(April 1) Johnny Watterson, Kentville shortstop from 1947 through 1949, received his release from the Wildcats in order to serve as player-coach for the H&D League Stellarton Albions. A product of the University of New Hampshire, Watterson came to Nova Scotia along with other UNH ballplayers Soc Bobotas, Hal Burby, Emil Krupa and longtime New Hampshire coach Hank Swasey in 1947. Watterson had hoped to take some of his teammates with him to Stellarton, but Kentville club president Dr. J.P. McGrath was not willing to give him free reign.
Most of the players in Kentville were under the control of the Brooklyn organization and the Dodgers were not willing release them with two exceptions: Paul O’Neil, a veteran catcher who had played a number of years in the minors was no longer a prospect, and second-baseman Tom Jones from Villanova. Kentville’s lineup was comprised almost exclusively of imports from the United States. Watterson followed the same strategy when he took over the helm at Stellarton.
(April 3) The H&D League will open the 1950 with six teams: Stellarton, Dartmouth, Halifax, Kentville, Truro and Liverpool, and for the first time in a couple of years will be the only senior circuit on the mainland of the province. The Central League which operated from 1947 through 1949 has folded. In Cape Breton, the Colliery League operated with a mixture of locals and an import limit of nine per team.
The newly revamped Maine-New Brunswick League was also going the import route. Considered the equal of most Class C leagues in the United States, this border league had franchises in Houlton, Presque Isle, Edmundston and Grand Falls. Elsewhere, In the senior New Brunswick and York County leagues, Fredericton, Moncton, Saint John, Springhill and McAdam all will operate with import-dominated rosters.
(April 7) The Bangor Daily News reported that Manny McIntyre, a star on the diamond and on the ice, intended to join the Presque Isle Indians of the Maine-New Brunswick League. McIntyre played shortstop and hit .335 for the Fredericton Capitols of the New Brunswick League in 1949, helping the Caps win the New Brunswick senior baseball crown. McIntyre eventually would chose to suit up with the Waterloo Tigers of the Ontario Intercounty League rather than going to Presque Isle, and finished the season hitting .279 in 190 at bats. Other Intercounty League stars Freddie Thomas (.305), Jim Heximer (.273) and Red Kane (.259) were veterans of Maritime baseball during and after the War as were Ken McFadden and Wacky McMahon of the London Majors.
(May 31) Halifax Shipyards edged Moncton Legionnaires 4-3 in a well-played game at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax. Dorchester, N.B. native Billy Harris pitched well for the visitors scattering six hits over eight innings. Third-baseman Dick Bohner, who began the season in Halifax, left the club to play instead in the Vermont Northern League.
(June 3) Hank Swasey, who recently completed twenty years as head baseball coach at the University of New Hampshire and spent the summers of 1948 and 1949 at the helm of the Kentville Wildcats, has been signed as chief northern New England and Maritime scout for the Chicago White Sox. While with the Wildcats he served as scout for both the Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers.
(June 7) Pitcher Jerry Levinson, who went 6 and 3 with a starry 1.82 ERA with the Halifax Capitals in 1949, signed with the Boston Braves and was assigned to Hagerstown of the Interstate League. The Boston College star had a successful season in 1950 going 17-9 with a 2.82 ERA in his first year in Organized Baseball.
(June 22) The Bangor Daily News noted that “despite a packed Maine-New Brunswick League schedule this week, the Presque Isle Indians found room to book two of the stronger independent teams, the Fredericton Capitols and Brooklyn’s Cuban All-Stars.” Both games will be played under the lights. The Cubans were also scheduled to play the Houlton Collegians.
(June 25) The Edmundston Republicans and Presque Isle Indians battled the equivalent of nearly two full games this afternoon in what was the longest game of the year in the Maine-New Brunswick League. The Republicans pushed across a single run in the 17th inning to edge the visitors from Maine 4-3. DiNardo started on the mound for Edmundston, gave way to Ed Newinski in the fifth, and Johnson finished the game picking up the victory. Jimmy Keefe started for Presque Isle and lasted seven innings. Left-hander Andy McAuliffe went to the mound in the eighth and was tagged with the loss. Davenport of Edmundston and Osgood of Presque Isle each banged out doubles, the only extra base hits in a finely pitched contest.
Presque Isle 100 002 000 000 00 - 3
Edmundston 012 000 000 000 01 - 4
Keefe, McAuliffe (8) and Wales
Dinardo, Newinski (5) Johnson (9) and Basile
(June 26) Two Maine-New Brunswick League players were fined $10 each by the league. Pitcher Ralph Hymans of Grand Falls was fined for using abusive language to an umpire, and Andrew Hershock of Edmunston for unnecessarily protesting a called strike.
Presque Isle signed hard-hitting outfielder Joe Frechette, a star of the Holy Cross Crusaders who played last year for Fort Fairfield in the Aroostock County League.
(July 3) The Brooklyn Dodgers extended their search for talent into Nova Scotia with tryout camps in Kentville on July 3 and 4 and in Halifax on the three succeeding days. John “Whitey” Piurek, Brooklyn scout, is handling the tryouts along with New England and Maritime scout “Oakie” O’Connor and Dick Foley. Piurek was disappointed that despite a pool of players with the ability to play Organized Baseball, many were taking good jobs in industry and the professions while playing semipro ball in their local communities. The Dodgers already had strong connections with baseball in the Maritimes, stocking teams in Edmundston, Amherst and Kentville. Emerson Dickman, former Boston Red Sox pitcher and coach at Princeton was sent by the Dodgers to coach of the Kentville Wildcats, replacing the venerable Hank Swasey who held the coaching job for the previous couple of years.
(August 16) Douglas Petrie, outfielder and relief pitcher with the New Waterford Dodgers of the Cape Breton Colliery League, was killed in a head-on collision on the Sydney-New Waterford highway.
(August 18) Dodger scout Bill “Oakie” O’Connor invited six players from the Maine-New Brunswick league to go to Brooklyn after the season for tryouts with the big league organization. The six are Andy McAuliffe (Presque isle), Johnny Catallo and Ralph Manfridi (Edmundston), Fred Woelfle and Ed Redmond, (Grand Falls), and Dick Cormier (Houlton).
(August 19) The Presque Isle Indians clinched the Maine-New Brunswick League championship. The season was a tight one. It began as a fight between the Indians and the Edmundston Republicans, but Grand Falls and Houlton emerged as serious contenders after that. The Indians were a game and a half back in second place with five games to go, but won four of its remaining games to nab the crown. Johnny Moore, Andy McAuliffe and Jimmy Keefe went the route in four of the games. Keefe was especially brilliant, turning in two outstanding performances against the Grand Falls Cataracts.
(August 26) The rampaging Presque Isle Indians, fresh from three straight victories over Houlton in the first round of the Maine-New Brunswick League playoffs, will open a best four out of seven game series against the Grand Falls Cataracts tonight. Jimmy Keefe, the team’s number one pitcher with a 10-2 record in the regular season, will start against Grand Falls.
(September 1) The Presque Isle Indians came up with two runs in the top of the 14th inning to defeat Grand Falls 4-3 giving them a two to one league in the Governor’s Cup championship series. Presque Isle subsequently went on to capture the league trophy.
Young Billy Harris led Moncton to a 6-1 victory over Black’s Harbour. Harris spun a three-hitter getting the best of Duke University star Joe Lewis in the process.
(September 8) Kentville defeated Halifax Shipyards 8-5 in the decisive game of the seven game semi-final H&D League playoff series. Harry Brightman of Washington, D.C., was the winning pitcher. Brightman won two other games in the playoffs and ended the season with a record of 14-2. He prepped at Randolph-Macon Academy and plays at Princeton under Wildcat coach Emerson Dickman. The series took eight games to decide since the sixth game ended in a thirteen inning 2-2 tie. In the other semi-final series the Stellarton Albions and Dartmouth Arrows also took eight games before Dartmouth clinched a berth in the finals.
(September 17) Springhill’s Herbie McLeod, who for the past couple of years split his baseball season between Nova Scotia and Florida, was selected as the All-Star right-fielder in the Florida State League. McLeod hit .354 in 520 at bats for Deland. According to his manager, former big leaguer Dipsy Mott, McLeod has no weaknesses as a hitter. Despite his small stature at 5’6’’ and 155 pounds, “he can hit anybody in either the American or National League”, said Mott,
(September 19) In the sixth and deciding game of the H&D League championship series Dartmouth knocked off Kentville 3-2 behind Johnny Duarte’s efficient pitching performance. Future major leaguer Zeke Bella and first-baseman Gerry Cline both collected two hits for the winners. Unfortunately for Kentville, the Wildcats were seriously depleted by the loss of many of its collegians who had returned to their universities south of the border.
(September 20) Although it had initially been decided to have a provincial championship series pitting the H&D League champions against the winner of the Cape Breton Colliery League, the length of the H&D League playoffs made this impossible. As a result, no provincial or Maritime champion would be crowned this year.
Hobbled by defections as its import collegians returned to campus, Black’s Harbour opted out of the final series against Moncton. Cape Breton Colliery League champion Glace Bay Miners, were led by the power hitting of Duke University star Johnny Carroll, and outfielder Bud Dimott. The Miners then went on to sweep a three-game series against Moncton, including an opening game victory over Moncton ace Billy Harris. Harris would sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the season and had a subsequent twelve-year professional career with stints in the big leagues in 1957 and 1959. Harris was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.
HALIFAX / MARITIMES 1951
(April 15) Arthur “Doc” Herman, a native of the Annapolis Valley who performed for the Middleton Cardinals for a few years in the postwar era, was pitching for Sanford of the Florida State League. In his initial start he pitched a 2 hitter over 7 2/3 innings and went one for two at the plate slashing a triple into the gap.
(April 23) Despite financial setbacks during the 1950 season, the Maine-New Brunswick League will open with five teams this year. The classy loop, unofficially rated as high as Class C baseball, unanimously voted to include the Fredericton Capitols. Three teams, Fredericton, Edmunston and Grand Falls, are from north of the border, and Presque Isle and Houlton, Maine round out the league. The loop voted down an application from Moncton because of long travel distances and increased expenses.
(May 16) According to the New Glasgow Evening News, the H&D League Truro Bearcats were assembling a strong team and holding tryouts throughout New England. The hopefuls are scheduled to play two exhibition matches in Lynn, Massachusetts on the weekend of May 26-27. Coach Ed Willis and St) Louis Cardinals scout Harry Greenaway were putting the team together) Players vying for the chance to come north include pitcher Darrel Custer, infielders Manny Senerchia, Woody Stone, Ted Barton, former big leaguer Al Naples, and outfielders Lou Pollock and Mike Corcoran. Others in camp included Steve Currie, Sam Alamio, Steve Cultidal, Arnie Quint and Ted Oisel. Senerchia, who played in 1948 with Middleton and struggled offensively, did not make the cut. He would play instead in the Vermont Northern League where he hit an anemic .205 during the 1951 season. In 1952 he was in the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
(May 22) The New Glasgow Evening News advised local Stellarton players Syd Roy, Harry Reekie and John “Brother” MacDonald to crank up their training so they can hold their own against the club’s imports or they might be riding the bench. The American boys will all be in shape. Many of the 1951 Albions were members of the Wake Forest University Deacons who won the silver medal at the Pan-American games as the United States representative.
(May 26) H&D League play opened officially on May 26 as the Halifax Capitals shut out the Dartmouth Arrows 6-0.
(May 29) The Stellarton Albions are seeking three self-contained apartments in either Stellarton, Westville or New Glasgow for American players and their families. Bill Brooks, a veteran minor leaguer, has replaced Johnny Watterson as playing coach, and was bringing a number of players with him from the Carolinas. A Wake Forest graduate Brooks was a former teammate of Watterson’s with the Keene Blue Jays in the Vermont Northern League.
(June 9) Nova Scotia Intermediate champions Clark’s Harbour Clover Leafs opened their Shelburne County baseball season at home with an impressive 9-2 win over the Lockeport Sea Caps. Import newcomers Mike Lombardi of Connecticut and Ruffin Pothier were on the Clover Leafs roster but Dick Worthley of Quincy Mass. left the club to play with Liverpool in the H&D League.
(June 10) Injuries are affecting the Dartmouth Arrows and Halifax Capitals in the early going. Jackie Patterson of the Arrows has bursitis of the shoulder and will be out for six weeks, while pitcher Mort Rothman suffered an elbow injury against Truro in his league debut and is expected to miss the entire season. Rothman pitched effective ball for three and two-third innings until the injury.
(June 11) Bill Bergeron, star shortstop with Glace Bay of the Colliery League, is reported headed for Stellarton in the H&D League. Earlier in the season the Halifax Capitals had tried unsuccessfully to sign the Duke University graduate along with Dominion’s Geno Scattalone, Bergeron’s double-play partner in Glace Bay. Bergeron eventually signed with Dartmouth Arrows since Stellarton’s infield was set with Kent “Baby” Rogers at second, Gair Allie at shortstop, Walter “Huck” Keany at third base.
Dartmouth dismissed coach Dexter “Dusty” Morgan who protested his release in a letter to the H&D League executive. The players initially signed by Morgan have not measured up to the standard of players from the past couple of years such as Zeke Bella, Jim Heller, Tom Dulmage and Jerry Cline.
The Truro Bearcats, who have lost only one game this season, won two games over the weekend defeating Halifax 9-1 and Dartmouth 3-1. Duke University’s Bob “Dizzy” Davis was ineffective for Halifax, retiring after having been clouted for six hits and five runs in two innings. Darrell Custer on the mound for the Bearcats limited Dartmouth to five hits for their second weekend victory.
In Southern New Brunswick League action the Saint John Boosters defeated the Springhill Fencebusters 7-2. John Bagonzi struck out sixteen for Saint John, while Springhill’s Dick Kennefic fanned ten and drove in his club’s only two runs.
(June 12) Dartmouth won their second game of the season edging Halifax 2-0 behind local boy Warren Iceton’s three-hit complete game performance. Duke grad Bob “Dizzy” Davis pitched well in defeat, giving up only six hits. Both Darmouth runs were unearned.
Towering first-baseman Lonnie Davis, a veteran of the Negro League play, was handed his release by Dartmouth having gone 4 for 20 in the early goings of the H&D League.
(June 13) Brooks offered top prospect Billy Joe Davidson $300 per month to play with Stellarton. Davidson, whose father was a close friend of the Als manager, agreed to come north, but instead signed a pro contract with Cleveland that included a $120,000 signing bonus. Davidson’s college roommate, shortstop Gair Allie, was already in Stellarton having received the blessing of Pirates’ GM Branch Rickey who considered him a sure-fire major leaguer. Allie would eventually become the Pirates’ starting shortstop in 1954.
Longtime H&D Leaguer Irving “Peaches” Ruven, who had been signed to handle Dartmouth’s catching duties until regular Stu O’Brien arrived from New Hampshire, was released. It is unlikely that any other club would pick up Ruven since he officially retired as a player two seasons ago.
Stellarton Albions put Halifax ace Jack Halpin in the deep freeze last night and in the process convinced the equally chilled fans that they are the most powerful and best balanced H&D League club this season. The Als left Halpin reeling with a fourteen-hit attack that included a Gair Allie triple and four doubles for an 8-1 victory. In other games Dartmouth demolished Liverpool 9-0 and Truro knocked off Kentville 10-2.
(June 14) After a ninth inning rally gave Kentville Wildcats a 5-4 victory in the opener, the Liverpool Larrupers came back to take the nightcap 9-5. Right-hander Joe Ruyak from Penn State was the winner in afternoon tilt, while local boy Don Wharton was the victor in the second.
(June 15) First of the touring baseball clubs to appear in the province this season, the Georgia Chain Gang, will be at Stellarton tonight to play the Albions. Business manager Charlie Shea is a catcher who played for Hartford of the Eastern League for three seasons. Ray Bessome was a strikeout artist with Lynn and Wilkes-Barre and teammate of Jim Hegan Cleveland Indians catcher. Ex-major leaguers on the club are pitcher Ray Martin and outfielders Sam Gentile and Charley Osgood.
The Maine-New Brunswick League season is just fifteen days old, but teams are already doing things backward. Everybody has been performing better in away games rather than at home. Presque Isle has yet to win a game at home and the Grand Falls Cataracts have won five games on the road and lost four times at home. Johnny Catallo, who started the season with the Dodgers Newport News affiliate in the Piedmont League, was at third-base for Edmundston and contributed a home run to help secure a 7-2 victory over Houlton last night. Catallo went on to win the Maine-New Brunswick League batting title with a .345 average and eleven homers in 166 at bats.
(June 16) Two Stellarton Albions, Art Hoch and Gair Allie were at the top of the batting parade in early going. Hoch led the league with a .419 average, followed closely by teammate Allie at .412. Local star Buddy Condy, batting champion for the past three years was next at .371. Leroy Sires, former Duke University star led with four home runs, and home-brew Johnny Clark was the stolen base leader with four. Stellarton knocked off the visiting Georgia Chain Gang by a 6-0 score in exhibition play.
(June 19) Truro Bearcats snapped Stellarton’s nine-game winning streak yesterday, shutting out the Albions 3-0. Dick Averill shackled Albions with a four-hit job yesterday and now sports a 3-0 record. The Bearcats are scheduled to play the visiting Georgia Chain Gang. At Wanderers Grounds yesterday, Halifax knocked off the Georgians 6-4. In New Brunswick league play Springhill avenged an earlier defeat by the Saint John Boosters in a close 4-3 match. Springhill native Herbie McLeod led the winners at the plate with two hits. McLeod was an all-star right-fielder while playing with Deland in the Florida State League. In three seasons in Florida, 1949 to 1951 McLeod hit .353 in over 1000 at bats but when home in Nova Scotia he would suit up with the Fencebusters.
(June 20) Charlie Shea and the Georgia Chain Gang left last night for Edmundston, their next stop on the exhibition circuit. The Georgia Chain Gang leaves the province with a perfect record, three defeats in as many starts. They lost 6-0 to Stellarton, 6-4 to Halifax and 10-1 to the Truro Bearcats. The crowning indignity was last night at Truro when Bearcats second-baseman Bucky Main took to the mound and knocked off the tourists with the greatest of ease.
(June 21) Johnny Clark, fleet Halifax outfielder, pounded a homer into the center field stands last night, his second circuit clout of the season. Clark also had a single and stole a base as the Capitals blanked Truro 6-0. Jack Halpin scattered five hits on the way to a complete game shutout.
(June 22) Liverpool’s Billy Rice, home-brew centerfielder, singled in the first inning against Halifax to extend his hitting streak to fourteen games. The league record is twenty. Despite that, the Capitals rolled over the Liverpool Larrupers 8-3. Liverpool starter Norm Girard was clubbed for eight hits, including homers by Buddy Condy and Jack Halpin. Only other Liverpool natives on the Larrupers’ roster are Danny Seaman, Mac Bowers and Don Wharton.
(June 24) Lefty Jim Creegan, Presque Isle starter and University of West Virginia star, walked off the mound with fourteen strikeouts and a complete game 6-1 win over Houlton. One single by second baseman Chub Clark was all that kept Creegan from turning in a hitless performance. Hommell, on the mound for Houlton gave up seven hits and walked five. It was Creegan’s second straight one hit performance. Last week he shutout Edmundston allowing only a bunt single to Phil Cataldo.
