Influx of Talent Indicate Tigers Witt Be Hard to Beat
TACOMA, Wash., April 11—Not all the promised talent has checked into the club's spring camp at Walla Walla but the Tacoma Tigers will be contenders in the forthcoming Western International league pennant chase if statements emanating from headquarters of the parent San Diego Padres can be accepted at face value.
Jim Brillheart, who steps down from the Padre roster for his first managerial venture, can rattle off the names of some 25 players who are battling for the 17 places on the squad to be carried during the regular campaign, and that collection of manpower represents survivors of a weeding out operation which has already sent a dozen hopefuls on their way.
Still to come are several players still drawing San Diego paychecks pending the final slash of the Padre roster down to the Pacific Coast league limit.
Competition Is Keen
Pitchers Cy Greenlaw, Mitch Chetkovich and Stan Gilson, outfielders Dick Greco, Glenn Stetter and Gene Clough and infielder Hank Vallee are holdovers from the 1948 Tiger squad, and competition has become so keen already that not more than five of that group can be expected to land jobs this season.
Ray Fortier, who was with Victoria, B. C., on option from the Padres last season; Bob Schulte and Angelo Venturelli, California league graduates; Earl Chapple, a member of the San Diego club during much of the '47 campaign; and Ken Clary, Jim Gleason and Jerry Nelson, newcomers to professional baseball, are among the other moundsmen on hand.
The catching is being handled adequately by three W-I newcomers—Joe Rossi, Charley Luis and Bernard Hargadon. Rossi, who hit .383 in the Big State League last season, seems assured of the No. 1 backstopping berth, with Hargadon and Luis fighting it out for the second spot.
Contend for Bases
Greco and Vallee are the first base candidates at the moment, although both may be moved to the outfield if San Diego ships a likelier guardian of the initial sack northward. If and when he reports, Bob Gorbould figures to take over at second base, while Larry Lee seems a cinch at third. Joe Catlin, Vito de Vito and Hank Sciarra are contenders for the shortstop job, and the possibility still exists that Ray Tran may be shoved this way
by the Padres.
Greco, Clough and Stetter have been holding down the outfield posts in most Tiger outings to date, with Angie Costello, Bob Hamilton and Danny Perlmutter as additional possibilities—Perlmutter is still on the San Diego roster but may be optioned out.
If the material at hand isn't enough, Brillheart has been told he has only to raise his voice above a whisper and reinforcements will be shipped post haste but the Tacoma boss is hopeful that he'll need to make a few appeals to San Diego.
TACOMA, Wash., April 11—Not all the promised talent has checked into the club's spring camp at Walla Walla but the Tacoma Tigers will be contenders in the forthcoming Western International league pennant chase if statements emanating from headquarters of the parent San Diego Padres can be accepted at face value.
Jim Brillheart, who steps down from the Padre roster for his first managerial venture, can rattle off the names of some 25 players who are battling for the 17 places on the squad to be carried during the regular campaign, and that collection of manpower represents survivors of a weeding out operation which has already sent a dozen hopefuls on their way.
Still to come are several players still drawing San Diego paychecks pending the final slash of the Padre roster down to the Pacific Coast league limit.
Competition Is Keen
Pitchers Cy Greenlaw, Mitch Chetkovich and Stan Gilson, outfielders Dick Greco, Glenn Stetter and Gene Clough and infielder Hank Vallee are holdovers from the 1948 Tiger squad, and competition has become so keen already that not more than five of that group can be expected to land jobs this season.
Ray Fortier, who was with Victoria, B. C., on option from the Padres last season; Bob Schulte and Angelo Venturelli, California league graduates; Earl Chapple, a member of the San Diego club during much of the '47 campaign; and Ken Clary, Jim Gleason and Jerry Nelson, newcomers to professional baseball, are among the other moundsmen on hand.
The catching is being handled adequately by three W-I newcomers—Joe Rossi, Charley Luis and Bernard Hargadon. Rossi, who hit .383 in the Big State League last season, seems assured of the No. 1 backstopping berth, with Hargadon and Luis fighting it out for the second spot.
Contend for Bases
Greco and Vallee are the first base candidates at the moment, although both may be moved to the outfield if San Diego ships a likelier guardian of the initial sack northward. If and when he reports, Bob Gorbould figures to take over at second base, while Larry Lee seems a cinch at third. Joe Catlin, Vito de Vito and Hank Sciarra are contenders for the shortstop job, and the possibility still exists that Ray Tran may be shoved this way
by the Padres.
Greco, Clough and Stetter have been holding down the outfield posts in most Tiger outings to date, with Angie Costello, Bob Hamilton and Danny Perlmutter as additional possibilities—Perlmutter is still on the San Diego roster but may be optioned out.
If the material at hand isn't enough, Brillheart has been told he has only to raise his voice above a whisper and reinforcements will be shipped post haste but the Tacoma boss is hopeful that he'll need to make a few appeals to San Diego.
1 comment:
My name is Norman Bell and I'm looking for information on Larry Lee who played for the San Diego Padres around 1948. We served in the Marines together and I would like to know what happened to him, if he is still living and how to contact him. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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