1960 Saskatoon Commodores. Click any of the photos for larger versions. Photos from the Saskatchewan Archives Board StarPhoenix Collection.
Above left (Archive photo #14022-1) - left to right Bob Peters, Bill Lynn, Bob Lagunas
Above right (#14022-2) - left to right Peter Estrada, Roland Jones, Ross Stone
Above left (#14022-3) - left to right xxx, Connie Munatones, Paul Timme
Second from left (#14022-4) - left to right Vic Stasiuk (Calgary), Gary Herrington
Third from left (#14022-5) - J.B. Carroll
Extreme right (#14022-6) left to right Lew Hobson, Dick Hickerson, Dick Dyer
League executives plan the new season.
Left to right - Lloydminster's Slim Thorpe, Vic Stasiuk, Calgary, Spero Leakos, Saskatoon, Gary Kirk, Lethbridge and Elmer Grunert, Lloydminster.
Above left : Opposing managers in the final of the Rotary Tournament -- Vic Stasiuk (left) of Calgary and Cliff Pemberton of Lloydminster.
Above centre : Dick Montree (left) and John Vaselenak were the big guns for Lethbridge as the White Sox advanced in the Lethbridge Rotary Tournament. Montee pitched a four-hitter and fanned 13, while Vaselenak knocked in both Sox runs with an inside-the-park homer.
Above right : Lloydminster's Tom McGarry belted a key, two-run homer to help the Meridians win at the Rotary Tournament.
Left : Sterling Slaughter (Lloydminster, Calgary) became the first All-American selection at Arizona State University.
Right - Right-hander Bill Oakley was a key member of the 1960 Lloydminster Meridians. He won six of ten decisions. Oakley, who was first noted for his hitting, was a college star for the California Bears. He had a 1.63 earned run average in 1962 when he was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player. Over three seasons, Oakley compiled an earned run average of 2.09. He was among a dozen Cal Berkeley diamond stars to play in Western Canada.
Left - Kansas City Monarchs' catcher Ira McKnight in Alberta for the Lethbridge Rotary Tournament. Spero Leakos of the Saskatoon Commodores would snatch some of the barnstorming stars, including McKnight, for his Saskatoon Commodores.
Centre - Drain Black Sox lefthander Mark Clarke (University of Arizona) ready for the Lacombe Tournament.Right - Three members of the Calgary Dodgers prepare for the start of the 1960 season. Bill Casanova (left), Bill Fennessey (centre) and Willie Walasko (right). Casanova and Fennessey are back with the team while Walasko joins the Dodgers after a fling in pro ball with Missoula of the Pioneer League.
Left - The long and short of it. Dick Hickerson (middle), six-foot-five first baseman for the 1960 Saskatoon Commodores, towers over two of his teammates, Paul Timme (left), a pitcher, and J. B. Carroll, an outfielder/infielder.
Photo from the Saskatchewan Archives Board StarPhoenix Collection (# S-SP-B 13996)
Below - Lloydminster Meridians' president Slim Thorpe (left) accepts two cheques for $1,5000 and congratulates manager Cliff Pemberton on the club's tournament victories at Lacombe and Lethbridge.
Top left - Cliff Pemberton, playing-manager of the Lloydminster Meridians, waits for the first pitch in the 1960 WCBL opener at Cairns Field in Saskatoon. The veteran smacked a sharp single on this trip to help his team to a quick 3 - 0 lead over the Saskatoon Commodores, The Meridians won the game 10 - 2. The catcher is Gary Herrington and the plate umpire is Moe George of North Battleford.
Right - Calgary shortstop Ray Wrenn, recruited from Pepperdine University in California.
Below - Lethbridge White Sox catcher Arley Kangas, manager George Wesley and pitcher Dick Montee celebrate another playoff victory. In opening up a 3-0 game lead in their semi-final with Calgary, Kangas drove in three runs while Montee pitched a six-hitter
[Photo courtesy of the Galt Museum and Archives, Photo # 19753802078]
Left - Lethbridge (and later Calgary) catcher Clark Rex. From California's Pepperdine University baseball program to Alberta baseball. [Photo courtesy of the Galt Museum and Archives, Photo # 19753802074]
Above right - Calgary Buffaloes manager Vic Stasiuk (left) with outfielder Bill Casanova. [Photo courtesy of the Galt Museum and Archives, Photo # 19753802085]
A pair of Canadians recruited to played for Roy Taylor's College of Sequoias in Visalia, California.
Ross Stone (left) is a southpaw hurler from Saskatoon and Jim Pettapiece (right), from Radisson, Saskatchewan, patrols the outfield.
Taylor, a fixture as a playing manger in the 1950s on the prairies, was a key American college figure in providing opportunities for prairie kids to play college ball south of the border.
Left - Back in Western Canada baseball, Sherwood Brewer the former Negro Leaguer (who suited up Saskatoon in 1951 and again in 1957, then Medicine Hat Superiors in 1959) came back in 1960 with the legendary Kansas City Monarchs on their tour of the west.
Right - Three former Edmonton Eskimos - pitcher Jim Withers, shortstop Tom Satriano and catcher Steve Bach - were in the visitors' dugout at Renfrew Park as the Drain Black Sox came to town for an exhibition series with the Big Seven League All-Stars, players from a six team Edmonton-area amateur circuit. Drain proved too powerful for the locals, winning a day-night twin bill 15-0 and 8-7 and followed with a 12-1 victory the following day
Lloydminster Meridian's shortstop Barry Arnett receives a watch from team Business Manager Rube Dick for being chosen the team's Most Valuable Player.
Arnett was a Vancouver product. who played college batl at the University of California at Berkeley before amateur and semi-pro experience with teams in the Vancouver Senior League and the Bellingham, WA, Bells before joining the Meridians for the 1960 and 1961 seasons.
He was back playing in Vancouver after the Meridians folded after the 1961 season.
Thanks to old school chum Lorna (Dick) Dysart for the clipping.