(June 25) Halifax and District League Standings to date:
Won Lost Pct GBL
Stellarton 12 5 .706 ----
Truro 10 6 .625 1 ½
Kentville 7 7 .500 3 ½
Halifax 7 8 .467 4
Liverpool 6 10 .375 5 ½
Dartmouth 5 11 .313 6 ½
(June 29) The Springhill Fencebusters are running wild in the Southern New Brunswick Baseball League. Wednesday night they scored their seventh consecutive victory knocking off University of Michigan Ray Fisher’s Black’s Harbour club 6-2. Future big leaguer Dick “Turk” Farrell held the visitors to six hits. Ed Dobbins took the loss. This is the club that tried without success to get a birth in the H&D League. Numbered among the Busters’ victims is the independent semi-pro Moncton club which defeated the Halifax Capitals 4-3 in an exhibition game earlier this month.
Entering the game in a relief role with one out in the second, Ernie Goguen chalked up his third victory of the season as Liverpool downed Dartmouth 8-4. Goguen took over from lefty Frank McGee who found himself in hot water when catcher Stu O’Brien homered. Coach Bob Decker, a long-time minor leaguer in the Yankees organization, followed with a single. After McGee walked Joe Lay, coach Danny Seaman signaled for Goguen to take over on the mound.
(June 30) Joe Fulghum of the Albions was leading the league in batting at the end of June with a .385 average over 65 at bats. Leo Woods of Halifax followed at .371, Bob Fitzgerald at .365, and Buddy Condy at .347. Gair Allie and Art Hoch at .346 and .343 respectively gave Stellarton a powerful one-two-three punch led by Fulghum. Another Albion, Leroy Sires was the league’s home run leader with six and led the RBI race with 19. Truro’s Dick Averill at 5-0 and Don Woodlief of Stellarton 4-0 were leaders on the pitching front.
In Maine-New Brunswick League action, a base on balls to Francis McElroy in the ninth inning and Pat Abbruzzi’s double spoiled Dick Leposky’s bid for a shutout last night as the Presque Isle Indians defeated the Grand Falls 5-1. In Houlton the home-town Collegians edged Edmundston 4-3. Hommell took the win for Houlton over Ed Newinski of the Cataracts. Sherm Kinney and Pat Prould had two hits apiece for the winners.
(July 5) Buddy Condy, arguably the best player in the import dominated H&D League, went 5 for 5 as the Halifax Capitals drubbed the Liverpool Larrupers 8-2. Teammate Johnny Clark went three for six as the Caps accumulated 15 hits on the day. Notre Dame’s Tommy Bujnowski, a veteran of the Vermont Northern League hung up his fifth straight victory for the Caps.
(July 6) Dartmouth’s catcher Stu O’Brien suffered a serious injury to his throwing hand on a foul tip. So badly splintered was his little finger that it was feared for a time that it would be necessary to amputate the top joint. Brooklyn Dodger scouts Whitey Piurek and Bill O’Connor, who were in attendance checking on O’Brien and others, gave the Arrows a lead on a possible replacement. They also recommended that Dartmouth sign an outfielder and pitcher who had been talking to the Arrows by long distance phone. The outfielder is said to be a former $30,000 bonus player.
Springhill Fencebusters are making plans to drop out of the Southern New Brunswick League early next month and challenge for the Nova Scotian title. The Busters say their pitching staff of Art Kroeck, Dick Kennefic, “Turk” Farrell and native sons Len and Hilton Boss is superior to any mound corps in the H&D League.
(July 12) Frank Falter’s home run in the eighth with two on gave Springhill an 8-5 win over the visiting Moncton Legionnaires in the Nova Scotia mining town. George Hough and Len Boss shared the pitching duties for Springhill. Pistarino was on the mound for Moncton.
(July 14) Every club in the H&D League was angling for the services of third-sacker Huck Keany who came to Stellarton with Johnny Watterson in 1950, when it was announced that he was on the trading block. Both Watterson and Keany were from the University of New Hampshire. Last night club president Bob Munroe stated emphatically that Keany was not for sale, trade or release.
Newcomer Jim Shreffler of Cincinnati proved tonight that he has added power to the Black’s Harbour entry in the Southern New Brunswick League, banging out a long home run to lead the Brunswicks to a 3-0 victory over Springhill. Jay Schmidt of Long Island University scattered three hits winning over Dick Farrell who also gave up three hits but was plagued by bad defense. Outfielder Herbie McLeod was shifted to third base to shore up the infield, but committed four errors and will likely go back to his regular position in the future.
(July 15) Joe Fulghum continues to lead in the H&D League batting race with a .407 average in 108 at bats. Buddy Condy is breathing down his neck in second place with a .394 mark. Condy, who is prone to slow starts leapt from fourth to second over the last two weeks. Leroy Sires and Huck Keany are tied for the home run lead with seven. Condy sets the pace with 10 doubles and is tied with Don Russell of Truro with four triples. Tommy Bujnowski leads the pitching charts with a 6-0 record.
(July 17) The oldest baseball league in Nova Scotia is the Shelburne County League, and is considered just a step below the H&D League in talent. Three of the clubs are using imports. Defending champion Clark’s Harbour has six imports. Playing coach Art Donovan, now in his fourth season hails from Boston. When the most recent batting statistics were released the classy first-baseman Donovan was hitting .400. Third-baseman Tom Ruggiero is a native of Bristol, Rhode Island, shortstop Hugh Moore hails from Westport, Connecticut and Mike Lombardo at second base was from Stamford, Connecticut. Shelburne imports included Springfield College pitcher George Doherty from Corinth, N.Y. and, who sports a 6-0 record. Tom Pierce a one-time Kentville Wildcat from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine is leading the league with an outstanding .468 average. Pitcher Harry Brightman who stood most the the H&D League’s batters on their ears last season will join Kentville tomorrow.
Freddie Maguire, the former big-leaguer and Cape Breton Colliery League star and now Boston Red Sox scout has been watching games in the H&D League for more than a week. The Sox have signed a number of former H&D Leaguers into their minor league system including slugging first-baseman Dick Gernert, outfielder Jack Kaiser, second-baseman Art West and infielder Hal Buckwalter.
(July 19) Dick Kennefic was in rare form tonight striking out eleven batters as the Springhill Fencebusters shut out the Moncton Legionnaires 5-0 in Southern New Brunswick League action. Manager Nick Morris used two new players, Ed Willis formerly playing coach of the Truro Bearcats, and Ed Main who came with Morris lined up at shortstop. Bucky Main was still playing second base for the Bearcats.
(July 20) Johnny Forizs, a nineteen year old pitching sensation from Bridgeport, Connecticut joined the Kentville Wildcats. To make room the Wildcats released pitcher Dick Cassidy. Another Wildcat chucker Ed Gazda, left for home after being called up by the National Guard. He will be replaced by Fordham star Ray Chirurgi before the July 31 deadline.
(July 21) Johnny Forizs hurled Kentville to a 2-1 victory over Dartmouth in his debut in the H&D League. Sent here by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and with an imposing record in Connecticut, he gave up only seven singles and struck out ten. Forisz has already signed a Dodgers contract after working out with the club in Brooklyn for ten days. Newspapers played up the story with half a page of pictures showing him being greeted by Dodgers’ captain Pee Wee Resse and getting pitching tips from Roy Campanella, Preacher Roe and Irv Palica. Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen said “I would have been very disappointed if we hadn’t been able to sign him. Barring injuries, he should become a major league pitcher.”
On the mound for Dartmouth was local boy Wilson Parsons who threw a six-hitter and struck out seven in a losing cause. At the end of the season Forizs signed with the Dodgers and Parsons with the New York Yankees. Both subsequently ended up pitching at the Triple-A level.
(July 23) Halifax Capitals Tom Bujnowski is the pitching sensation of the H&D League. Saturday night he won his ninth straight victory defeating Liverpool 2-1. Bujnowski struck out seventeen batters equaling the league record established by Jack Halpin in 1949.
(July 24) Johnny Forizs, the 19 year-old pitching prodigy of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was charged with his first loss in twenty-seven games. Forizs pitched only a single inning giving up the winning run in the eighth.
(July 26) Behind four-hit pitching by Jack Halpin the Halifax Capitals moved into a second place tie with the Truro Bearcats defeating the Hub city club 8-2. Buddy Condy continued his upward surge in the batting department with three singles in four appearances. Stellarton continued to lead the league as local product Syd Roy chalked up his fourth shutout of the season in a 7-0 victory over Kentville. Johnny Forizs continued to find H&D League hitters a challenge, losing his second game of the season. Bill Brooks and Gair Allie both homered for the winners.
(August 1) Stellarton’s Joe Fulghum and Buddy Condy of the Halifax Capitals are making a runaway race the H&D League’s batting parade. Fulghum, with 65 hits in 157 at bats is hitting .414, Condy was 68 for 167 for a .407. Leo Woods, Doc Acocella and Gair Allie are distant followers at .329, .312 and .311 respectively. Allie and Stellarton teammate Leroy Sires lead the home run derby with ten each. Tom Bujnowski leads pitchers with a spotless 10-0 record.
In the Southern New Brunswick League Norm Mullen stood atop of the batting race with a .385 average and three home runs in 85 at bats. Frank Falter of Springhill followed at .315, Bob Pollard was next .304, and catcher Tom Cassell was the only other at .300. Maritime stars Herb McLeod and Dave Kiley were at .291 and catcher Charley Lau a future big leaguer was hitting .281. Kiley would subsequently sign a Phillies contract and played three years for them reaching as high as the Class-A Eastern League.
(August 2) The Kentville Wildcats have lost out on Ray Chiruigi, the right-hander from Fordham, who was expected to join their pitching corps. Chiruigi was discharged from the Army but was unable to obtain plane accommodations and failed to arrive before yesterday’s midnight deadline.
(August 3) Nova Scotia’s oldest baseball circuit, the Shelburne County League, was dealt a staggering blow by the NSABA this week when the Association ruled that all senior players who had been released and signed by the intermediate league after July 1 were ineligible to play in the provincial playdowns. Hardest hit on the ban on players from the H&D League is Lockeport. The club will lose Billy Carter, the popular young black second-baseman and former Dartmouth Arrow, and ex-Liverpool players Ray Skinner and Don Wharton. Clark’s Harbour loses Frankie Vecella and likely a couple of youngsters from Massachusetts, Fred Hill and Bob Gracie who were recommended by the Brooklyn Dodgers and arrived in town on July 31. Shelburne will lose Warren Iceton former Dartmouth Arrow, and Roger Clapp a Maine native who was signed by Liverpool but never played for them before joining Shelburne. Lockeport also holds a playing certificate for Wilson Parsons, the young Haligonian who hurled ten innings of scoreless ball for the Arrows last Saturday but is likely to remain in the H&D League for the remainder of the summer.
(August 7) Coming on with a rush in the closing weeks of the Shelburne County League batting race for the Dr. George W. Brown Memorial Trophy is Allan Swaine of the Barrington Braves. Swain has a .390 average and is within five points of Shelburne shortstop Tommy Pierce of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. Players with an outside chance of overtaking Pierce are his own teammate Junior McNeil (.353) and Boston native Donovan, the playing manager of Clark’s Harbour. Doherty leads the pitching parade as well with a 6-2 record.
(August 9) Halifax expects to have third-baseman Harry Durkin back in uniform tonight against Kentville. Durkin suffered a serious back injury and had returned to his home in Newark last month for treatment.
(August 17) Stellarton’s Joe Fulghum went two-for-three in the final regular league game to raise his average to .413, edging out Buddy Condy of Halifax whose two-for-five left him at .407. The two stars outhit all other leading batters by almost a hundred percentage points. Fulghum is a stylish batter, who seldom swings at a bad ball. Condy, who has power in his wrists, is a notorious bad ball hitter. Fulghum is the first right-handed batter to win the league batting championship since Jack Kaiser of the 1948 Kentville Wildcats.
Black’s Harbour Brunswicks advanced to the Southern New Brunswick Baseball League finals, defeating Moncton Legionnaires 7-0. Bauer was the winning pitcher and young big-league prospect Charley Lau was behind the plate.
(August 29) The Grand Falls Cataracts made it two out of three games when they tripped the Fredericton Capitols 7-2 in the first round of the Shaughnessey playoffs. The winner of the series will play a best of seven series with Edmundston who made it three in a row last night downing Houlton 7-0.
(August 30) Eighteen year-old pitcher-catcher Bob Flynn of Lewiston, Maine signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Flynn played for five seasons in the minors and in various places in the Maritimes and Maine, including a stint with Kentville of the H&D League in 1956.
(September 3) Maine native and minor league veteran John Catallo, sent to Edmundston as playing coach by the Brooklyn Dodgers, topped the Maine-New Brunswick League batting race with a .345 average. He also led in runs scored with 47, home runs with 11, and RBIs with 60. Fred Douglas of Houlton and Archie Armstrong of Presque Isle tied with 14 doubles, Bob Philbrick led with seven triples, New Brunswick natives Fred Flemming and Don Johnson tied for the lead in hits with 60, and Dick Hawes of Presque Isle stole twelve bases. Fredericton playing coach Roly McLenahan hit .416 in 77 at bats, but did not qualify for the title. Flemming and Johnson finished third and fourth in the batting race hitting .306 and .293 respectively.
(September 3) In H&D League playoff action Halifax and Stellarton played to a 3-3 tie called after five innings because of wet grounds.
(September 4) Stellarton’s Vern “Preacher” Mustain threw a five hit 3-1 victory over Halifax defeating the H&D League’s fifteen game winner Tommy Bujnowski. Art Hoch with a homer and Gair Allie with a double, had two hits each for the Albions.
(September 5) In a second straight pitcher’s duel, home-brew Syd Roy shut out Halifax 2-0 gaining the win over Jack Halpin of the Capitals. Joe Fulghum’s home run was the difference.
(September 6) The Stellarton Albions clinched the H&D League championship with a 5-2 victory over Halifax. Joel Pazdan was the winner and chalked up eleven strikeouts.
(September 3-11) In the Southern New Brunswick final series Blacks Harbour Brunswicks edged the Saint John Boosters to win the league championship. The battery of former and future major league stars Johnny Gee and Charley Lau were standouts. Young New Brunswick native Jackie Bowes, who went 7-0 in the Ontario Intercounty League during the summer before signing a Cleveland Indians contract for the 1952 season, returned home to strengthen the Saint John pitching staff. In the final game Black’s Harbour’s Ed Dobbins edged Bowes in a 2-1 pitcher’s duel. Bowes went seven innings, giving up only one earned run and two hits. He struck out eight in a losing cause. Johnny Gee, who quit the major league Giants in a contract dispute in 1947 and was black-listed by MLB after that, threw two shutout victories for the Brunswicks during the series.
(October 23) Homers by Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants and Detroit’s Vic Wertz and New York Yankee pitcher Spec Shea gave the Birdie Tebbetts All-Stars an 8-1 victory over a team of Maine and New Brunswick players. Fredericton Capitols playing coach Roly McLenahan went 3 for 4 against major league pitching in a losing cause. The barnstorming Tebbetts squad first came to the Maritimes in 1948 and 1949. Bad weather interrupted the tour last year.
(December 6) William “Oakie” O’Connor, Brooklyn Dodger scout, announced last night that the Dodgers will send a manager, coach and a full team of Dodger prospects to Edmundston for the 1952 season. Edmundston would become the base of operations in the Maritimes and players scouted in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine would be give tryouts there. A working agreement has been signed by the Dodgers and the Edmunston Baseball Association.
HALIFAX / MARITIMES 1952
(April 1) A number of well-known players from the Maritimes and Maine featured prominently in the “kid movement” initiated by both the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates at spring training this year. Among the most prominent in big league camps were former Kentville Wildcat Dick Gernert, infielder Hal Buckwalter of the Amherst Ramblers, and second-baseman Ted Lepcio who spent a couple of seasons with Ben Houser’s Augusta Millionaires alongside Boston University phenom Harry Agganis. Gernert and Lepcio made the Red Sox roster out of spring training while Buckwalter was assigned to the AAA Louisville Colonels. Only twenty years old, Buckwalter was the youngest regular in American Association. Other Red Sox hopefuls included outfielder Jack Kaiser (St. John’s) who was sent to the Eastern League, infielder Art West former Halifax Capital and August Millionaire, and fireballing Paul Aylward who the Sporting News described as a Dizzy Dean type who could “fog the ball past hitters.”
The Pirates also had fast-tracked a number of youngsters who had played recently in the Maritimes and northern New England. With Branch Rickey now serving as General Manager, the Pirates carefully scouted the region in an effort to build a solid farm system. Earlier Rickey had presided over Brooklyn’s close connection to the Maritimes, establishing working agreements with Edmunston, Amherst and Kentville. One of his prize prospects was Gair Allie, star of the Stellarton Albions in 1951 and a highly visible member of the Pirates in spring training. Allie played mostly on the “B” squad, but made a few appearances with the Pirates regulars before being optioned to the Pirates top minor league affiliate in New Orleans along with pitcher Frank Halloran who played in New Brunswick in 1950. Another prospect Dick Hall, a pitcher-outfielder in the Maine-New Brunswick League in 1951, made the 1952 big league squad. Later in the season, Emmanuel “Sonny” Senerchia, who played with Dartmouth and Middleton in the 1948 H&D League and tried out unsuccessfully with Truro in 1951, signed with Rickey’s club and ended up on the big league roster as a backup infielder. Bob Flynn, another youngster, from Lewiston, Maine, was a Pirate rookie assigned to the Carolina League and converted into a catcher. After five years in the Pirate organization he would return to the Maritimes with the 1956 Kentville Wildcats. Another catcher Pete Naton, a member of the Holy Cross NCCA champions in the spring was a fall call up of the Pirates.
(May 24) The H&D League season opened with six teams: Halifax, Dartmouth, Truro, Liverpool, Stellarton and Kentville. Bill Brooks returned to coach Stellarton and was given free rein to recruit and sign players, and he continued to draw heavily on players from North Carolina. Fellow Wake Forest star Art Hoch, whose son Scott would go on to a successful career on the PGA tour, was given an offer he couldn’t refuse to coach the Truro Bearcats. Hoch had recently joined the Physical Education faculty at the University of North Carolina, and his eventual Bearcat roster included fifteen players from the state. Other playing coaches included Yankee scout Bob Decker (Dartmouth), Johnny Watterson (Halifax), Penn State’s Chris Tonery (Kentville), and Danny Seaman (Liverpool).
(June 2) In a nasty contract dispute with Halifax Capitals, Buddy Condy and Johnny Clark were denied their releases to play with the Arrows across the harbour in Dartmouth. The dynamic duo, considered the best local players in the league over a number of seasons, would eventually sign with the Saint John Boosters of the Southern New Brunswick League.
(June 3) Stellarton Albions, league champions in 1951, opened their season with a home-town 8-6 victory over the Dartmouth Arrows. Wake Forest star Dickie Harris, the son of Washington Senators manager Bucky Harris, led the Albions with two hits and Syd Roy picked up the win. Returning to the Arrows’ lineup after three years in Organized Baseball, African-American outfielder Milton “Bomber” Neal chipped in with a double for the losers. Before opening the regular season the Arrows had played two exhibition games against a Nova Scotian All Star squad, knocking off the home-brews 4-3 and 3-2.
