthers, Champion, Claresholm Huskies, Nanton, Stavely, Vulcan
       
SOUTHERN ALBERTA INTERMEDIATE LEAGUE
Magrath, New Dayton, Raymond, Stirling, Taber: 
1936 Alberta Photo Gallery  
1936 Alberta Game Reports 
1936 Lethbridge Miners
 
       
MANITOBA    
1936 Manitoba Snapshots   
1936 Manitoba Game Reports   
       
BRITISH COLUMBIA
VANCOUVER SENIOR LEAGUE

Arnold & Quigley, Arrows, Athletics, UDL
       
VANCOUVER TERMINAL LEAGUE 
Chilliwack Cherries, Hastings Athletic Club, Imperial Oil Company (IOCO), Lowney’s Chocolate, Shores’ Jewelers
       
VANCOUVER COMMERCIAL LEAGUE 
Arnold & Quigley Cubs, Asahis, Forsts, Grant Gunn, Patricias
       
DEWDNEY TRIANGLE LEAGUE 
Coquitlam, Hammond, Port Moody
       
DELTA INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
Langley
       
NORTH SHORE LEAGUE
North Vancouver
       
CHEMAINUS LEAGUE 
Chemainus Green Lanterns, Longshoremen, McBrides
       
SOUTHERN OKANAGAN LEAGUE
Kelowna, Oliver, Peachland, Penticton, Rutland, Summerland
       
OKANOGAN VALLEY LEAGUE
Brewster WA, Bridgeport WA, Grand Coulee WA, Malott WA, Okanogan WA, Omak WA, Oroville WA, Penticton
       
CENTRAL OKANAGAN LEAGUE
Kelowna Red Sox, Oyama, Rutland Adanacs, Rutland Maroons, Winfield
       
INTERIOR LEAGUE
Kamloops, Revelstoke Indians, Salmon Arm, Vernon
       
CROW'S NEST PASS LEAGUE 
Blairmore, Coleman, Hillcrest, Nalal-Michel
       
WEST BOUNDARY LEAGUE
Beaverdell, Greenwood, Midway

1936 BC Photo Gallery   
1936 Vancouver Game Reports   
1936 BC Interior Game Reports 
1936 Snapshots  
1936 Trail  
1936 Burton   
1936 Summerland Hinode    
1936 Beaverdell  
1936 Chemainus Green Lanterns 

 
ONTARIO
1936 London Winery      
 
MARITIME BASEBALL   
1936 Game Reports   
       
WASHINGTON
EASTERN WASHINGTON LEAGUE

Deer Park, Medical Lake, Ritzville, Spokane Silver Loaf, Spokane Sons of Italy, Trail
     
       
       

 

 

1936,  THE  YEAR  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  LEAGUE'S   
FORCED  HIATUS
    

Following a string of five successful seasons, the South Saskatchewan Baseball League encountered its most serious setback entering the spring of 1936.

From the camps of both the Moose Jaw entry and the Regina Nationals stemmed a desire to adandon a structured league to compete as independent clubs, free to arrange their own schedules primarily with touring American opposition. The idea was to bolster their respective clubs to the standard of the touring teams by retaining their core players, signing more imports and bringing in Canadian talent from other areas. In previous seasons, crowds had tended to increase for the few games in which top-notch travelling teams appeared. Why wouldn't a steady diet of barnstorming teams continue to sustain fan interest and generate increased gate receipts?

The Nationals went so far as to have the floodlights moved from their previous home diamond at the Regina exhibition grounds to Park de Young which was to be given a major face-lift and become their new home.

The smaller communities from the 1935 circuit, Weyburn and Estevan, still maintained an interest in an inter-city league but when the Regina Windsors bowed out of the picture, they were left abandoned to fend for themselves and the Southern League was left with a totally unexpected break in continuity. 

The lofty expectations of the Moose Jaw club, renamed the Athletics, were never remotely close to being achieved. Their roster had up to nine imports at one point as the clubhouse seemed to have a revolving door. It didn't help when at least two of the touring coloured teams reneged on their series' commitment after management of the A's had spent freely to promote the games.

Fan interest just wasn't there and, as the bills began to pile up, a reshuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic ensued. The mercenaries, one by one, were given their releases and, in mid-July, the club officially folded. 

The bad experience in Moose Jaw seemed to have one positive result, that being the recognition that fans in the Mill City had, over the years, a solid track record of supporting an organized league. Furthermore, they had adamantly voiced their dissatisfaction with the lack of Moose Jaw blood on the 1936 team.

The Regina Nationals experienced mixed results as an unaffiliated ball club. Attendance figures were average and since they did not go overboard in bringing in outsiders to the extent that Moose Jaw had, they were able to keep their head above water on a financial level. Where they seemed to suffer the most was in their prolonged lack of success against the very best of the tourists.

Playing against superior opposition did help in terms of preparing them for the provincial senior playoffs but, adversely, it tended to sap their confidence for periods of time, something which was not always easy to recoup.

Overall, the 1936 experiment was a sobering experience from which a more realistic outlook emerged.


It was a year in which the tiny community of Broadview, Saskatchewan, went big time with baseball, importing American stars such as Gene Bremmer to form an integrated club long before Jackie Robinson came along. There seemed to be very few problems with integrated teams on the prairies and in the northern states (Bismarck, North Dakota formed a powerful integrated club in 1935 featuring Satchel Paige).

See Daniel "Bernie" Wyatt's story on the Broadview Buffaloes.


John LillyBill DaoustIn Alberta fans had an opportunity to see a pair of college stars from the United States and a former major leaguer.

Catcher John Lilly (far left) and left-handed pitcher Bill "Lefty" Daoust (left) came to Alberta baseball from the University of California. Daoust pitched for the Calgary Mustangs while Lilly played for both Calgary and Lethbridge.

Ike DavisFormer major leaguer Ike Davis (left) was the playing manager of the Medicine Hat Royals of the Southern Alberta League. When the Royals folded, he moved on to the Ponoka Panthers. The 5'7", 140 pound shortstop had headed up the Wetaskiwin Braves in Southern Alberta in 1935.

Davis had one full season in the majors as shortstop for the Chicago White Sox in 1925. He had cups of coffee with Washington in 1919 and the White Sox in 1924. He also had experience in the International League, the American Association and the Pacific Coast League. He was 41 when he took over the reins in Medicine Hat.


Prairie ball had its characters.

Harry Cohen of the Army and Navy had teams called the Cardinals, and he bolstered one of them by offering slugging outfielder, Pete McCready, employment in the stockroom. Once, when Harry found Pete asleep on the job, Pete awoke with a perfect rationale for his nap. "You wouldn't want me to be tired out for the game, would you, Mr. Cohen?".  The game wasn't for two days but Pete did have a point.

The fans came down on Sundays to see Pete hit for extra bases at dramatic moments. They also came to see him do his non-baseball specialties, such as climbing the screen. If Pete were to end an inning with a sensational catch in the outfield, he might come dashing in across the diamond, brush past Lefty Ducey as he bent to dust the plate, charge the backstop, grab two fistfuls of wire screening, and to up the screen like the monkey at the Borden Park Zoo. (Best Edmonton Stories Author Cashman, Anthony Walcott)