(June 5) Art Hoch’s Bearcats pummeled the visiting Stellarton Albions 11-1, led by Connie Gravitte’s homer and Davidson University star Fred Stowe’s three base-hits. Bill Lore sparkled on the mound for the Bearcats.
(June 8) Leo Woods played his final game in the H&D League as the Dartmouth Arrows knocked of the Kentville Wildcats 4-3. Woods had held the center-field job in Halifax for a number of years, but went on to play softball for the rest of the season. Charlie “Red” Burchell also decided to hang up his spikes after a lengthy H&D League career. Local players usually were paid between $50 and $75 dollars a week, while import salaries ranged from about $75 to $100.
(June 9) Liverpool swept a double-header from the Halifax Capitals by scores of 12-8 and 8-5. Future Baltimore Orioles bonus baby Tom Gastall went 4 for 5 in the opener. Another future big leaguer, Duke University outfielder Al Spangler made his H&D League debut for the Capitals.
(June 11) Over 4,500 fans packed Dartmouth’s “Little Brooklyn” to watch the Arrows edge Danny Seaman’s Larrupers 3-2.
(June 12) Ron Jirsa, Liverpool’s starry right-hander, spun a three-hitter to defeat Halifax in a 2-1 thriller. Tommy Bujnowski, a sixteen-game winner in 1951, pitched brilliantly in defeat.
(June 13) Three players who had agreed earlier to join the Halifax Capitals, catcher Haywood Sullivan who played with the Augusta Millionaires in 1951, outfielder Dick “Footer” Johnson of the Duke Blue Devils, and infielder Joe Morgan from Boston College, signed pro-contracts. All three would go on to play in the majors. Another future big-leaguer, catcher Pete Naton of the 1952 NCAA champion Holy Cross Crusaders, had a cup of coffee with Fredericton, before suiting up with Hopewell of the Blackstone Industrial League. Naton’s teammate with the Crusaders, Jim O’Neill, who also came to Fredericton, was the MVP of the College World Series and selected a 1952 First Team All-American. Another First Team selection, first-baseman Billy Werber Jr., accompanied coach Bill Brooks to Stellarton. Dick Groat, Duke University’s all-everything, had also told Brooks that should negotiations with the Pirates fall through that he would join the Albions. Groat signed with the Pirates in June and went directly to the big leagues.
(June 15) Fred Harlow, manager of the Presque Isle Indians, began the season with a number of young players including 16 year-old catcher Ron Staples, 19 year-old first-baseman Len Hiscoe, one of the best schoolboy hitters in Massachusetts, and schoolboy phenom Ed Gaski from Bristol, Connecticut, who had a couple of no-hitters to his credit. Jim McDonnell was a 20 year-old Navy veteran from West Haven, Connecticut, teenager Al Frawley was from Boston College, Warren Cassidy was a star at Dartmouth, along with Pete Faradoni (Notre Dame), Jerry Damm (U. Florida) and Paul Franks (U. Penn). Maine products, Bob Dow, Dick Black and catcher Warren Munsey, rounded out the youth brigade.
(June 18) Two future major leaguers who played in the Maritimes last season, George Alusik (Black’s Harbour) and Jim McManus (Springhill) began the 1952 season in Maine. Alusik played with the Fort Fairfield Flyers while McManus began the season with the Augusta Millionaires.
(June 20) The H&D League is loosely termed “outlaw”, not because its players are not linked to major league teams or blacklisted, but because the league doesn’t pay the $5,000 affiliation fee for joining Organized Baseball. Staying outside of O.B. had the advantage of allowing teams to use players from collegiate programs in the United States.
(July 4) Fredericton Capitals beat the Houlton Collegians of the Maine-New Brunswick League in an exhibition game in the Maine border town. Don Richards, a prodigy of Pittsburgh’s Pie Trainor, held Fredericton to three hits but gave up eleven walks which was his downfall. In a return match in Fredericton the Collegians edged the New Brunswickers 3-2.
(July 6) Buddy Condy and Johnny Clark made their initial appearances with the Saint John Boosters. According to Doug Costello of the St. John Telegraph Journal, “Condy’s first appearance in a Booster uniform was preceded by a lot of ballyhoo and fanfare…[b]ut Condy acted as though a do-it or else script had been laid down. He pulled the crowd to its feet in the very first inning when he blasted the first ball pitched to him for a three-run homer. He came up the second time in the third frame and drove another ball over the right-field fence.” Condy’s heroics led Saint John to its first victory of the season over the league leading Fredericton Capitols.
(July 15) Without established stars like Buddy Condy and Johnny Clark, the Halifax Capitals are struggling at the gate with crowds rarely exceeding 1,000 spectators.
(July 16) The Kentville Wildcats made extensive changes to their lineup before the league signing deadline. Released were outfielder Cookie Doliner and third-baseman Bob Geary from Tufts University, outfielders Mike Bobrowiecki and Ed Juszyck, and pitchers Henry Kelly and Dick Eichorn. Replacements included Duke Dukeshire, Vic Bohner, Tom McBryan, Bruce Bauer and Leo Gulverston.
(July 22) Houlton outfielders Sherm Kinney and Andy McGowan collided in the outfield and both were knocked out and suffered concussions. An ambulance took the players to hospital but X-rays showed no broken bones. They were expected to miss at least three games as a result of the collision.
(July 28) U.S. Navy teams from the USS Midway and USS Leyte travelled to Yarmouth for games against the Senior B Gateways and HMCS Cornwallis. Leyte were 12-1 and 14-4 victors over Yarmouth and shut out Cornwallis 6-0. Yarmouth gained a modicum of revenge went it edged USS Midway 9-8 in ten innings.
(July 29) Jack Halpin, a dominant pitcher for the Halifax Capitals from 1948 through 1951, had a 7-1 record with the Joliette Beavers of Quebec’s Laurentide League and has been named playing coach for the club.
(August 15) Two pitchers sent to Kentville by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Stanley Patchell and Alan James, suffered control problems and were released.
(August 22) Bowdoin University star Andy Lano signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians and was assigned to their affiliate in Fargo, North Dakota.
(August 29) The Bangor Daily News polled fans to select a Maine-New Brunswick League All-Star team for the 1952 season as follows: 1B Jack Cosgrove (Grand Falls); 2B Harry Hewes (Presque Isle); SS Vince Vane (Houlton); 3B Bob Webber (Houlton), C Charles Schaffernoth (Presque Isle); LF Sherm Kinney (Houlton); CF Andy McGowan (Houlton); RF Buzz Barry (Grand Falls). Pitchers: Dave Stenhouse (Grand Falls); Joe Lewis (Edmundston); Bill Cary (Edmunston); Ed Gaski (Presque Isle).
Long Island University student McGowan was presented with the Pioneer Times Trophy for the highest batting average (.343) and was chosen the league’s Most Valuable Player.
(August 30) After playing with Halifax over the summer, pitcher Russ Hansen signed with the Connecticut Colored Barons. A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Hansen began the spring season with the University of Connecticut as did Halifax teammate Tom O’Connell from Braintree, Mass. After making one start with U. Conn. Hansen was declared ineligible to play collegiate ball since he had played for Waterbury in the now defunct Class B Colonial League in 1949.
(September 1) Former Halifax pitching ace, Jack Halpin, finished his season with Joliette (Laurentide League) with an 18-9 won-lost record. The Montreal Gazette called him “an inspiration” after his taking over as playing coach in June. Joliette won the league pennant with a season record of 47 and 25. Halpin and future big leaguer Ray Daviault (Montreal East) were pitching standouts. In the first playoff round the two faced off against each other. Halpin edged Daviault 2-1 notching a 4 hit victory which went 10 innings. Joliette eliminated Montreal East and went on to win the league championship. Don Russell, who played for the Truro Bearcats in 1951, and Halpin’s erstwhile battery mate in Halifax Bob Fitzgerald, were teammates of Halpin’s with Joliette.
(September 4) The Houlton Pioneer Times published the final pitching records for the Maine-Brunswick League. Heading the parade was Bill Wing (Houlton) who finished with a 5-1 record and a sparkling 1.53 ERA in 64 2/3 innings. Teammate Bob Davis had an identical won-loss record and 1.89 ERA. Edmunston’s Joe Lewis (Duke) and Bill Cary (Rollins College) followed. Lewis had a 7-6 record and 2.52 ERA, Carry 2-3 and 2.88. Bob St. Pierre, a Maine native led Grand Falls with a 7-4 record and 2.97 ERA, and teammate Dave Stenhouse went 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA. Stenhouse had a league-leading 130 strikeouts, followed closely by Lewis with 129. Lewis, St. Pierre, Stenhouse and Houlton’s Tony Blose were workhouses, all contributing more than 100 innings pitched.
(September 5) Final stats for the Southern New Brunswick League revealed that Black’s Harbour’s Jake Tarr (Duke) captured the batting crown with a .313 average. He was followed by Buddy Condy (Saint John) at .293, Syd Goldfader (Brandeis) .288, Dick Hogan (Holy Cross).280 and Rolly McLenahan (Fredericton) at .275.
(September 15) Joe Fulghum repeated as H&D League batting champion, completing the season with a .328 average and leading the league in RBIs (51) and Home Runs (8). Teammate Kay Rogers led in triples (6) and Truro’s Al Norskey in doubles (15). Bob O’Donnell, Liverpool shortstop, was the stolen base leader with 28 thefts. Pitching dominated in 1952 and only six batters topped the .300 mark. Bob O’Donnell tied for runner up with Stellarton’s Wyman Morris at .321, Holy Cross star Paul Brissette was .310 ahead of Dartmouth’s Stu O’Brien at .308 and Wake Forest infielder Jack Stallings at .303. Ron Jirsa (Liverpool) and Syd Roy (Stellarton) led the pitching parade with identical 11 and 4 records. Liverpool was the slickest on defense with a team fielding percentage of .964.
Stellarton Albions repeated as H&D League champions, knocking off the Truro Bearcats in four straight playoff games. In the final contest Als shortstop Joe Willard homered three times in succession to lead Stellarton to a 4-1 victory before more than 2,000 fans.
HALIFAX / MARITIMES 1953
(March 20) Former major league pitcher Phil Page, now managing Binghamton in the Eastern League, was visiting the Yankees’ Kansas City spring training camp, checking on pitching prospects. He was particularly impressed by Halifax native Wilson Parsons who reportedly has one of the best fastballs in the entire Yankee organization. Parsons played for Dartmouth (H&D) in 1951 before joining the Yankees organization last year. Page himself played for Halifax in the Nova Scotia Professional League in the twenties and has been associated with Organized Baseball ever since.
(March 29) Shortstop Gair Allie who played a big part in Stellarton’s championship season in 1951 had a great preseason with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Manager Fred Haney told reporters that he has “pencilled in” Allie as his opening day shortstop. The Pirates spent the spring in Cuba so there were no box scores available, but Allie hit around .300 and played superior defense. It is likely that Allie and Dick Cole will share the position during the upcoming season. Art Hoch, Allie’s coach in Stellarton had recommended him to Pirates’ scout Rex Bowen who signed him to a bonus contract of $20,000. (Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
(April 1) Gair Allie’s hopes of playing in the big leagues in 1953 were dashed when he broke an ankle sliding in to home plate. He had been chosen to open the season as the Pirates regular shortstop. In relating the news to the press Fred Haney said, “I don’t know whether you knew it or not, but that boy was to have been my shortstop when we opened in Brooklyn. I haven’t said anything about this but Allie has gradually won me over with his brilliant play afield and the fact that he was getting much better at the bat.”
(April 9) According to the Bangor Daily News, Houlton has replaced Augusta in the affections of the Boston Red Sox. Back when Augusta was operating under manager Ben Houser, the Bosox saw to it that promising young talent came to Maine. Not all the players coming to Houlton this year will have Red Sox leanings, however. Bill Wing (Colby) who led the league with a 2.42 ERA last season is returning, as are Springfield College students Sherm Kinney and Arlan Barber. The Brooklyn Dodgers continue to back the Edmunston Republicans and expect to send even better talent than a year ago.
(April 11) For the second year in a row pitcher-first baseman Herb Morton had an offer to play in the H&D League. This year it was too good to turn down. Playing for Auburn, in Maine’s Down East League, the Bates College student captured the league batting crown with a .376 average in 1952. Morton signed this year with the Dartmouth Arrows along with Jack Riley (Seton Hall) another Down East League star.
(May 6) Halifax City Council has agreed to a $25,000 lighting plant at Wanderers Grounds. Kentville and Truro have appropriated the same. The first installation was in Dartmouth last year, while some New Brunswick towns such as Grand Falls had night ball for years. According to the Halifax Herald, “in the late 1930s touring U.S. clubs played exhibition night baseball at Wanderers Grounds using portable generators. Unfortunately because of the low output of the generators – driven by old automobile engines – the illumination was not adequate.”
(May 14) During the construction of the lighting system at Kentville’s Memorial Park a guy wire holding one of the light standards gave way and the light pole crashed to the ground. Two workers were seriously injured in the accident. Will Howell, a visitor from England, was first on the scene, and the First World War veteran who had been gassed on the battlefield, provided first aid until medical personnel arrived.
(May 15) Two Maritimers, Harry Reekie and Syd Roy, both of whom played a number of years for the Stellarton Albions, have relocated to Ontario in search of employment and have been working out with Guelph of the Intercounty League.
(May 26) Art “Whitey” Weinstock has returned from playing military ball in Germany where he was a battery mate of Curt Simmons of the Philadelphia Phillies. The 24 year old will play this season with Halifax.
(June 2) According to the Raleigh-Durham Herald Sun, almost the entire starting lineup of the Duke Blue Devils will end up playing baseball in the Maritimes. Bill Werber will return to Stellarton for a second season, Al Spangler, Johnny Gibbons and Bob LeClerq are heading to Halifax, and Dick Brewer to Kentville. Others heading north are catcher Jake Tarr, and pitchers Joe Lewis, George Carver and Dick Kreutzer.
(June 8) The H&D League 1953 season opened in Liverpool as the Larrupers edged the visiting Truro Bearcats 5-3. Charles Heerlein was the winning pitcher and Alex Zych took the loss. Mac Bowers homered for the winners.
(June 9) Truro was powered by home-runs from Art Hoch, catcher Will Fry and winning pitcher Don Marbry as the Bearcats knocked off Stellarton 8-6. AAA veteran Bob Stewart, formerly with Toronto of the International League, contributed three hits.
(June 10) Warren Iceton led Dartmouth to a 6-0 victory over Liverpool giving up only six hits over eight innings, striking out six and walking three. Joey Lay and Reg Beaver, both of whom were filling in spaces on the roster until late arriving collegians would take their place, contributed two hits each to lead the Arrows.
(June 10) Three local players, Rolly Perry, Billy Carter and H&D League icon Johnny Clark, were in the lineup as Halifax opened their season with a 9-4 pummelling of the Stellarton Albions. Perry hit a triple to knock in three runs, Clark doubled, and Carter contributed two singles to the winning effort.
(June 18) Leo Christopher was given his release by the Lafayette Bulls of the Evangeline League and was reported to have signed with Halifax. The same was true for infielder Jackie Stroehlein who had been released by Ogden of the Class C Pioneer League. Christopher was a three-year minor league veteran. Stroehlein had a short stint with Bradford (PONY) in 1952.
(July 1) Kentville won 9-8 over Halifax as the new lighting system was turned on in the Valley town’s Memorial Park for the night game of a double header. In the afternoon contest the Wildcats demolished the Cardinals 12-1 behind Hank Tominaga’s curveball mastery. Considered Hawaii’s top high school pitcher after the War, Tominaga (Springfield College) was a star in the Hearst Baseball Classic in 1946 and played for coach Ray Fisher’s Black’s Harbour Brunswicks in 1951.
(July 15) After registering a complete game 4-0 win for Hartford in the Central Vermont League, Springfield College student Joe Kazura left to play for Edmundston, an informal Brooklyn Dodger farm club.
(July 21) Milwaukee Braves’ bonus baby Joey Jay made his major-league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies pitching two scoreless innings. Jay split the 1952 season between St. Albans of the Vermont Northern League and the Waterville Wrens of the Maine-State League.
(July 22) With defending champion Stellarton struggling to play itself into playoff contention, coach Bill Brooks drew upon his Carolina connections to add John (Monk) Raines to his pitching rotation. Raines was well-known in the south. Raines had a dominant year in 1952 with Edenton of the Coastal Plains League, winning twenty-six games and posting a 1.48 ERA, and adding three more wins in the playoffs. The Braves promoted him to Double-A Atlanta in the spring. Manager Gene Mauch selected Raines as the Crackers’ closer, saying that he has all the qualification of a “good fireman. He ‘s calm on the mound, has good control, a fine curve, and keeps the ball low.” Unfortunately, Raines angered the Braves when he jumped the team to attend the birth of his son, and released him. Enter the Albions who offered him $600 a month, more than he was making in the minor leagues. It was a gamble for Stellarton, but if the Albions made the playoffs the extra gate revenue would pay for it. (Source: The Atlanta Constitution)
(July 28) The Brooklyn Dodgers continued their long-term connection with Edmundston (Maine-New Brunswick). Edmundston’s manager Vito DeVito, a ten-year minor league veteran, played with Class A Macon (Sally) in 1952. With help from the Dodgers, the town has established a dream baseball plant. According to the Bangor Daily News, the squad lives in a house close by and players can tumble out of bed and into position for early or late practice.
(July 29) Local players Billy Carter and Johnny Clark hit back to back home runs to lead Halifax to a victory over Ron Jirsa of the Liverpool Larrupers. Despite playing well for the Cardinals, Carter was left off the club’s final roster at the player deadline of August 1.
(July 30) According to the Bangor Daily News, manager Ed Steitz of the Grand Falls Cataracts was bewildered by the lack of success of his Springfield College aces Jack Sanford and George Ulrich. A well-known figure in collegiate baseball and basketball and a member of Springfield’s Athletic Department, Steitz had brought a number of his players with him from Springfield, including Bill Forte, Roger Wickman, Tim Mitchell, and Ron Leeman.
(August 1) A ruling by the NCAA on player eligibility led to the banning of two Presque Isle Indians, Pat Proulx and Dick McCarthy, for the 1953 season. McCarthy had already signed a contract for 1954 with the Boston Red Sox. Unlike the H&D League, which mixed college players and veterans of Organized Baseball, the Maine-New Brunswick League was strictly a collegiate amateur league. Proulx, is a Waterfield, Maine native who played two years in the minors in the late forties. A slick fielding shortstop, Proulx hit a lofty .368 for Borger in the West-Texas New Mexico League in 1949. After his suspension McCarthy joined Greensboro (Carolina League) for the remainder of the season, beginning a nine-year career in the Red Sox organization. One of the factors leading to the banning players was the intervention of the father of outfielder John Simourian, who was worried about his son’s college eligibility. Simourian, who plays for Edmunston, had a $4,000 scholarship to play ball for Harvard, and this led to a request that the NCAA to check on former pros in the Maine-New Brunswick League. McCarthy was leading the league in batting at the time of his suspension and Proulx ranked third in the league with a .333 average.
(August 1) According to the Halifax Chronicle Herald players have been arriving and departing from Halifax so rapidly that “it has been just about impossible to keep track of them. The Halifax Cardinals, of course, hold the record. Nearly fifty players have passed through their hand since the first week in June. In many cases players have been quickly dropped from the payroll without anybody knowing it, other than the men who sign the cheques.” One of those disillusioned with the scene in Halifax was outfielder Al Spangler who led the Duke Devils in hitting in the spring and was in his second season with Halifax. Spangler left the club on July 2. He was hitting over .300 in a dozen games before heading for home.
(August 2) Mid-season stats for the H&D League at the player deadline show Kentville Wildcats receiver Steve Korcheck heading the batting race with a .326 average, just ahead of Truro’s Fred Dale at .322. Ron Jirsa (Liverpool), Chalmers Port (Truro) and Dave Stenhouse (Kentville) were leading the pitching parade. Liverpool Larrupers, always sharp defensively, led in team fielding with a .958 fielding percentage. All-American basketball star at Holy Cross, Ron Perry, gave Kentville a solid one-two punch on the mound for the Wildcats.
(August 18) Kentville’s ace Dave Stenhouse tossed a one-hit shutout over league leading Liverpool as the home town team edged the visiting Larrupers 1-0. Second-baseman Paul Brissette’s single ruined Stenhouse’s no-hit bid.
The Liverpool Larrupers finished the regular season in first place. Defending champion Stellarton had struggled earlier in the season, but the lights out pitching of Monk Raines secured a playoff spot. Raines won five games against a single loss down the stretch, a solid return on his expensive salary.
(August 20) The Bangor Daily News announced the Maine-New Brunswick All-Star selections: catcher Jack Kurty (PI), first baseman George McCafferty (PI), second baseman Pete Berland (H), shortstop Jim Davins (E), third baseman Phil Matthias (H), left fielder Tony Blose (H), center fielder “Deacon” Jones (GF) and Pat Proulx (PI). The pitchers were Dick Eichorn (H), Bill Anderson (H), Bill Sanford (PI) and Ed Willey (GF). Proulx was selected despite having been suspended by the NCAA in August for having played minor league ball in 1948 and 1949.
(August 24) Phil Tarpey pitched the first no-hitter in the Maine-New Brunswick League since the 1950 season.
(August 25) With a 9-1 victory Houlton took a 2-1 series lead against Grand Falls in semi-final playoff competition. Bill Anderson was the winning pitcher and catcher George Lewis smacked a home run to lead Houlton.
(August 26) According to the Bangor Daily News, there were rumours that Houlton would quit the Maine-New Brunswick League next year unless a hunk of money was invested. “The talk is that the Red Sox will be tapped to help.”
(August 27) The Liverpool Larrupers kept their H&D League playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 victory of over Stellarton evening the series at two games apiece. Tom Lewis, making his first start in the series after suffering from the flu and a strep throat, singled in the winning run in the ninth off losing pitcher Bobby Lee Brown. Brown had held the Larrupers to a couple of singles before Lewis’ decisive at bat. In the Stellarton half of the inning, the crowd of 2,585 paid - mindful of the Merriwell finish of the third game of the series - refused to leave the stands. Their hopes were dashed when Cecil Heath fouled out and Sonny Way bounced out to the mound.
In the Kentville-Truro semi-final series, Dave Stenhouse limited the Bearcats to two hits as Kentville emerged with a 2-0 victory. 3,300 fans were in attendance. Kentville fans will leave on a special train to Truro for the fifth and deciding match of the series. Billy Lore took the loss for the Bearcats.
(August 28) The Presque Isle Indians advanced to the Maine-New Brunswick league final playdowns after winning three of four games against Houlton.
(August 28) Kentville defeated Truro and Stellarton topped Liverpool setting up a final series between the Wildcats and Albions for the league championship. Kentville’s Hank Tominaga was the winning pitcher as the Wildcats pounded out a 9-3 victory. Outfielder Al Griggs went four for four to lead his club at the plate. Alex Zych took the loss. Zych had earlier eked out a 2-1 win over Tominaga in an earlier game in the series. Truro’s Fred Stowe and Kentville pitcher Ron Perry were series standouts.
(September 2) Presque Isle shut out the Houlton Collegians 4-0 to take a 2-1 game lead in the league championship playoffs. George Plender went the distance for Presque Isle and Dick Eichorn was saddled with the loss.
(September 3) Preqsue Isle clinched the President’s Cup with a 5-4 victory over Houlton in the final game. George Plender and Dick Black shared the mound duties for the winners, Bill Anderson and Andy Lovito for the losers.
(September 4) Pitcher-outfielder Dick Eichorn (St. John’s University) was selected as 1953’s Most Valuable Player in the Maine-New Brunswick League posting a 7-2 record on the mound and batting .294 for the Houlton Collegians. Eichorn played with Kentville Wildcats in 1951 and split the 1952 season between the Wildcats and St. Albans of the Vermont Northern League. Eichorn was presented with the Governor’s Cup originally donated to the league by Maine Governor Frederick Payne and Premier McNair of New Brunswick.
(September 30) The 1953 season saw two former stars of Maritime baseball, Billy Harris of Dorchester, N.B. and Wilson Parsons of Halifax, put up outstanding numbers with AA Mobile and Norfolk (Piedmont). Harris delivered the first perfect game in the AA Southern Association since August, 1932. Signed to the Dodgers organization by Bill (Oakie) O’Connor in 1951, Harris began his minor league career in spectacular fashion. In 1952 he spun two one hitters on his way to a season record of 25 wins and 6 losses. He had 29 complete games and an eye-popping 0.83 ERA. Parsons, considered the Yankee’s premiere pitching prospect along with teammate Johnny Kucks, went 15 and 7 with a 2.04 ERA in the Class B Piedmont League. Saint John native Jackie Bowes was not to be outdone. With Class-C Sherbrook (Provincial) Bowes posted a 17-3 record and a 2.44 ERA.
(September 4) The Stellarton Albions captured the H&D League championship for the third year in a row sidelining the Wildcats four games to one. Stellarton delighted a crowd of more than 3,000 fans by defeating the Wildcats 5-4 in the final game. Billy Werber Jr., the Duke University First Team All-American, collected three hits for Stellarton while Steve Korcheck had a double and a home run in four at bats. Joe Fulghum led the Als during the five game series with a .353 average, while Don Prohovich went 9 for 20 in a losing cause.
(October 9) All-American outfielder Fred Flemming, a native of Saint John, went two for three including a double off Whitey Ford in an exhibition tilt pitting a Maine-New Brunswick All-Star team against Hal White’s barnstorming squad of major leaguers. The big leaguers won 8-1. Ted Lepcio, a star with the Augusta Millionaires a few years back went 2-5 for White’s aggregation. Billy Hunter led the winners with four hits but big Steve Bilko went hitless in five appearances.
(October 11) Hal White’s All-Stars shut out Augusta 6-0. Steve Bilko’s home run blast and two doubles by Johnny Groth helped decide the game. Saint John’s Fred Flemming went hitless in four trips to the plate.
(October 12) Hal White’s All-Stars won their third consecutive victory sidelining the Eastern Maine All-Stars 7-3. Ted Lepcio led the attack with a home run, double and single in four at bats. Ray Coombs and Dick England shared mound duties for Eastern Maine.
(October 13) Hal White’s major league All-Stars continued their winning ways in their swing through northern New England, knocking off Bucky Gaudette’s Central Maine Stars 11-3. Virgil Trucks was the winner and Joe Garagiola, Sherm Lollar and Steve Bilko each contributed home run clouts. Gaudette was a veteran of the Montreal Royals and Cape Breton Colliery League in the 1930s.
HALIFAX / MARITIMES 1954
(May 6) Infielder Matt Maetoza, announced that he would not return to Kentville for the 1954 season, but would go to Grand Falls of the Maine-New Brunswick League as playing coach where played for two seasons. Another former Wildcat, catcher Jack Kurty will be Presque Isle’s manager. The other two managers in the four-team loop are Hal Melkonian (Edmundston) and John Yurewicz (Houlton).
(May 7) Jack Kaiser is returning to the H&D League after five seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization. Kaiser began the season on the AAA Louisville roster but chose to retire when offered a coaching job at Saint John’s University, his alma mater. Kaiser spent two years with Kentville in 1948 and 1949 and along with Boston Red Sox first-baseman Dick Gernert provided a powerful one-two punch for the Wildcats. In order for Kaiser to get his release from the Bosox and keep his standing in Organized Baseball he agreed to serve as playing coach for Liverpool, an unofficial Red Sox farm team.
(May 11) Buddy Condy, perhaps the best pure hitter in the history of Maritime baseball, graduated from Dalhousie Medical School yesterday. When he was still in the RCAF at the end of the war Condy was given a tryout with the Montreal Royals and offered a contract which he decided against. Halifax was hoping that Condy might come out of retirement with the Cardinals this season. Over the years Condy has turned down numerous offers from big league teams and remains uninterested in a pro career having pursued his intention of becoming a doctor instead.
(May 12) When Wake Forest grad Art Hoch was in Truro a hot recording of the Confederate marching song was played before each game. Hoch will serve as Dartmouth playing coach this year.
(May 14) Gerry Levinson who played for Cardinals’ coach Bob Decker in Dartmouth (1949) before joining the Braves organization, is said to be more interested in a business career than continuing in baseball. Levinson was reassigned to Class-A Calgary where he posted a 13-9 record last year. If he chooses not to return to Calgary it is likely that he will return to the Maritimes. Another H&D League grad John (Zeke) Bella has been sent to Halifax by the Yankees after he balked at an assignment to the Class-A Sally League. Officially suspended by the Yankees so that he remains under their control, Bella had recently returned from a two-year military hitch in Germany.
(May 24) The Halifax Cardinals are determined to put a strong team on the field this season after the troubles of a year ago when the club airlifted in as many as fifty players. The club ended up losing both on the field and at the gate. The club recently signed Jerry Cline, a first-baseman who played for coach Decker’s 1949 Dartmouth Arrows. Since he turned pro in 1950 several H&D League clubs tried to get Cline to return but he was doing too well in the pro ranks. In 1953 he suited up with Guelph of the Ontario Intercounty League where he hit .275 with 12 home runs. Two other players, Duke’s Al Spangler, who played in Halifax for the last two years, has agreed to return, and 6 foot 7 inch first-baseman Ron Jackson from Western Michigan University has been sent a train ticket and will soon be heading east. The New York Yankees are also sending teenage shortstop Tommy Carroll to Halifax. Carroll recently met with coach Bob Decker, who doubles as a Yankee scout, during workouts at Yankee Stadium.
(May 28) Two veterans of the Finger Lakes League in upstate New York, Ray Jablonski and Johnny Gee, have agreed to play in Nova Scotia this season. Former major leaguer Gee, who pitched for the New York Giants in 1946 and quit pro ball over a contract dispute, will join University of Michigan’s Ray Fisher in Truro. Fisher managed Black’s Harbour for the last three years and will bring a number of players from his 1953 NCAA national champion Michigan Wolverines to Truro. Jablonski will be a playing coach for the Shelburne Loyalists of the Shelburne County League.
(June 9) Jack Ritter, who was a member of Ray Fisher’s 1953 NCAA championship team and then with Black’s Harbour, made his professional debut at the AAA level with Detroit’s Toledo affiliate. Ritter was credited with the win in an 11-7 victory over Minneapolis. Ritter pitched five scoreless innings giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, and had a strikeout along the way.
(June 14) Stellarton native Harry Reekie, a fixture in the outfield with Stellarton for a half dozen years, sent an open letter to the press complaining that he had not been invited even to work out with the Albions this year. Reekie and fellow team-mate Syd Roy would subsequently leave to seek employment in Ontario and spent time with Guelph of the Ontario Intercounty League. Reekie was a favorite of Stuffy McInnis, the former big-leaguer who coached the Albions 1948 and 1949.
(June 15) The Halifax Cardinals were dealt a double whammy today as two players it was expecting to report signed major league contracts. Al Spangler, well-known to local fans after having played the last two seasons here, signed a Milwaukee Braves contract and immediately replaced Sibby Sisti on the Braves 25-man roster. Spangler’s contract allowed him the option of continuing to play the remainder of the season with the Braves, but he instead requested a minor league assignment allowing him to play every day rather than sit on the big league bench. The other player lost to the club was first-baseman Ron Jackson. According to his SABR biographer, Jackson had his train ticket and was on his way to Halifax when the Chicago White Sox convinced him to stop in the Windy City for a tryout. He was offered a bonus that under new major league guidelines required that he stay on the big league roster for the rest of the season.
(June 20) Dave Stenhouse (Rhode Island) who pitched the opening game of the season for the Wildcats against Dartmouth and then lost to Stellarton, has returned to the States for a six-week army training course. He plans to return in August. Ron Perry (Holy Cross) who teamed with Stenhouse last season at the top of the Kentville rotation, is planning to spend his month’s vacation from a job in Massachusetts by filling in for the Wildcats.
(June 22) Ray Kemp who pitched briefly and ineffectively for Halifax in the early goings has left to play in Quebec’s Laurentide League. In turn, Halifax signed switch-hitting third-baseman Tom Balich (Colorado) and teenager Bob Scariato (Wagner College) who earlier turned down a bonus offer that would have sent him directly to the majors under the existing “bonus baby” rule.
(June 23) Only one Maine college player has made a Maine-New Brunswick League roster at this point. He is southpaw Fred Jack (Bates College). Penn State, Villanova, Holy Cross, St. John’s, Hofstra, Springfield College, Rhode Island, Yale, Massachusetts and Boston College are heavily represented on league rosters. Presque Isle has only one other Maine native, Leroy Dyer, hoping to make the grade.
(June 28) Although Marty Satalino, Hal Melkonian, Don Stabile and Lou Conti started the year in the H&D League, they were given their releases and will play in the Maine-New Brunswick League.
(June 29) High school sensation Dick Grant of Maine’s Thornton Academy signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox who sent him to Edmundston of the Maine-New Brunswick League where he’ll play for the next month or so. Later in the season he will be transferred to a Class B club in the White Sox system.
(June 29) Billy Carter, a local boy and one of the few black players in the league, set an H&D League record when he went 7 for 7 in a game against the Stellarton Albions. Source: Burton Russell, Nova Scotia Baseball Heroics. Truro had two black players in its regular lineup; Stan (Chook) Maxwell who grew up in Truro, and future big leaguer Grover (Deacon) Jones from White Plains, New York. Jones is a student at Ithaca College. Jones hit .362 with Grand Falls of the Maine-New Brunswick League in 1953. Other Ithaca students on the Truro roster are pitchers Walter Judd, Don Kern and BobThwaites.
(July 1) The revamped Halifax Cardinals took their fifth win in six starts, tagging Stellarton’s Monk Raines with a 4-3 defeat. (Smokey Jim) Heller went the route for Halifax. Sonny Santoli homered for Stellarton and Dick Wilkens for Halifax.
(July 3) League leading Dartmouth Arrows edged the Liverpool Larrupers 3-2 when Lewis (Weenie) Miller singled home Sam Stell in the sixth inning with the winning run. Dick McLeney was the winning pitcher and veteran Eddie Hadlock took the loss for Liverpool.
(July 4) Tommy O’Connell, young pitcher from Boston College, delivered a masterful two hit victory to lead Grand Falls to a 4-0 victory over Houlton. Bob Stoico (U. Conn) hit a two-run homer off Bob Scalzi in the second inning and the Cataracts didn’t look back after that. Arlan Barber, Grand Falls catcher, blasted a triple, the only other extra base hit of the day.
(July 5) Shortstop Johnny Yvars, a 1954 first team All-American from the University of North Carolina sprinted home from second base on an infield single. This was the only run of the game as Dartmouth beat Stellarton 1-0. Jim Raugh threw a six-hitter for the win, and Hank Hammerick took the loss. Yvars is the brother of eight-year major league veteran Sal Yvars of the St. Louis Cardinals. Pitcher Lou Portocarreo of the Truro Bearcats is another player with a brother in the big leagues. Arnie Portocarrero is presently in the starting rotation with the Philadelphia Athletics. Arnie signed out of high school, while Lou, two years his junior, is a college star at Long Island University.
(July 8) Johnny Clark, an H&D League veteran since 1946, came out of retirement and played a prominent role in the Cardinals’ 11-4 win over the Truro Bearcats. Clark had two hits for the Cards while outfielder Zeke Bella hit a massive homer to secure the victory.
(July 14) Former New York Giant Johnny Gee shutdown the Cardinals as Truro took a 4-2 win from Halifax. Gee relieved Dick Peterjohn (Michigan) in the sixth and held Halifax scoreless the rest of the way. (Chook) Maxwell made several fine defensive plays in the outfield.
(July 15) For the second straight year the Stellarton Albions strengthened its pitching rotation prior to the player deadline by bringing in a minor league veteran at a salary well above league norm to help in the stretch run. Last year they acquired Monk Raines from the AA Atlanta Braves and the strategy worked as he led them into the playoffs and to the league championship. This year’s prospective saviour is Johnny Waselchuk who has been a mainstay at Class-A Macon (Sally). A tough competitor Waselchuk was not averse to throwing inside to set up his quality curveball. Hank Aaron, who faced Waselchuk on a number of occasions this year, said that the right-hander’s curve was the best he had seen in the Sally League. Raines was also back in the Stellarton rotation in 1954.
(July 20) The Milwaukee Braves have signed pitcher Ron Perry, presently with the Kentville Wildcats, to a minor-league contract. An All-American in basketball Perry prefers the diamond game despite being courted by a number of NBA teams including the Boston Celtics. With Kentville this season he has a 1 and 5 record. In 28 innings he has given up 28 runs, 38 hits, walked 13 and struck out 20. Kentville is patiently awaiting the return of Dave Stenhouse from his military stint.
(July 21) Liverpool beat up on Truro pitchers John Anderson and Johnny Gee, picking up eleven hits against Anderson. Gee fared little better giving up 2 runs in one inning pitched.
While the H&D League routinely mixes veterans of professional baseball with college prospects, the Maine-New Brunswick League is strictly a collegiate amateur league. Recently, a player brought to Edmundston was judged to be a “pro” and was quickly released. Richie Columbo once played in the Pacific Coast League. Columbo also played in the Cape Breton Colliery League in the late 1940s.
(July 27) An editorial in the Halifax Herald focused on the escalating costs of running a club in the H&D League. There were rumors that Kentville and Liverpool could not keep operating much longer unless there were changes in the salary structure. Kentville was reportedly losing $700 per week and was about to increase ticket prices. The editorial suggested that in the future teams should only recruit collegians since they were cheaper than old pros from the minor leagues.
(July 28) The Halifax Herald asked the question “who is the fastest baserunner in the H&D League?” Its choice was outfielder Johnny Simourian, although Jerry Cline, Zeke Bella and Hugh Hamil were close behind.
(July 31) At the player deadline Zeke Bella is leading the batting race with a .400 average going 42 - 129, with eleven doubles and seven home runs. Stellarton’s Joe Fulghum is next at .343, Jim Edwards at .322 and George Lewis at .320. Kentville’s Bill Kearns was hitting .338 but his 65 at bats were not enough to qualify.
(August 6) Because of an unusually rainy summer the Maine-New Brunswick League has extended its regular season schedule from August 13 to August 16. League playoffs will take place after that.
(August 8) The Maine-New Brunswick League, featuring many of the outstanding college ball players in New England and New York, is producing one of the closest pennant races since its organization. Three of the four teams will appear on successive days at the 101st annual Northern Maine Fair in Presque Isle. The Maine-New Brunswick League has spawned many young players who have advanced in Organized Baseball like Andy McGowan, now the property of the Chicago Cubs, Fred Flemming of Juniper, New Brunswick, now in the Eastern League, Johnny Catallo and Joe Lewis in the Dodgers and Tigers systems. The Presque Isle Indians and Grand Falls Cataracts are neck and neck in league play. Source: The Bangor Daily News.
(August 11) It is a close race between three of the four teams in the Maine-New Brunswick League. Houlton is leading the league with an 18-13 record, and Grand Falls and Presque are 1 ½ games back. Edmundston is in the cellar at 13-22.
(August 12) A number of major league scouts were in town checking on Zeke Bella. One said that he could help a couple of clubs in the majors right now. Among the bird dogs interested in Bella if the Yankees jettison him were Neil Mahoney, Claire Hoose, Ben Huffman, Jeff Jones, Chuck Ward and Pete Gebrian.
(August 15) The Maine-New Brunswick League saw its first no-hit-no run game of the year when Dick Grant, a youngster from Saco, Maine, blanked the Houlton Collegians 2-0. Grant faced only 29 batters. One Houlton batter walked in the first and an error in the seventh accounted for the other baserunner.
(August 16) The Maine-New Brunswick League season comes to an end today. Playoffs begin on the 18th with Houlton facing off against Presque Isle and Grand Falls meeting Edmundston.
(August 21) Halifax had a successful start to their playoff series against the Stellarton Albions, winning 10-2 behind a fine pitching performance by Gerry Levinson. Billy Carter, Bob Scariato and Jerry Cline all homered for the winners.
(August 22) Jerry Cline had three hits, one of them a triple to lead Halifax to its second straight playoff win. Zeke Bella, Billy Carter and Bob Scariato all chipped in with two hits as the Cardinals won 6-3. Bella and Scariato both had doubles. Slender Bob Davis (Yale) was the winning pitcher.
(August 23) (Wild Bill) Oster, who played last season with Liverpool, made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Athletics, giving up a run and two hits in a single inning pitched. With Liverpool he appeared in 18 games with a 2-6 record. In 51 1/3 innings he surrendered 31 runs and 45 hits, striking out 60 and walking 30. Oster is scheduled to make his first big league start against Allie Reynolds and the New York Yankees. In the spring Oster had shopped himself around to a number of big league clubs seeking a large bonus, but his plans went awry when he ended up with a sore shoulder.
Houlton Collegians and Grand Falls Cataracts racked up impressive wins in the Maine-New Brunswick League playoffs over the weekend. Houlton defeated Presque Isle 4-2 on Friday and won 2-1 on Saturday. After losing 6-3 on Friday the Cataracts eked out a close 4-3 victory on Saturday. Presque Isle and Edmunston now face elimination in the playoffs.
(August 24) Jack Kurty, player manager of the Presque Isle Indians, was the only batter to hit over .300 in regular season action this year, according to league statistician Ken McKay of Houlton. His .339 average was 40 points higher than his closest competitor Jim Davins. Duke University speedster Dave Sime ended up in third place with a .286 average. This is Kurty’s second Maine-New Brunswick League batting title.
(August 26) In Maine-New Brunswick League action the Houlton Collegians took the first game of the championship series, knocking off Grand Falls 8-3. Bill Anderson was the winning pitcher and George Ulrich took the loss. Anderson hit a two run homer to aid his own cause, and teammate Pete Berland contributed a three- run clout in the sixth.
(August 28) The resilient Stellarton Albions crawled up off the mat to win the third game of the H&D League finals by a 9-5 score.
(August 26) Thirty-nine year old Danny Seaman hit a 400 foot pinch-hit grand slam homerun in the 10th inning to lead Liverpool to a 6-2 triumph over the Dartmouth Arrows in semi-final playoff action.
(August 28) Liverpool defeated Dartmouth 7-6 in twelve innings to win the semi-final playoff series against Dartmouth. It was the second straight extra inning victory for the Larrupers, who will now advance against either Stellarton or Halifax in the finals.
(August 29) The Halifax – Stellarton series is now tied at two games apiece after the Albions won a ten inning squeaker 3-2. Jack Turney scored the winning run on a Billy Carter error. Zeke Bella and Tommy Carroll both had two hits for Halifax. John Waselchuk in relief of Monk Raines was credited with the win. Gerry Levinson was the loser.
(August 30) Bob Davis picked up his second win of the series as the Cardinals defeated Stellarton by a score of 7-5. Tommy Carroll had three hits and Jerry Cline a towering home run for Halifax. Elsewhere the Houlton Collegians brought themselves within one game of the Maine-New Brunswick League championship crown when they tripped Grand Falls 8-5 on the Cataracts home field. Ron Salvail went 3-5 to pace the winning attack, and Arlan Barber chipped in with a home run for Grand Falls. Dave Ready was the winning pitcher and Russ Duffy was saddled with the loss.
(September 1) Halifax eliminated Stellarton, winning their best of nine semi-final series in six games. Phil Tarpey pitched a neat two hitter to lead the Cardinals to a 4-1 victory even though Halifax could only muster five singles off Connie Hemphill and Monk Raines.
(September 2) In the opening game of the H&D League championship series Liverpool registered a decisive 7-1 victory over Halifax. Don Swanson gave up only six hits to lead the Larrupers to the win. Billy Carter’s home run produced the only run for the Cardinals.
(September 4) A fine pitcher’s duel ended up when second baseman Tom Powers hit a game winning homer in the eighth to lead the Larrupers to a 2-1 victory over Halifax. Jerry Cline went 2 for 4 in a losing cause. The Cardinals mustered only five hits against Larruper pitching. In the Maine-New Brunswick league championship series Houlton edged Grand Falls 6-4
(September 5) Tommy Carroll went 4 for 5 and Jack Cosgrove and Jerry Cline went yard for Halifax as it demolished Liverpool 12-1 in game three of the playoff series.
In the Maine-New Brunswick League championship series Houlton captured the Governor’s trophy having won both the league pennant and the playoffs. George Noonan was the hero of the day in the final game shutting out the Grand Falls Cataract on three scratch hits.
(September 6) Halifax was propelled to a virtual slaughter of the Larrupers yesterday. Local products Billy Carter and Johnny Clark were standouts, Carter going 5 - 5 and Clark 5 - 6 at the plate. Tommy Carroll contributed three hits as the Halifax boys ended up on the top end of a 20-10 marathon.
(September 7) Halifax edged Liverpool 6-5 yesterday in game six of the H&D League championship series. Johnny Clark and Jack Cosgrove hit home runs for the Cardinals.
(September 8) The Halifax Cardinals are the 1954 H&D League champions. Gerry Levinson’s 5-0 shutout of Liverpool in the final game sealed the deal for the Cards. Liverpool managed only two hits off Levinson. Catcher Dick Wilkens (Adelphi) who struggled at the plate all season went two for three with a circuit clout to lead the attack. Don Richards gave up the 5 runs, all earned, on seven hits. He struck out 14 but walked 7 batters. In the two playoff rounds Halifax got terrific performances from Tommy Carroll who went 19 – 48 .396, and Jerry Cline 15-48 .313 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles and a triple.
(September 15) 19 year-old Springhill native Eugene “Farmer” White spent the season with Fort Walton Beach of the Class-D Alabama-Florida League playing at second and third base. White hit .245 with seven home-runs in 432 at bats and posted an OBP of .379.
HALIFAX / MARITIMES 1955
(March 1) In a meeting at the Carleton Hotel in Halifax last month, officials of the H&D League met to set guidelines for the 1955 season. There was a general agreement - some thought it binding and others regarded it as a general guideline - to restrict the number of veteran players from Organized Baseball and to establish salary caps for individual players and clubs. This meeting was a response to the fact that every club in the six team league lost money in 1954.
(April 3) The Edmundston Republicans of the Maine-New Brunswick League announced the hiring of J. Robert (Bob) Shawkey as Manager-Coach for the 1955 season. Shawkey, head coach at Dartmouth College, was a four time twenty-game winner and fifteen-year major league veteran with the Yankees and the Athletics. He managed the Yankees in 1930 and a number of Triple-A teams after that. Almost every autumn for a number of years Shawkey has led a moose-hunt expedition to Maine and New Brunswick. Six teams this year are competing in the cross-border circuit: Edmundston, Grand Falls, Houlton, Presque Isle, Loring Air Force base, and Presque Isle AFB.
(April 19) Art Hoch, physical education director at North Carolina State, agreed last night to coach this year’s Halifax Cardinals. He will scout the deep South for players and has several prospects in mind. Of the players with Halifax last year when Bob Decker was piloting the club, the only one Hoch has definitely said he wants is second-baseman Billy Carter. The Halifax native was one of three outstanding locals on last year’s squad. The others were Don Boudreau and Johnny Clark. Carter’s double play partner Tommy Carroll in 1954 signed a $40,000 bonus and will spend the next two years on the Yankees big league roster. Boudreau was offered a pro contract, but a knee injury in the Brooklyn Dodgers spring training camp ended that venture. Archie Allen, head baseball coach at Springfield College, will take over the coaching reins in Kentville. He was a veteran of the minor leagues in the Yankees system before taking up a coaching career. George Owen, a sporting icon at Harvard in hockey, football and baseball, will man the helm at Truro. An All-American in football, Owen played hockey in the NHL for the Boston Bruins. He has had numerous offers to play pro ball as well. Former big-leaguer Stan Benjamin has been hired to look after a team of young prospects in Stellarton. The Albions have significantly reduced their reliance on veteran pros from the Carolinas.
(May 20) Jack Halpin a star in both the H&D League and Quebec’s Laurentide League has taken over as playing coach of the Yarmouth Gateways in the Shelburne County circuit. Halpin is particularly impressed by fifteen year-old Ken Veniot who got a close look from Braves scout Jeff Jones. Veniot was invited to the Rogers Hornsby camp in Arizona, and will be playing for his hometown this season along with established stars like Hally Horton.
(May 28) Tom Pruitt, freshman hurler from East Carolina College slated to pitch for Halifax this year, was signed by scout Tom Murchison of the Giants to a minor league contract. Pruitt was a college teammate of Bill Cline who played for the Cardinals last year and is now in the Yankees minor league system.
(June 10) The H&D League opened in Liverpool as the local Larrupers pulled off a 2-0 victory over the Stellarton Albions. It was a pitcher’s duel between Liverpool flame-thrower Don Richards and Russ Henrichs on the hill for Stellarton. Henrichs gave up only three hits in a losing cause, and Richards was the star of the game aiding his own cause with a 380 homer to left center field. Richards got all of the attention striking out 13, walking 4. He also picked off a baserunner, committed two throwing errors and started a double play. Stellarton home-brew Jim McNeil started at third-base for the Als, played errorless ball and went 1-4 at the plate.
(June 11) Halifax and Dartmouth split home and home tilts as the season kicked off in metro. In the afternoon game Halifax won 4-2 with Jim Raugh on the mound, while Darmouth won by the same score in the evening match as the teams crossed the harbour to “Little Brooklyn”. Halifax started with two high profile athletes in its lineup, outfielder Dave Sime and first-baseman Don Stafford. Sime is an international level sprinter from Duke University sought after by all sixteen major league teams. Stafford was a graduate of Lenoir Rhyne. In 1948 he was honored with the A.G. Spalding National Award as minor league rookie of the year. In 1952 Stafford won the Hillerich-Bradsby Silver bat for compiling the best minor league batting average (.408) in all of minor league baseball.
(June 27) Earl Francis, fast-balling righty from West Virginia, fanned sixteen and gave up only three hits pitching Loring Air Force base to a 3-2 win over Presque Isle in Maine-New Brunswick League action. Francis had a one-hit shutout entering the ninth when George McCafferty homered with Angie Dagres aboard.
(July 1) Shelburne Loyalists of the Shelburne County League have signed Stu Erickson as their playing coach. A former H&D Leaguer and minor league veteran from Duke University, Erickson now makes his year-round home in Nova Scotia. Two other imports will play under Erickson, Johnny Pannucci (Syracuse) and Armand Colombo from Brockton, Mass.
In other weekend action Bill Kunkel struck out nine, leading Presque Isle to a 5-4 victory over Houlton, and Bill Thurston (Edmundston) hurled a shutout over the Collegians.
(July 3) Liverpool Larrupers and Kentville Wildcats split a holiday twin bill as the Larrupers retained their 3 ½ game lead over the second-place Valley club. Kentville won 9-4 in the opener but Liverpool bounced back to take a thrilling 4-3 win in the second game. Kentville’s Roger Rada continued his torrid hitting and Liverpool’s big Gordie Massa broke up the nightcap as he singled sharply to center, scoring George Lewis from second base with the deciding run.
(July 4) Jim Bailey, Wildcat left-hander, allowed only a scratch single in the sixth to Truro’s Dave Martens as Kentville won 5-0. A sensational play was turned in by shortstop Don Prohovich when he leaped high to knock down Chook Maxwell’s scorching liner, falling on his back but catching the ball with his bare hand before it reached the ground. Bailey is the younger brother of Cincinnati Reds’ catcher Ed Bailey and is likely to sign with the Reds for the 1956 season.
(July 6) Second-baseman Billy Carter of the Halifax Cardinals is out for the season after suffering a broken leg on a play at second base. Halifax went on to defeat Kentville 8-1 behind the four hit pitching of Jim Raugh. Carter’s loss is a big blow to the club and leaves a gaping hole in the Card’s infield. It will likely be filled by Johnny Falwell.
(July 9) Angelo Dagres, the Presque Isle Indians’ sensational center-fielder, staged an awesome display of power before a capacity crowd which included four major league scouts. Dagres led his mates to a 6-5 victory over the league-leading Edmundston Republicans, hitting three homers including the clinching marker in the eighth.
In H&D League action, Charlottetown native Don MacLeod notched his sixth straight victory of the season against no defeats as the Larrupers crushed Stellarton 13-1. His mates backed him with a 13 hit assault that included home runs from Jim Davins and Jack Kubiszyn.
(July 12) In a classic pitcher’s duel, Moe Drabowsky and the Truro Bearcats edged Stellarton’s Jim Kennedy by a score of 1-0. Stan (Chook) Maxwell went three for four and catcher Ron Kozuch had two hits and knocked in the winning run for Truro. Drabowsky struck out eleven and held Stellarton to two hits.
(July 13) Jim Bailey scattered seven hits and picked up his second win of the season as the Kentville Wildcats defeated Halifax 9-4. Jim Raugh was the losing pitcher.
(July 12) Edmundston and Presque Isle are runaway leaders in the Maine-New Brunswick League. Edmundston has a 14-3 record, a half-game ahead of Presque at 14-4. Presque Isle AFB has yet to win a game in 12 starts.
(July 17) The expected withdrawal of the Presque Isle Air Force Base from the Maine-New Brunswick League was officially accepted with regrets at a special league directors’ meeting. The Air Force team record was 0 and 13 and there was no indication that it could compete adequately against the other teams in the league.
(July 30) Halifax has found an adequate replacement for Billy Carter at second base in 1953 First Team All-American Ken Tippery. Tippery was a member of the 1953 University of Michigan College World Series champions and played for Ray Fisher in Truro last year.
(August 1) Jim Kuykendall, a 21 year-old left-hander serving his second term in the H&D League, carved himself a niche in the league’s Hall of Fame at Wanderers Grounds Saturday. The portly – 199 pound - southpaw uncorked a bottle of aspirin tablets and a snapping curve and threw them at Truro to register the third no-hit, no-run game in league history. The others were notched by Gerry Levinson in the 1949 playoffs, and from the talented arm of Phil Tarpey at Kentville in 1954.
(August 9) With the withdrawal of the Houlton Collegians and Loring AFB from the Maine-New Brunswick League a round-robin series of 12 games will be played involving the remaining three teams.
In H&D League action the Truro Bearcats edged Dartmouth 2-1 in eleven innings. The game was a thriller all the way as lefthander Don Eason took the win over Dartmouth ace John Stokoe.
(August 12) Officials and team representatives will meet in Halifax on the weekend to arrange the H&D League playoff schedules. With only a week to go you can count Liverpool, Halifax and Kentville as definite starters but the fourth spot is yet to be decided. Stellarton and Dartmouth, both of whom are struggling at the gate petitioned the league to open the playoffs to all six teams, but the request was denied. Stellarton in particular was angry with other teams for violating guidelines agreed upon in a league meeting in February, and its team of talented but inexperienced younger players was unable to compete on a level basis with other teams in the league such as Halifax that went in the other direction. Don Cox of the Truro executive went on record to say that his club adhered to the suggested salary caps. One of the talented Stellarton kids considered not yet ready was pitcher-outfielder Jack Lamabe from the University of Vermont. Lamabe was released after a couple of appearances, but would eventually play seven years in the major leagues.
(August 20) One of the largest crowds of the season watched little left-hander Don Eason pitch the Truro Bearcats into a third place tie with the Kentville Wildcats. The Bearcats came through with a 4-2 victory. Eason pitched brilliant ball, giving up seven hits over the nine inning route. Sal Ferrara and Bob Kennel both had two hits for the winners. Eddie Lyons took the loss.
(August 21) The Maine-New Brunswick All-Star selections for 1955 are as follows. First team: Catcher Ron Staples (PI); 1B Jack Riley (E); 2B Buddy Getchell; 3B Jack Brennan (PI); SS Dave Markey (E); OF Joe Malone (GF); Angelo Dagres (PI); Dave Sime (E). Pitchers: Larry Bossidy (PI); Bill Thurston (E); Ralph Lumenti (PI). Second Team: Catcher Dave Ricketts (E); 1B George McCafferty; 2B Charlie Lehman (PI); 3B John Stoughton (E); SS Charlie Pike (H); OF Ron Salvail (H); Wayne Wilson (GF) and John Skypeck (PI). Pitchers: George Noonan (H); Earl Francis (LAF) and Ron Perranoski (E).
(August 22) Billy Carter, the talented second-baseman of the Halifax Cardinals who suffered a season ending broken leg earlier in the year, was honoured at Wanderers Grounds on Billy Carter Day. Carter was presented with gifts and cheques that amounted to more than $800 in value. He was given a standing ovation by the crowd of more than 1,000.
(August 29) The Edmundston Republicans and Grand Falls Cataracts will continue Maine-New Brunswick League Governor’s Cup semi-final play Monday night at Edmundston with the Republicans holding a 1-0 lead in the all-Canadian series. Lefthander Ron Perranoski hurled the 1955 pennant winners to a 4-1 win in the opener. Featuring the action was catcher Dave Ricketts’ inside the park home run. The winner of the series will go on to play Presque Isle for the league championship.
In H&D League playoff action the Halifax Cardinals edged Truro by a score of 1-0 on Tom Bujnowski’s masterful six hitter and Eugene (Bucky) Luck’s home run. Moe Drabowsky gave up a run on nine hits but was saddled with the loss. Luck, who batted .314 during the regular season, leaned into a Drabowsky fastball in the second and knocked it into the left field seats about 50 feet from the foul-line.
(August 31) Bob Davis, a mainstay of the Halifax Cardinals pitching staff last year, pitched a no-hitter in just his second start for Burlington (Provincial). A Yale grad, Davis began the season with Savannah (Sally) after signing with the Athletics organization.
(September 1) George Lewis hit a grand slam and Jack Kubiszyn and Jim Davins also homered as Liverpool clipped the Wildcats 8-2 for their fourth win of the best of nine semi-final series. Don MacLeod was the winning pitcher giving up eight hits but always able to bear down in the clutch. In the other semi-final Moe Drabowsky fanned 15 batters as Truro defeated Halifax 7-3. Charlie Sticka had three hits for the winners.
(September 2) Artie Hoch hit a storybook grand-slam homer at Wanderer’s ground last night to lead Halifax to an 8-6 comeback victory over the Truro Bearcats. The win sends the Cardinals into the league final playoffs. Hoch’s blast off reliever Moe Drabowsky touched off a rare demonstration. Fans swarmed the field, grabbed the grinning hero and hoisted him aloft as hundreds milled about. Halifax’s Buddy Condy and Truro’s Dick Carter also slugged home runs.
In the other semi-final series Kentville avoided elimination with a 3-2 victory over Liverpool. Dick Bunker was the hero, holding the Larrupers to just 2 hits. Libby Julian knocked in Roger Rada with the decisive tally for the Wildcats.
(September 2) Kentville Wildcats again bounced off the mat last night and when the damage was done Series A in the H&D League semifinals was tied at four games each. A ninth game will be played today. With Eddie Lyons, Ray Lamontagne and Don Prohovich playing key roles, the Wildcats jumped up to claw Liverpool 5-3. Lyons went all the way for Kentville, scattering nine hits. Lamontagne went four for four with a triple and three singles. Prohovich made two outstanding defensive plays from deep in the hole in the final two innings to clinch the victory.
(September 3) Liverpool knocked Kentville out of the playoffs with a 9-5 victory in the ninth and deciding game. Crafty Ed Hadlock, Maine native and veteran of many baseball wars in the Maritimes and Quebec over the past decade, was the winner. A brief Kentville rally in the eighth kept the Liverpool bleacherites on the edge of their seats when Bob Rowe powered a drive over the left field wall with Roger Rada aboard. Kentville’s Jim Bailey took the loss. The Larrupers now advance to the championship round against Halifax.
(September 4) The Liverpool – Halifax final series begins today in Liverpool.
(September 6) Local boy Jackie Rudderham who last pitched in the H&D League in 1950 was treated roughly by the Cardinals who went on to a 11-4 victory, their first in the series.
(September 7) Liverpool needs only one more victory to capture its first H&D League crown. Liverpool rang up a 7-0 victory over Halifax behind Ron Cote’s four-hitter. Buss, Kaiser and Powers all had two hits for the winners, and Art Hoch the same for Halifax. For a man who pitched 14 innings only four days ago, Cote appeared fresh as a daisy.
(September 8) 1955 was a big season for Danny Seaman and his Liverpool Larrupers who capped off the year with a season-ending 12-6 victory over Halifax. Liverpool won the H&D championship for the first time, and despite the loss of some of its pitching staff who had to return to their respective colleges in the United States, Liverpool won five of six final playoff games. Ron Cote was the leader on the mound with three victories in the championship round and young Don Macleod, a Charlottetown lad and Boston College student, won the other two. The Larrupers, ably directed by Seaman, and had an offense sparked by old pro Jack Kaiser (St. John’s), slick fielding infielder Jack Kubiszyn (Alabama) and stocky catcher Gordon Massa (Holy Cross). Bill Holt was a standout for Halifax in both playoff series.
The Shelburne County League season ended when the Middleton Cardinals, behind two-games to none in the final playoff round against the Shelburne Clover Leafs, chose to throw in the towel.
(September 10) Bonus baby Art “Red” Swanson who pitched last summer with Liverpool in the H&D League made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He gave up four runs in two innings of work.
(September 20) Angelo Dagres, the 1955 batting champ with Presque Isle of the Maine-New Brunswick league, left Maine yesterday, had a tryout with the Baltimore Orioles in the morning, signed a major league contract and was in the lineup that afternoon figuring prominently in the Oriole’s 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. He drove in two runs including the clinching marker in the top half of the tenth with a sacrifice fly. He went one for three with a whistling single earlier in the game. Dagres signed with the Orioles for a bonus spread over a number of seasons. The Philadelphia Phillies had earlier dangled a $40,000 bonus but he chose Baltimore instead.
The Maine-New Brunswick league started the season with six teams, but that shrunk to three, leaving fans wondering if it would continue to operate next year. The Down East League has already given up on the import model and is operating as an amateur circuit, and that may be the fate of the Maine-New Brunswick League as well. Everywhere in North America the halcyon days are waning and semi-pro and minor league baseball is in a state of contraction. Should the Maine-New Brunswick League fold, the H&D League would be the last operating league of its kind in the Maritimes and New England.
HALIFAX / MARITIMES 1956
(May 1) Halifax is struggling to make the starting gate for the H&D League this season. Among other things, the club is in a dispute with the City over the use of Wanderers Grounds. Kentville, Truro, Stellarton, Dartmouth and Liverpool are all ready to operate once again this year.
(May 2) Art Hoch will coach the Dartmouth Arrows in 1956, assisted by good buddy Jim Edwards. Edwards, who played in league in 1954, is a graduate of North Carolina State and played eight years in the minor leagues reaching as high as the International League Buffalo Bisons where he hit .271 in 95 games in 1951. Last season he was with Fayetteville of the Carolina League. An affiliation arrangement with the Chicago Cubs broke down a couple of weeks ago, so Hoch will have to rely on his contacts in the Carolinas in putting the team together.
(May 10) The Kentville Wildcats have made arrangements to bring two star players from the University of Arizona, outfielder Tom Clarkson and Craig Sorenson, to Nova Scotia. The Wildcats also signed first-baseman Al Levine (Ithaca) which will likely move Roger Rada to third-base.
(May 19) Interest in baseball has taken a turn for the better now that Halifax is back in for another season. Halifax will be renamed the Citadels and have signed an affiliation agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies. They will be coached by former big leaguer Lew Krausse. The Citadels will have snappy new uniforms of major league design and Philadelphia will supply the players, all of whom are scheduled to arrive by June 10th. Halifax’s good fortune derived from the folding of the Phillies Trois-Rivieres club in the Class-C Quebec Provincial League. Krausse already had a contract to coach that club and the Phillies didn’t want to cut him loose. The Phils have decided to compensate for losing their minor league farm club by sending the top unsigned prospects on its future wish list to Halifax.
(May 21) The new schedule is out and the H&D League is set to open June 10th when Stellarton visits Liverpool. The first game in Halifax will be June 11th. League play will continue through August 18 and playoffs will begin on August 20.
(May 29) George Owen is returning as coach of the Truro Bearcats. At present, the T.A.A.C grounds are being put in shape and repairs are being made to the bleachers. As in the past, Jeff Jones, chief New England and Maritime scout for the Braves, is assisting in lining up the Truro team. Danny Seaman will coach the Larrupers, Archie Allen will be back in Kentville, Joe Fulghum will try his hand for the first time in Stellarton, and Lew Krausse will make his league debut in Halifax.
(June 11) The Shelburne County Baseball League opened in bitterly cold weather with temperatures in the low 40s and gusty winds. The Shelburne Loyalists drubbed the Barrington Braves 11-3. Don LeFurgey, a Summerside P.E.I. native, scattered five hits in the seven inning game. Ben Carson took the loss.
In other news, Duke University sprinter Dave Sime broke the world record in the 220 yard dash in a California track meet on Saturday. Sime played the last two summers in the Maritimes with Halifax and Edmundston.
(June 11) Don Woodlief hurled Stellarton to its second straight shutout victory over Liverpool as the H&D League opened the season. Woodlief struck out nine on his way to a 3-0 blanking of the Larrupers.
(June 15) John Stokoe and Jerry Boxer combined to shutout Liverpool in a four-hit 4-0 Dartmouth Arrows victory. Ralph Lumenti suffered his second loss of the season. The Arrows scored all of their runs in the fourth inning. Art Hoch had two RBIs for the winners. It was the Larrupers’ third whitewashing of the opening week of H&D League play.
(June 18) Lew Krausse’s Halifax Citadels donned their hitting togs, knocking out 14 hits to bounce Liverpool 8-3 and hang on to a first place tie with Dartmouth. Len Dempsey went 4-4 for the visitors. Jack Kubiszyn homered over the left field stands for Liverpool.
(June 19) Left-hander Ken MacKenzie of Gore Bay, Ontario, a student at Yale, is set to join the Truro Bearcats. He joins a staff anchored by Moe Drabowsky (Trinity).
(June 20) Dartmouth has won five of its first six games for playing-coach Art Hoch. Most of Artie’s players come from the deep South and have been playing for some time, which may account for their quick jump. Two North Carolinians, Jack Turney and Jim Edwards are off to especially good starts.
(June 21) Maine native Ron Staples walloped a home run over the left-field fence with two out in the ninth as Kentville walked off the league leading Dartmouth Arrows 8-7. The blast gave Kentville its first win of the season. Another Maine product, 1955 First Team All-American Neil Stinneford, set things up with a grand slam off Billy Walsh (Wake Forest) in the sixth. Elsewhere, the Truro Bearcats eked out a 3-2 victory over Liverpool behind the two-hit performance of Moe Drabowsky. Outfielder George McCafferty (Massachusetts) hit a two-run blast to lead his club to the win.
(June 23) Walt Brady smashed two home runs and Dean Robbins a third as Halifax sidelined Stellarton 6-3.
(June 26) Burly Leo Parent from Lowell, Mass. hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Stellarton a lead they never relinquished in a 4-1 win over Kentville. Tom Harkey was the winning pitcher, scattering four hits.
(June 28) Charlie Mellen (Massachusetts) hit his sixth homer of the season as the Halifax Citadels overwhelmed the Truro Bearcats 8-2. Jim Farino (Holy Cross) was the winner while Dave Kuhn (Vermont) was saddled with the loss.
(June 29) The Presque Isle Indians, operating as an independent club, won its 22nd of 24 games when they knocked off Rockland 11-6. Charlie Lehman hit two doubles for the winners and Pete Brown was the winning pitcher, fanning 13 batters. In other Maine action, Earl Francis, who has been pitching great ball this year, threw a one-hitter against the Limestone Chiefs fanning twenty-four batters in the process. He has pitched two no-hitters earlier this season, and rates a fine prospect with a number of major league clubs interested in him. Francis was with Loring AFB in the Maine-New Brunswick League last year.
Here are the batting averages of the Presque Isle club to date: Leone 37-83 .445; Dick Bohner 38-94 .423; Charlie Lehman 37-92 .393; Eddie Burke 31-84 .362; Hersey 21-58 .362; Proulx 25-77 .325.
(July 6) The Presque Isle Indians will host the Dalhousie, New Brunswick club on Saturday at McMackin Field. Either Jimmy Chase or Pete Brown will get the nod from Manager Lowell (Ozzie) Osgood. The Indians only two losses this year have come at the hands of Earl Francis and the Loring AFB Base Bombers.
(July 8) Gerry Duffy, a former batting king in the now-defunct Maine-New Brunswick League, and Dick Cormier a former Fort Fairfield and Houlton Collegians star, are playing this season for Woodstock, New Brunswick. Woodstock has several other imports. Cormier also had a brief stint in the H&D League. Woodstock was edged 4-3 in the New Brunswick town by Presque Isle and is scheduled for a return match back across the border on Thursday.
(July 12) Youthful Carman Noiles, a Springhill boy, will make his first start in the H&D League when Truro hosts the Kentville Wildcats. Carmie had a couple of outings with Corning (NYP) in the spring but wanted to be back in Nova Scotia for the summer. Bearcat coach George Owen expressed himself as well pleased with the young ace and believes he has a great baseball future. The Bosox have already expressed a desire to sign him in the future.
(July 17) Stellarton made a number of roster changes going into the second half of the summer. The Albions signed pitchers Rudy Williams and Don McCarthy, first-baseman Buck Smith, and second-sacker Eddie Beck. They released Jack Stallings, George Cream, Jack Phillips, Tom Harkey and Russ Henrichs.
Sal Ferrara continued to lead the league batting race with a .383 average, ahead of Stellarton’s Bill Barnett .380, and Liverpool’s Jack Kubiszyn at .347. Charlie Mellen leads in home runs with eight. Pitching leaders are Don MacLeod (Liverpool) 5-0, Meredith (Spud) Murray (Halifax) 5-1, Ken MacKenzie (Truro) 5 and 1, and Jack McGinley (Stellarton) 6-2. Drabowsky is the strikeout leader with 68.
(July 23) The Chicago Cubs announced the signing of right-hander Moe Drabowsky for a reported $60,000 bonus. The Cubs flew Moe directly from Nova Scotia to Chicago. With Truro this season he had a 6 and 2 record. In 67 innings he gave up 21 runs and 33 hits, struck out 80 and walked 35. This was his second season with the Bearcats. Lenny Merullo, who played in the Cape Breton Colliery League in the thirties, spent considerable time scouting the H&D League and following Drabowsky around this season.
(July 25) Liverpool took over fourth place as they clipped the hapless Halifax Citadels 6-2 behind the splendid pitching and batting of right-hander Dale Willis. Willis gave up only six hits and his screaming line drive with the bases loaded in the sixth inning iced the victory for the Larrupers.
(July 26) New York Yankee scout Harry Hesse, now evaluating talent in the H&D League, reports that bonus baby Tommy Carroll is doing well with the Bronx Bombers. “Carroll is doing wonderfully and the Yankees think he will be a great player,” said Hesse. Carroll played for Bob Decker’s Halifax Cardinals in 1954 before signing a $40,000 bonus contract.
(July 29) Maine baseball fans are amazed at the striking resemblance Eddie Burke, the six foot seven inch first-basemen of the Presque Isle Indians, bears to Red Sox slugger Ted Williams. Burke not only has a facial resemblance to Williams but also has the mannerism of the latter at the plate.
(July 30) Don MacLeod, the PEI native and Boston College star, pitched Liverpool to a 4-0 shutout victory over Dartmouth. MacLeod gave up only 2 hits and ran his season record to 3 and 0.
(August 1) Bob Ritacco pitched a smart four-hitter to sideline the Halifax Citadels 4-0. Ritacco bested minor league veteran Meredith (Spud) Murray who was gunning for his eighth victory. Chook Maxwell led Truro with a double and single. Murray is still Phillies’ property and working to recover from a sore shoulder. Like Lew Krausse, Murray is a native of Media, Pennsylvania and the two have been friends for years.
(August 14) Hard luck Dave Martens lost a one hitter as Kentville was sidelined 2-1 by the Truro Bearcats. Ken MacKenzie gave up only two hits and ended up with the win.
(August 15) Yarmouth Gateways proved themselves the stronger club as they eliminated the Shelburne Loyalists in the fifth game of their Shelburne County Senior League semi-final series. They will now meet the Barrington Braves in a seven game series final. The Loyalists were game to the finish. Playing as a three-import team against four for Barrington, and carrying on since the first game without regular first baseman Don Hicks, a .312 hitter on the season, Shelburne lost to a stronger club. Jack Halpin had two hits for Yarmouth in the final game which the Gateways won 4-2.
(August 16) Temperamental Jim Farino (Holy Cross), one of the top pitchers in the H&D League, left Halifax without letting anyone know. Jim has been unhappy because he turned down a pro contract and sizeable bonus offer earlier in the year and is not sure he should have. Coach Lew Krausse never knew when Farino was in the mood to pitch. He is considered a big league prospect.
(August 17) Liverpool kept their playoff hopes alive by edging Kentville 2-0 in a pitching duel between veteran Eddie Hadlock and young Bob List. Hadlock held Kentville to five hits and was helped to victory by Fred Twomey’s 380 foot home-run blast. Twomey is from Florida State University.
(August 19) There may have been some great stretch drives in H&D League history but 1956 must be rated a new high. The fourth and last playoff berth was decided in the final inning of the final game on the final day of the regular season. A playoff spot was clinched for Halifax when Barney Teliszewski robbed Kentville’s John Garofalo of a 375 line drive home run by a miraculous catch. With his back to the ball Teliszewski made the catch just as he crashed into the wall and held onto the ball as he fell to the ground. On the next play Neil Stinneford hit one to the 400 foot mark but it was corralled by the Citadels’ Charlie Mellen to secure the 4-3 victory. Bill Hearn was the winning pitcher. Eddie Lyons took the heart-breaking loss.
(August 20) Dartmouth’s Tom Bujnowski handcuffed the Halifax Citadels in the opening game of semi-final play before 2100 fans. Curve ball artist Bujnowski held the Citadels to 4 hits in a 7-3 victory for the pennant winning Arrows. Art Hoch and Bobby O’Donnell led Dartmouth. Hoch had a double and two singles and O’Donnell chipped in with two hits. Bill Ryback and Bob Hooper pitched for Halifax and both experienced control problems. In the other semi-final Truro’s Bob Wedin threw a three-hitter as the Bearcats walloped Stellarton 11-3. Leo Parent took the loss. George McCafferty went 3 for 4 with a home run to lead the attack and Sal Ferrara had two triples.
(August 21) Scoring two runs in the first of the fifth inning, Barrington Braves defeated the Yarmouth Gateways 2-0. Ralph (Creamer) Atwood picked up the shutout victory. Yarmouth leads the series two games to one with the fourth game scheduled for Barrington.
(August 23) The Truro Bearcats slugged their way into a commanding league in the best-of-seven semi-final series on their way to an 8-2 win over Stellarton. Charlie Pike went 3 for 5 with two doubles to lead the offense, and Ken MacKenzie, the only ten game winner in the regular season, scattered nine hits for the win. Jack McGinley picked up the loss. In the other semi-final Halifax evened the series at a game apiece taking a 5-3 decision over Dartmouth. Lanky Spud Murray spun a four-hitter for the Citadels, but three of them were home runs, accounting for all Darmouth’s runs. Ray Looney hit two homers for the Arrows and Art Hoch another.
(August 24) Jimmy Raugh, the leading won-loss percentage pitcher in the H&D League regular season, bested Bill Hearn in a brilliant mound duel in Little Brooklyn last night, and Dartmouth took a two-one series lead. Raugh was touched for six hits but held Halifax to a single run. Dartmouth scored two runs on four hits. In Truro the Bearcats opened up a three-game margin over Stellarton defeating the Albions 4-3 in a twelve inning thriller. Both pitchers Dan McCarthy for Stellarton and Bob Wedin for Truro, went the overtime distance. It was the latter’s second victory of the series.
(August 25) Collecting three home runs, a triple and six singles, Stellarton Albions knocked right-hander Charlie Symeon out of the box and went on to record an 8-2 victory. Don Woodlief, Jack Rabbits, and Gerry Stickler went yard and Leo Parent had a triple. Parent was on the mound for the win, holding Truro to just four hits.
(August 29) John Stokoe in relief of starter Tom Bujnowski held off the Halifax Citadels in a 9-6 victory for Dartmouth as the Arrows advanced to the H&D League final series. Harry Lloyd led Dartmouth at the plate with three hits. Bill Ryback was the losing pitcher. The Arrows will now face the Truro Bearcats who eliminated Stellarton 10-5 in the seventh and final game. Lefty Bob Wedin was the hero of the series for Truro winning three games. Dan McCarthy was saddled with the loss.
Both semi-final series were terrific. There were many stars. In the Halifax-Dartmouth encounters Meredith (Spud) Murray and Ray Looney were outstanding. Murray had a 9-2 record in the regular season. The story is that he pitched in Double-A last year but was plagued by a sore arm and was on the Phillies’ disabled list when Lew Krausse suggested he come here to get his arm back in shape. Murray depends on experience and pin-point control. Looney, a left-handed first-baseman from Pittsburgh who has been on the Pirates radar for some time, slammed four home runs for the series-winning Arrows.
(August 29) Yarmouth Gateways have captured the championship of the Shelburne County Senior Baseball League, largely due to two players well-known to Nova Scotian fans. One is playing-coach Jack Halpin, the other shortstop Don Boudreau. Halpin pitched in the final game, picked up three base hits, and ran his team well. Boudreau collected three hits, one a grand slam. Halpin is an import, Boudreau a native. Halpin first showed up in Nova Scotia back in 1948 when he won twenty-three games for Halifax. He stayed around for a few years and while he never matched his 1948 record was acknowledged everywhere as one of the best in the league. After that he was a dominant figure in the Quebec Laurentide League. Boudreau has seen service in Ontario’s Nickel Belt League and with several H&D League teams. He impressed major league scouts and had a fling in pro baseball this spring.
(August 30) A costly error by centerfielder Tom Tierney allowed three Dartmouth runs to score and gave the Arrows a 4-3 triumph over the Truro Bearcats in the opening game of the championship series. Both starting pitchers, Billy Walsh and Bob Ritacco went the distance with Walsh picking up the win. Dartmouth playing-coach Art Hoch was ejected in the eighth inning following a disputed play at second base. Although it didn’t compensate for the loss, Tierney had a triple for the Bearcats, who had eight hits off Walsh.
(August 31) Charlie Pike squeezed Joe Yaeger home with the winning run in the ninth inning as Truro defeated Dartmouth 3-2. The series is now deadlocked at a game apiece. The two clubs managed only nine hits, four for Truro and five for Dartmouth, as winner Ken MacKenzie bested Jerry Boxer and Tom Bujnowski. Jim Edwards was the offensive star with two doubles and home run for Dartmouth.
(September 1) Dartmouth Arrows took a two to one lead in games in the H&D League playoffs at Little Brooklyn last night, nipping Truro Bearcats 6-5 in another thriller. Ray Looney and Harry Lee Lloyd sparked the Dartmouth offense, while Stan (Chook) Maxwell chipped in with three hits for the Bearcats. Jim Raugh was the winning pitcher and Bob Wedin took the loss.
(Sept. 2) The independent Presque Isle Indians had a 25-4 record this season playing an exhibition schedule. They were considered the best semi-pro club in Maine this season.
(September 4) Smooth working Billy Walsh pitched Dartmouth to the H&D League crown before a large throng at the Dartmouth ballpark. Ten game winner Ken MacKenzie was driven to the showers in the third inning, but Charlie Symeon took the loss for Truro. It was the first championship for an Art Hoch coached squad and the first title for Dartmouth since Bob Decker’s powerful Arrows captured back-to- back championships in 1949 and 1950.
(September 15) Although no official H&D League All-star team was selected this year, the following would be a good slate. Catcher Leo Parent, First Base Roger Rada, Second Base Harry Lee Lloyd, Shortstop Sal Ferrara, Third Base Jack Kubiszyn, Left field Stan (Chook) Maxwell, Center Field Barney Teliszewski, and Right Field Charlie Mellen. Mound stars include Ken MacKenzie, Jim Raugh, Billy Walsh, and Meredith (Spud) Murray. Moe Drabowsky was another possible choice, but he left the league in mid-season and ended up pitching well with the Chicago Cubs the rest of the year.
(October 2) Charlie Lehman, second baseman for the Presque Isle Indians the past two seasons, has signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox and will report next spring to Colorado Springs of the Class-A Western League. Lehman had a fine .372 average in 29 games this season.
MARITIME GAME REPORTS 1957
(June 7) After weeks of uncertainty Halifax withdrew from the H&D League meaning that for the first time it would begin as a four team operation. Liverpool had already announced it would be suspending operations after a lengthy stint in the fast-paced circuit. Prior to the decision club officials in Halifax contemplated fielding a team of local players, but this was nixed by other clubs who thought a lack of pitching depth would render them uncompetitive.
(June 17) Kentville had seventeen players in town. Playing-coach Ed Lyons put the squad together on behalf of the Philadelphia Phillies and with assistance from George Owen one time coach of the Truro Bearcats. Infielder Dick Hlister from Maine and Ken Veniot who recently returned home to Nova Scotia after a spring trial with the Pittsburgh Pirates were eventually dropped as the Wildcats adjusted their roster to the fifteen player limit. Veniot was a youngster from Yarmouth and would play with the Gateways for the rest of the summer. Purnal Goldy who had arranged to play in Kentville did not report.
Art Steeb who went 4-3 with Liverpool in 1956 pitched the opener for the Dartmouth Arrows against Truro picking up the victory before 1200 fans at the Little Brooklyn park. Bob DeFino took the loss. The Kentville Wildcats were the other winner, edging Stellarton 2-1 in a classic pitching duel. Jim Farino was the winning pitcher and Jack McGinley was saddled with the loss despite pitching a superb game.
(June 18) Bill Risley out of the University of Connecticut was the winning pitcher as Truro knocked off the Albions by a score of 7-4. Leo Parent and John Boozer shared mound duties for Stellarton.
(June 19) Kentville edged Truro 7-6 as local boy Billy Wade held the Bearcats to one run over three innings of relief to pick up the win. Wade replaced Hal Deitz, a Holy Cross star making his initial appearance in the league. Deitz gave up five runs over six innings, but only three were earned. Dave Martens was the losing pitcher. Larry Rancourt and Jack McGowan both collected two hits for the winners, as did Tom Tierney, Herb Nicholas, Moe Morhardt, and Phil Dugas for Truro.
(June 20) Bob Coccodrilli who played three years for Liverpool before the club folded is now in Dartmouth and off to a good start with the bat. Coccodrilli had the reputation as a good field no hit kind of player.
(June 21) Kentville native Billy Wade picked up his second win as the Wildcats overpowered Stellarton 14-8. Ralph Gebhart took the loss for the Albions.
(June 24) Dartmouth nipped Kentville 4-3 to move into a first place tie with the Wildcats. Jon Ford, a stocky southpaw from Radner, Pennsylvania, surrendered only 2 runs over 7 1/3 innings. Wright finished up on the mound for the winners.
(June 25) Truro won another one-run game edging Stellarton 5-4. John Risley was the winner if relief of starter Dave Martens. Hugh Mendez singled home the winning run in the ninth inning. Phil Dugas went three for three for the Bearcats. In the other league game today Ed Lyons scattered eight hits as Kentville drubbed Dartmouth 8-2. Ed Czerniakowski led the Wildcats attack with a pair of doubles and a triple.
(June 26) Ron Liptak who had only 3 hits in 18 at bats lashed out three doubles and a single knocking in four runs in a 7-4 victory over Stellarton. Bob List was the winning pitcher with relief help from Ed Lyons. Leo Parent took the loss.
(June 27) Kentville continued their winning ways with a 13-8 victory over Truro. This was the seventh win in eight games for the Wildcats. Dick Keating had a home run for Kentville and George McCafferty replied for Truro. Hometown boy Billy Wade picked up his third win after coming in to relieve starter Hal Deitz. In other play Spud Murray hurled Stellarton to a 6-1 win over Darmouth. He also helped his own cause with a home run.
(June 28) Ralph Lumenti was wild but effective as Truro knocked off Kentville 5-4. Jack Kubiszyn had a three run homer in a losing cause. Lumenti struck out 12 but walked 11 batters.
(July 1) On Canada Day Truro won a slugfest over the Dartmouth Arrows. The 8-7 game saw six home runs. Chook Maxwell, Paul Brissette, Don Hafer and George McCafferty had circuit clouts for the winners. Dartmouth’s slugging first-baseman Ray Looney had two round trippers. Bob DeFino won the decision, going four scoreless innings in relief of starter Don MacLeod. In Kentville, newcomer Bob Krop worked eight innings and picked up a 3-2 win oer the cellar-dwelling Albions. Larry Rancourt homered for Kentville.
(July 2) Chook Maxwell’s bases-load triple was the key blow in Truro’s 4-2 win over Stellarton. Dave Martens got the win, Spud Murray the loss. Elsewhere Kentville and Dartmouth went fifteen innings at Memorial Park before the Arrows eked out a 6-5 victory. Paul Brissette scored the winning run on catcher Larry Rancourt’s passed ball.
(July 3) As of July 1st Ray Looney was leading the batting race with a .412 average. Four Wildcats followed: Jack Kubiszyn at .367, Ron Liptak .367, Ed Czerniakowski .364, and Jack McGowan .351. Kubiszyn and Don Hafer had three homers, and Hugh Mendez was the leading base-stealer with seven. Ed Lyons was leading pitchers with an 0.58 ERA, followed by Ralph Lumenti at 1.55. John Boozer was strikeout leader with 23 in 20 2/3 innings.
(July 4). Ralph Lumenti fanned sixteen batters in 7 2/3 innings but walked twelve in Truro’s 8-4 win over the Wildcats. Bill Risley got the save. Jack Kubiszyn led Kentville with two hits in three at bats. Truro played errorless ball behind Lumenti. In the other game Spud Murray picked up his third win as Stellarton defeated Dartmouth 6-2.
(July 7) Emmett Dietz’s 340 foot homer to left led Stellarton to a 3-2 upset of the league leading Kentville Wildcats. Jack McGinley was credited with the win and Hal Deitz pitched a good game in defeat.
(July 10) Ray Looney continues at the top of the batting parade with a .373 average. Ed Lyons, Bill Wade and John Boozer were the league’s top pitchers. Ralph Lumenti was strikeout leader with 36 Ks in 25 innings.
(July 11) Kentville edged Dartmouth 5-4 to regain top spot in the four team league standings. Bob List was the winning pitcher and Art Steeb took the loss.
(July 12) Ray Looney walloped three home runs as Dartmouth trounced Truro 16-4. In the other game Stellarton embarrassed Kentville 9-2 . Emmett Dietz and Wyman Morris both homered for the winners.
(August 1) A six run rally in the 8th inning game gave Stellarton a 7-4 victory over Dartmouth. Joe Cooper and Jack Phillips led Stellarton with two hits apiece. Spud Murray, the cagey veteran, was credited with the win. All four runs off Murray were unearned.
(August 5) Jack Kubiszyn went three-for-three and catcher Ed Czerniakowski had four RBIs as Kentville downed the Dartmouth Arrows 7-3. All of Dartmouth’s runs came via solo home runs from Ray Looney, Ed Horbelt and Weinstein. Hal Deitz struck out eleven in a solid complete game effort.
(August 6) Jack Kubiszyn leads the H&D League batting race with a .375 average in 128 at bats. Veteran pro Ed Lyons was at the top of the pitching parade with a four and one record and 1.97 ERA, followed closely by Dartmouth’s John Stokoe at 5-1 and 2.25, and Spud Murray 7-4 and 2.53.
(August 8) John Stokoe continues to impress, holding the Wildcats to two singles in a complete game shutout. Stokoe struck out six and walked four batters.
(August 9) The Darmouth Arrows bowed to Stellarton 6-4 and Kentville edged Truro 3-2. A ninth inning homer by catcher Emmett Dietz carried Stellarton to victory. Third-baseman Wyman Morris also homered for the Albions and Ray Looney had one for Dartmouth. In a tight pitcher’s duel Holy Cross star Jim Farino picked up the win over the Bearcats’ fireballing Ralph Lumenti.
(August 10) Truro made Danny Seaman’s coaching debut a success pounding out sixteen hits for an 8-3 victory over Kentville. Two Bobs - Ritacco and DeFino - shared mound duties for Truro. Liverpool’s Seaman was a legend in Nova Scotian baseball dating back to the years leading up to World War Two.
(August 16) Stellarton opened the H&D League playoffs with a 2-0 shutout victory over Kentville. The Albions’ John Boozer was excellent, striking out eleven and going all the way. Kentville managed only four hits, two of them from outfielder John Garofalo. Emmett Dietz drove home the winning run in the closely contested game. The Dartmouth-Truro semifinal match was rained out.
(August 22) Rangy Ralph Lumenti was the toast of the town in Truro saving the game in relief for the Bearcats and driving in both runs as the Bearcats edged Dartmouth 2-1. Lumenti struck out four batters in 2 2/3 innings, giving up only one hit and a base on balls. This was the 4th game in the best-of-nine series. In the other series Stellarton defeated Kentville 7-2.
(August 24) Kentville defeated Stellarton 6-3.
(August 27) The Dartmouth Arrows were semi-final playoff winners, knocking off the Bearcats to clinch their best five of nine series in eight games. Kentville won their series five games to three to advance to the championship round.
(August 28) Kentville opened the league championship series with a 9-6 victory over the Arrows. Bob List was the winner for the Wildcats.
(August 31) The Dartmouth Arrows, winless in three games in the series, got an ironman performance from John Stokoe who won both ends of a double header, shutting out the Wildcats in one of them.
(September 1) Kentville’s Hal Deitz was in the driver’s seat all afternoon leading Kentville to a 4-1 victory over the Arrows and the league championship trophy. Kentville played without playing coach Eddie Lyons and league batting champ Jack Kubiszyn, both of whom had returned to the United States. Thirteen members of the Wildcats fifteen-player squad in 1957 would go on to sign professional contracts.
MARITIME GAME REPORTS 1958
(April 23) Two former H&D Leaguers, Gair Allie and Art “Red” Swanson led the Columbus Jets to a 6-0 whitewashing of the Pittsburgh Pirates as major league spring training entered its final stages. Swanson scattered a couple of hits over six innings and Allie hit a three-run homer run and a double to lead the attack. Allie was a star with the Stellarton Albions in 1951 and Swanson pitched for Liverpool in 1954.
(May 1) The Truro Bearcats announced the signing of First Team All-American shortstop Marsh McLean. In related news Rex McMillan, who played with Stellarton in 1957, was chosen as a Second Team All-American.
(May 22) A new NCAA ruling will only allow players in their senior year to play in the H&D League. Despite the restriction, this officially authorizes collegiate players to play in the league without fear of sanction. The H&D League’s four teams were numbered amongst thirty-five organized semi-pro teams in North America employing college players.
(June 2) Providence College baseball coach Bob Murray, who for years was associated with major and minor league baseball, was named manager of the Stellarton Albions. The league is made up mostly of collegians and is one of the few summer circuits operating with NCAA approval.
(June 10) Hard-throwing Pennsylvanian Bob Krop, a Kentville Wildcat star last year, signed with the Cincinnati Reds for the biggest bonus ever paid by the club. Fifteen other teams were in the running for his services. This was a blow to the Wildcats who expected him back for the 1958 season. To make matters worse, pitcher Carman Lemma, who was also expected to join the club, signed a $25,000 contract with the New York Yankees.
(June 12) Art Hoch, playing coach of the Arrows continued to draw upon players from the Carolinas, bringing Carolinian infielders Harry Lee Lloyd and Jack Turney along with him to Dartmouth. Turney had just completed a military service hitch, playing around 100 games and hitting about .380 while in the service. Mike Ricigliano and Charlie Mellen returned to the Maritimes after a season in the Appalachian League.
(June 13) The H&D League got under way today with Truro edging Stellarton 4-3. Two University of Connecticut pitchers, Brad Leach and Bob Anderson, squared off against each other in the opener. Leach took the win, and Anderson the loss. After their elimination in the final eight NCAA tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, most of University of Connecticut’s players headed to the H&D League for the summer. Among them were pitchers Bob Wedin, John Risley, Brad Leach, Bob Anderson, and position players Moe Morhardt, Bill Stevens, Tom Halliwell, Ted Kosior, Tony Attanasio, and Ken Cullum.
Three Prince Edward Island youngsters, infielders Bobby Lund and Roger McLeod and pitcher Vern Handrahan, are seeking roster spots in the H&D League. Handrahan and Lund are trying out with the Stellarton Albions while McLeod, a student at Boston College has impressed the Dartmouth Arrows with his long ball power.
In Kentville, Revenue Minister George Nowlan walked to the plate to hit the first pitch of the season, swung mightily and missed. On the mound was Gladys Porter, Kentville’s mayor.
(June 14) Stellarton got revenge from the day before, winning 4-3, this time with Bob Graham (Ithaca) besting league veteran and Lowell, Mass. native Leo Parent who was reinstated in college after a few years in the New York Yankee organization.
(June 15) Left-hander Ed Willey tossed a two-hitter as Truro edged the Dartmouth Arrows 2-1. Chook Maxwell led Truro at the plate with two hits and pulled off two game-saving plays in the outfield as well.
(June 25) Hometown boy Chook Maxwell went four-for-four to lead Truro to a 4-2 triumph over the Dartmouth Arrows. Ed Willey was the winner this time bettering Clemson University star Ty Cline, a two-way performer on the mound and at first base.
(July 5) Hon. Robert Stanfield, Premier of Nova Scotia led a delegation to Fenway Park to celebrate Nova Scotia Day and honour Red Sox first-baseman Dick Gernert who played two years with Kentville in 1948 and 1949.
(July 9) Kentville’s Memorial Park was abuzz as Hal Deitz tossed a no-hitter to sideline Tommy Bujnowski and the Dartmouth Arrows in a classic 1-0 thriller. The game was tied in the fifth when catcher Armand Sabourin, who had just arrived in town yesterday from the University of Massachusetts, plated Dick Keating on a line drive single to left. Deitz anticipates facing his Holy Cross teammate Jim Farino, No. 2 starter on the Crusader staff, the next time Kentville stacks up against the Arrows.
(July 11) Two Truro boys, Chook Maxwell and Johnny Graham, played a big part in the Bearcats’ 4-3 victory over the Arrows at Dartmouth’s “Little Brooklyn” ball park. Maxwell had a triple and a single in four at bats off Clemson ace Hal Stowe who took the loss. Graham pitched two clean innings of relief.
(July 17) Kentville made it four in a row over the Dartmouth Arrows at Memorial Park, handing Jim Farino his first loss in five starts. Farino wore a Wildcat uniform in 1957. The final score was 10-5. Norm Gigon and Ron Liptak led the Wildcat attack. Mike Ricigliano had three hits for Dartmouth.
(July 19) Kentville chalked up its seventh and eighth wins in the last nine games, taking both ends of a double header against Stellarton. In the opener Lee Elia and Manly Johnston had two RBIs each. Bob George scattered five hits for the win. Stellarton’s Bob Graham gave up all seven runs in Kentville’s 7-1 victory. The Wildcats then pounded out a 6-2 victory in the nightcap.
(July 22) Hal Deitz and Jim Craig combined to lead the Wildcats to a 2-1 victory over Stellarton, scattering nine hits. The Albions’ Bob Graham was equally effective in defeat, holding the Wildcats to only four hits.
(July 29) Chicago White Sox scout Ron Northey announced the signing of Wildcats’ outfielder Manly Johnston to a $40,000 bonus contract. Johnston was a .260 hitter with Kentville before leaving for Chicago. A Kentville club official, who asked not to be identified, said later that if major league teams “want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, all right, but surely they have more sense than to ruin a league which has given professional baseball so much talent.” Earlier in the season the Wildcats lost another outfield star when Dick Berardino signed a bonus deal with the New York Yankees and left Kentville for the California League. The loss of Johnston meant that third-baseman Lee Elia had to move to right field.
(July 31) Bob George’s five hitter led Kentville to a 4 – 1 victory over Stellarton.
(August 1) It took the full box score and a note in the summary to explain the Dartmouth-Stellarton game the other evening.
Dartmouth 000 200 100 - 3 16 3
Stellarton 400 000 00x – 7 8 1
The small item that explained it all was in the summary. LOB D 17, which means left on base. This must be an all-time H&D League record. (Halifax Herald)
Angie Marotta’s twelfth-inning bases loaded single led Dartmouth by Stellarton 2-1 in a well-played game.
(August 2) The league standings at the beginning of August:
W L Pct. GBL
Kentville 24 13 .649 -----
Truro 19 19 .500 5 1/2
Dartmouth 18 19 .486 6
Stellarton 14 24 .378 10 ½
(August 4) The Arrows got a sparkling performance from Hal Stowe (Clemson). Stowe scattered five singles and shut out Kentville until the ninth. The final score was 5-2. Harry Lee Lloyd and Ty Cline had two-baggers for the winners and Mike Ricigliano homered. Ron Liptak contributed a triple for the Wildcats.
(August 5) Kentville won a rain-shortened five-inning game 1-0 over the cellar-dwelling Stellarton Albions. Bob George was the winning pitcher and Basil Curry took the loss. In the other league game Tom Bujnowski threw a four hitter as Dartmouth knocked off Truro 6-3.
(August 7) In a Natal Day double-header at Dartmouth’s “Little Brooklyn” the home team swept both games from Kentville, winning the opener 3-1 and the nightcap 6-5. Two Kentville throwing errors were the difference. In Stellarton the Albions won both games against Truro, 8-7 amd 4-3.
(August 8) Armand Sabourin homered to lead Kentille to a 10-4 victory over Truro. Bob George was the winner and hometown boy Johnny Graham was saddled with the loss.
(August 12) Steve Wilson pitched a magnificent game and Joe Cooper contributed a clutch single to lead the Als to a 2-0 victory over Kentville. Kentville had already clinched the regular season pennant.
(August 14) Truro’s Johnny Graham, outstanding on the mound and at the plate, single home two runs in the ninth to give the Bearcats a 4-3 win over Dartmouth. Graham struck out 15 Arrows and scattered five hits to nail down the win.
(August 15) The Cape Breton Colliery League playoffs began as New Waterford edged Reserve St. Joseph’s 4-3.
(August 16) The playoffs began with pennant winning Kentville taking on the Stellarton Albions and Dartmouth and Truro squaring off in the other series. The Wildcats opened with a 9-0 shellacking of the hapless Als as Hal Deitz, Kentville’s ace, scattered eight hits, struck out nine and walked none. Lee Elia (2-4) and Norm GIgon (3-4) led the offensive barrage, but Ron Liptak’s grand slam home run was the big blow. Moe Morhardt picked up three hits in a losing cause. Stellarton’s pitchers gave up 15 bases on balls in the one-sided affair.
(August 17) Dartmouth took the opening playoff game squeaking by Truro 4-3 in twelve innings. Hal Stowe went all twelve for Darmouth giving up 3 earned runs, 9 hits and striking out 14 Bearcats. Ed Willey took the loss.
Kentville continued its winning ways pushing past Stellarton 9-8. Once again Lee Elia and Norm Gigon paced the attack and catcher Armand Sabourin chipped in with two hits as well. Joe Cooper had four hits in five at bats and league batting champion Emmett Dietz went three for four for Stellarton.
(August 19) Truro beat Dartmouth 7-5 behind the slugging of Emmett Dietz who went 3 for 5 with a double and homerun and Joe Shields who also double and homered in four plate appearances. Jim Hannon was the winner, striking out seven in five innings while giving up only two hits and a run. Bob List was saddled with the loss, giving up all seven runs over six innings.
Kentville won its third straight to take a commanding lead in the other semi-final. The Wildcats scored thirteen times on their way to victory, with Ron Liptak’s home run and Lee Elia’s triple leading the onslaught. Hal Deitz won his second playoff victory giving up ten hits over eight innings and striking out nine. Basil Curry was the losing chucker but Vern Handrahan gave up no earned runs in 4 1/3 innings to minimizing the damage.
(August 20) Kentville kept rolling with its fourth straight playoff win knocking off Stellarton 12-5. Norm Gigon led the attack with a three hits including a home run and Armand Sabourin went two for three with a double. Dick Hlister had three hits for the losers. Bob George was the winning pitcher, and Steve Wilson the loser.
The Dartmouth Arrows should have been called the “Errors”, committing seven errors in a miserable day on the field. Brad Leach was the winning pitcher holding the Arrows to two hits in a complete game 6-0 shutout.
(August 21) The Wildcats eliminated Stellarton in a one-side playoff series. Kentville outscored their opponents 36-19 in its five-game sweep. Buzz Bowers was the winning pitcher and Ron Liptak hit his second home run of the series to lead the offense. The loss was the final H&D League game for Stellarton’s illustrious Albions who began the fifties with three straight H&D League championships. The club would not operate in 1959.
Dartmouth prevailed in a long, drawn out 8-7 victory over Truro to even the series. Danny Seaman, a legend in Nova Scotia baseball since the late thirties, made an unexpected pinch hit appearance for the Bearcats.
(August 22) The playoff game scheduled for Dartmouth’s “Little Brooklyn” ballpark was postponed as fog swept in off Halifax Harbour.
(August 26) In a series interrupted by bad weather, Truro picked up a 4-0 win as Brad Leach threw a complete game 4-0 shutout. Hal Stowe, one of the league’s leading pitchers in the regular season was the loser giving up three earned runs over eight innings. Stan “Chook” Maxwell led Truro at the plate with two hits.
(August 27) Truro took a four to three series lead as they shutout Dartmouth for the second straight game. It was a pitchers’ duel all the way, ending in a 1-0 score. Ed Willey went all the way for Truro giving up seven hits. Bob List was the unlucky loser, pitching a splendid five-hitter.
(August 28) Power hitting carried Truro to the series victory as they knocked off Dartmouth 10-5 and advanced to the final series with Kentville. Kentville has been cooling its heels for a week, having quickly dispatched Stellarton in the other series. Chook Maxwell and Leo Parent led the attack and Bob DeFino pitched well enough to ensure the win for the Bearcats. The game marked the end of Art Hoch’s eight year H&D League career. Hoch who went one for four would head west to the Basin League in 1959 taking with him teammates Harry Lee Lloyd, Mike Ricigliano and Don Hafer.
(August 30) Kentville opened the championship playoff final series with a 4-1 victory over Truro. Pitchers Hal Deitz and Johnny Graham both sparkled. Deitz went the distance giving up 7 hits and striking out 14. After starter Jim Hannan failed to get an out in the first inning and gave up three runs, Graham came in and went the rest of the way. Graham gave up six hits and a run in 8 innings, striking out seven batters. Lee Elia went 3 for 5 and Ray Stebbins homered to lead the Wildcats to victory.
(September 1) The Bearcats got their first victory of the series winning 9-7 in a battle of home runs. Kentville got round trippers from Lee Elia, Mike Bloom and Ray Stebbins, and Truro responded similarly with big blows from Leo Parent, Joe Shields, and Roger LeClerc. Chook Maxwell also contributed three base hits for the winners. Bob DeFIno got the win and Jim Craig was credited with the loss. Trinity College catcher LeClerc would go on to a lengthy career with the Chicago Bears of the NFL as a place-kicker and linebacker.
(September 2) Truro evened the series at two games apiece with a 7 – 4 win over the Wildcats. Kentville played with a depleted lineup as star players Lee Elia, Norm Gigon and catcher Armand Sabourin had returned to the States for the opening of the college year. Johnny Graham was the winner, giving up but 4 hits and no runs over seven innings. Hal Deitz, the losing pitcher, gave up 4 runs over 6 2/3 innings. Chook Maxwell had two hits for the Bearcats and Kentville’s Jack McGowan went 3-4 for the losing side.
(September 3) Despite fielding a make-shift lineup Kentville surprised Truro 6-4 behind Jack McCracken’s solid pitching. McCracken gave up only 6 hits, struck out 10 batters, and none of the runs against him were earned. Jim Hannan took the loss.
(September 5) Truro Bearcats are the 1958 H&D League champions winning 5-2 in the deciding match. Dick Keating and Jack McCracken shared mound duties for Kentville and Bob DeFino secured the victory for Truro. Kentville’s regular first-baseman Keating was forced into mound duty in a number of games in the final series. The playoffs were a disappointment for Kentville in a number of ways. Having knocked off the Stellarton Albions in five straight games, the Wildcats had to wait over a week for a winner to be declared in the other semi-final. Bad weather was in part to blame. Kentville had only ten players in the dugout for the final game. Ace Foley, of the Halifax Herald, observed that the schedule was too long and that the loss of key players returning for football camp in the fall made the playoffs an anti-climax.
(17 September) In earlier years Saint John’s University coach Jack Kaiser, a five-year veteran player and coach with Kentville and Liverpool, would have sent all of his best prospects to the H&D League. This year five Redmen played in NCAA-sanctioned leagues. Pitcher Frank Francheschine and catcher Jim Pappas were with the Dartmouth Arrows, shortstop Bill Maloney and pitcher Charlie Schmidt were in the Cape Cod League, and second-baseman Ted Schreiber went to Pierre, S.D. of the Basin League.
(October 2) Norm Gigon and Lee Elia, two mainstays of the 1958 champion Kentville Wildcats signed contracts with the Philadelphia Phillies. Elia who hit .281 with Kentville received a $30,000 bonus. GIgon hit .300 in league play and before catching fire to hit .408 in sixteen playoff games. Both Gigon and Elia sparkled in the league semi-final and final playoffs, hitting over .400 before returning to the States. Karl Frantz was another offensive star hitting over .600 in the final series.
MARITIME GAME REPORTS 1959
(June 1) The Boston Red Sox have worked out an arrangement to sponsor the Halifax club in the H&D League this season. With the Stellarton Albions’ decision to cease operations the league will continue to operate with teams in Truro, Kentville, Halifax and Dartmouth. Neil Mahoney, director of minor league operations for the Bosox, was assembling the squad along with Halifax playing coach and veteran minor-leaguer Joe Camacho. Among the players already signed are Boston College stars Bill Robinson, Charley Bunker, Bob Niemic and Gerry Hamel. Jerry Glynn and Ed Connolly are from University of Massachusetts. Tony Zash, George Rodin and Dave Seddon from Colby, Lou Panella (Holy Cross), Joel Kelfer (Tufts), Doug Baxendale (Rollins), and Roland Sheldon (University of Connecticut) are the other signees. Halifax will open their season June 13th against Dartmouth.
(June 8) Halifax native Wilson Parsons, a veteran of eight seasons in the Yankee organization, has agreed to terms with the Dartmouth Arrows. He began the season with Miami of the International League and was pitching well before requesting his release.
(June 15) Cape Bretoner Mike Roberts who began his second season in pro ball with the Milwaukee Braves’ Sophomore League affiliate, has returned to Nova Scotia. He was offered a chance to play in the H&D League but chose to play in the Colliery League instead.
(July 15) Kentville released pitchers Bill Pollock, Ralph Nuzum, Carl Welker, outfielders Ray Weed and Mike Abernathy, and placed Armand Sabourin on the disabled list with a broken thumb. Sabourin returned home to Massachusetts. Replacing those released were newcomers Myron Stallsmith, Tom Tierney, Jim Boring and Bill Sullivan. During the transition local boy Bill Buntain filled in capably in the Wildcats outfield.
(August 1) Jim Craig, with relief from Bob Russell in the ninth, took the win as Kentville defeated Stellarton 8-5. Jim Boring hit the longest home run of the season, measuring 450 feet. Paul Hughes and Myron Stallsmith also homered for the Wildcats. Springhill native Carman Noiles gave up nine hits and five earned in seven innings and took the loss.
In a ceremony this evening Truro will honour Leo Parent, leader on both offense and on the mound for the Bearcats. Parent is leading the league in most offensive categories and in Earned Run Average. In batting practice Parent cleared the center field wall at Little Brooklyn with a blast that went approximately 450 feet.
Chicago scout Ron Northey will be in the province for the next week to check on Chisox products. Last year he signed big league prospect Manly Johnston to a Chicago bonus contract.
(August 3) Leo Parent is leading the batting race as of August 1 hitting 147-57 .347 ahead of Ty Cline 108-36 .333 and Ron Overcash 125-39 .312. Parent is the league’s pitching leader as well. In 38 innings he has given up 33 hits and sports a 4-3 record with a 1.91 ERA ahead of runners up Jim Craig and Bob Russell.
(August 4) Kentville’s ace Jim Craig went the distance to shutout the Halifax Red Sox 12-0. Craig scattered five singles and struck out nine. Mike Imbriani and Ron Overcash homered for the winners.
(August 5) Local boy Eric Parsons was outstanding on the mound as the Arrows topped Halifax 10-4. Harold Workman and Frank Caradonna homered to lead Dartmouth at the plate.
(August 6) Catcher and playing coach John Turk, who had been sent to Kentville by the Philadelphia Phillies to replace the injured Armand Sabourin, was given his release to accept a contract with the Phillies’ Williamsport affiliate in the Eastern League. Turk’s coaching duties were assumed by former H&D League star Soc Bobotas.
(August 9) Truro maintains a slim lead over Kentville entering the final week of the regular season. The playoffs are scheduled to begin on August 16.
(August 17) Halifax surprised Kentville 6-2 behind a solid pitching performance by Bill Robinson who went the distance for the Red Sox. Tony Zash had three hits including a double and Lou Dempster went two-for-four with a triple to lead the Halifax attack. Bill Sullivan was the losing pitcher. Mike “Moose” Imbriani went 3-4 with a homerun for the Wildcats.
In the other semi-final opener Dartmouth edged Truro 8-7. Harold Workman had three hits for the winners and Eric Parsons was awarded the victory, striking out eleven batters in 5 2/3 innings. Carman Noiles was the losing pitcher.
(August 18) Dartmouth scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to edge Truro 6-5 in the second game of the semi-final playoffs. Playing coach Bill Wilhelm (Clemson) led the winners at the plate and Danny Murphy connected for a home run for the Bearcats. Wilson Parsons went the distance for the win and Roland Sheldon, in relief of Johnny Graham in the ninth, was the losing pitcher.
(August 19) Halifax scored eight runs off Jim Craig in the fifth inning as Halifax sidelined Kentville 10-5 to take a two to nothing series lead before 1,500 fans at Wanderers Grounds. Playing coach Joe Camacho led the Red Sox with three hits and Gene Malinowski was the winning pitcher holding Kentville to 6 hits over 7 2/3 innings.
(August 20) Brad Leach, Ted Kosior and Lou Diess were outstanding as Truro took a 2-1 series lead, winning 1-0 over Dartmouth. The Arrows managed only 3 hits. Leach went the distance for the Bearcats and Walter Schouler was the unlucky loser giving up the only run and scattering three hits over eight innings.
In the other semi-final Maynard Ducatte’s opposite field 400-foot home run was the difference as Kentville nipped Halifax 5-4. Bob Russell was awarded the win and Gerry Glynn was saddled with the loss.
(August 24) The Dartmouth Arrows whipped Truro 11-2 to take a commanding 3 to 1 lead in the semi-final series. Jack McGinley was dominant on the mound, scattering ten hits over nine innings for the winners. Carroll Bolick and Bill Wilhelm led the Arrow offensively with three hits apiece.
Kentville evened the other series at two games each with a 12-9 victory over Halifax. Kentville was led by outfielder Jim Boring’s home run blast into the centerfield bleachers. Joe Camacho and Jim Beckman had circuit blasts in a losing cause.
(August 25) Kentville has a 3-2 lead in semi-final play after knocking off Halifax 9-4 in the Valley town last night. Karl Frantz led the Wildcats with four hits in five at bats and Jim Boring went 3 for 4. Jim Beckman went 1 for 3 and pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Halifax. Jackie Bowes, a Saint John native who spent a number of years in the Cleveland Indians minor league system but pitched ineffectively with Halifax, made an appearance at first base for the Red Sox. Jim Craig was the winning pitcher while Gene Malinowski absorbed the loss.
Dartmouth won their semi-final series as they edged Truro 4-2 behind winning-pitcher Wilson Parsons’ five hit gem. Parsons struck out thirteen and walked only two. Brad Leach was plagued by wildness giving up ten bases on balls but went the route for the Bearcats.
(August 27) Kentville won their semi-final playoff with an 8-5 triumph over the Halifax Red Sox. Halifax won the first two games of the series but the Wildcats roared back to win four in a row. Paul Hughes led the Kentville attack with three hits including a double and local boy Frank Barteaux went two-for-four. Bill Sullivan was the winner going the distance for Kentville.
(August 29) The Arrows drew first blood in the H&D League championship series edging Kentville 4-3. Mike Antonnuci and Bill Murray hit home runs for Dartmouth and Karl Frantz sparkled for the Wildcats going 4 for five with two home runs. Walter Schouler was the winning pitcher.
(August 30) Darmouth won their second one-run game in a row as they squeezed by Kentville 3-2. Wilson Parsons continued to dazzle fans throwing up a complete game two-hitter with 12 strikeouts. Jim Craig pitched well, but not well enough, giving up seven hits while striking out ten in a losing cause.
(September 1) Strong pitching from Bill Sullivan and Jim Boring’s power hitting propelled Kentville to a 9-0 whitewashing of the Dartmouth Arrows. Boring went three-for-three with a moonshot home run and Mike Imbriani contributed a couple of doubles to lead the Wildcats. With some players having to return to the States, pitcher Wilson Parsons filled in at first base for the losers.
(September 2) Wilson Parsons scattered seven hits as Dartmouth defeated Kentville by a 7-2 score. He struck out 12 and gave up a single base on balls in a dominating effort.
(September 5) Wilson Parsons was unquestionably the most valuable player of the H&D League playoffs, winning his third game of the final series. The 8-6 victory allowed Dartmouth to capture the league crown. Parsons pitched five shutout innings in relief of his brother Eric Parsons. Bill Murray and Clarence “Sonny” Thomas, two of the Red Sox weakest stickmen during the regular schedule, had the key hits for Darmouth. A disappointing crown of only 550 fans was on-hand to watch the hometown Wildcats in what would be the final game of play in H and D League history. The league was a mainstay of summer life in the Maritimes for fifteen seasons between 1946 and 1959 and after that baseball in the region would feature local performers.