Milestone #5.1 - Pacific Coast Basketball League Updated

Five years since I first looked at the Pacific Coast League, I returned to go over the league better, finding as many box-scores as I could (only missing 11 over the two season of existence). This is, as far as I know, the most in depth research done on this league.  This time around, I found more players that were previously registered, removed a few who did not exist, and identified a handful whose previously were a mystery.

So the NEW numbers on the PCBL (and you can go back to the original postings in June 2017 which have been updated with new information where applicable) are as follows:

Number of PCBL players:  125 (originally was 118 after 2017 research)
Unidentified/unknown whereabouts: 7 (down from 21 after 2017 research)
Surviving PCBL players: 0  (Ty Lovelace was the last surviving player and he passed away last month)

Longevity:
Of the 125 players, 19 players (15.20%) lived to see the age of 90. Three men (2.40%) died before the age of 50.

Baker

Baker

Born:



Died:




Career

1948-47 Astoria Chinooks (PCBL)

Played one game for Astoria, scoring one point for Astoria against Bellingham on December 17, 1947. He is not Norm Baker or Jack Baker, who both also played in the PCBL this season.

Source:

Jack Baker

Jack Baker

Born:
August 31, 1923
Arlington, WA

Died:
November 14, 1994
Bellingham, WA


Career

1938-39 Bellingham High School - Washington (High School)

1939-40 Bellingham High School - Washington (High School)

1940-41 Bellingham High School - Washington (High School)

1941-42 Fircrest Dairy- Bellingham, WA (Independent)

1947-48 Bellingham Fircrests (PCBL)

Born to Cecil and Grace Baker, Jack was a basketball and ran track at Bellingham High School. He attended Western Washington College before enlisting in the U.S Navy to serve the country in World War 2. After serving in the South Pacific, he returned home where he would play basketball for the Bellingham Fircrests in 1947-48. He would become a fireman in Bellingham, and after 19 years became Fire Chief, a job he held for 12 years until retiring in 1978. He died in 1994.

Jack married Irene Chetwood in 1947 and they had two sons and a daughter. 

Source:

Bellingham Herald, November 14, 1994

Ted Thompson

Theodore Dewitt Thompson, Jr.

Born:
April 26, 1920
Anaconda, MT

Died:
January 3, 1993
Portland, OR


Career

1937-38 Lewis & Clark HS - Spokane, WA (High School)

1939-40 University of Idaho (College) - Freshmen

1940-41 University of Idaho (College)

1941-42 University of Idaho (College)

1947-48 Bellingham Fircrests (PCBL)

Standing 6' and 170 pounds, Thompson starred for the Idaho Vandals before enlisting in the army for World War 2. After the war, he signed to play with the Bellingham Fircrests of the Pacific League, but was released on New Years Eve, 1947, after appearing in three games and scoring six points.

Source:

Hank Vallee

Henry William Vallee
born Henry William Valentin

Born:
April 24, 1917
San Anselmo, CA

Died:
October 8, 1994
Cle Elum, WA


Career

1943-44 Camp McQuiade (Military)

1944-45 Camp Ross (Military)

1946-47 Navy Site Sailors - Tacoma, WA (Independent)

1947-48 Tacoma Mountaineers (PCBL)

Born to Henry and Minini Valentin, Vallee served in the U.S. Army during World War two and played minor league baseball for a few years, including a couple years with the Tacoma Tigers which is what brought him to playing basketball with the Mountaineers in December of 1947. He would go on to work in structural steel and involved in many construction projects in the Pacific Northwest.

Minor League Baseball Stats

Source:

Bob Smith (Robert Cecil Smith)

Robert Cecil Smith

Born:
November 27, 1917
Burns, OR

Died:
October 4, 1977
King, WA


Career

1946-47 Yamika Ramblers (PCBL)

His brother, Tom, also played briefly with Yakima Ramblers in the 1946-47 season, but they were not on the team at the same time.


Source:

Frank Shone

Frank Estel Shone

Born:
June 10, 1917
Granite City, IL

Died:
December 2, 1949
Albuquerque, NM


Career

1946-47 Salem Trailblazers (PCBL) General Manager / player

Frank Shone was born in Granite City, Illinois, and was a baseball player with eyes on the major leagues. He was signed in 1939 by Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and was assigned to the Johnstown club in the Class-D Pennsylvania State League. He moved on to the Cincinnati farm system on 1940, playing for Reds' Lenoir , Ogden and Columbia affiliates. 1943 found him out west, signing on with the Portland Beavers of the PCL. A quick baserunner and decent hitting outfielder, Shone stuck with the Beavers for 4 seasons, hitting .304 in 1945 with 39 stolen bases. At this time, the PCL's caliber of play was so great that they petitioned to be recognized as a third major league, but were denied and classified as AAA, or the highest ranking of a minor league. In his four years in Portland, Shone had become quite popular in the town and surrounding areas, and in the fall of 1946 was offered the job of being the general manager for the Salem Trailblazers basketball team, giving him a job during baseball's off-season. The Salem club quickly ran into attendance problems, and therefore financial problems. He found himself pressed into duty in two games by head coach Len Yandle, scoring no points in his brief appearance on the floor. On January 28, 1947, Shone was optioned to Beaumont (Texas) in the New York Giants farm system, getting him even closer to major league baseball. Not long after leaving the Trailblazers, the basketball team merged with Spokane and eventually failed to finish the 1946-47 season.

When Salem merged with Spokane in February of 1947, Shone found himself out of basketball. Looking forward to baseball season, Shone batted only .243 at Beaumont and was let go by the Giants. He wound up signing with the Albuquerque Dukes in 1948, and played sparingly in 1948 and 1949. In December of 1949, a few months after the close of the Dukes season, Shone was killed in a one-car accident just outside of Albuquerque. He was 32 years old.

Minor League Baseball Stats

Source:

Morrie Helser

Morris Rodney Helser

Born:
July 17, 1913
Portland, OR

Died:
November 9, 1996
Tigard, OR


Career

1931-32 Benson High School - Portland, Oregon (High School)

1932-33 Benson High School - Portland, Oregon (High School)

Linfield College - McMinnville, Oregon (College)

1936-37 Portland Packards - Portland, Oregon (Independent)

1937-38 Portland Packards - Portland, Oregon (Independent)

1939-40 Portland Packards - Portland, Oregon (Independent)

1943-44 Albina's Hellships - Portland, Oregon (AAU)

1946-47 Spokane Orphans (PCBL)

Six-foot Helser was a regular in basketball circles around Portland. He briefly played for the Spokane Orphans in the PCBL.

Source:

Spokane Spokesman, Dec 18, 1946

Curley Weeks

Curley Weeks

Born:



Died:



Career

1946-47 Salem Trailblazers (PCBL) 

1946-47 Spokane Orphans (PCBL)

from portland. there is a Nolan "Curly" Weeks mention in a article on hunting, but it doesn't appear Nolan was near Portland at the time

Source:

John Kaminsky

John Eugene Kaminsky

Born:
February 14, 1921
Vegrerville, Alberta, Canada

Died:
June 16, 1984
Vancouver, WA


Career

1941-42 Mt. Angel College - St. Benedict, OR (College)

1942-43 Edmonton RCAF (Military)

1942-43 M Depot - Edmonton (Military)

1946-47 Salem Trailblazers (PCBL) Head coach / player

1949-50 Lacey Merchants - Olympia, WA (Independent)

Canadian-born John Kaminsky was a scoring ace at Mt. Angel College back when it was a college. (After the 1946-47 school year, the college reverted to being solely a monastery for Benedictine monks.) Kaminsky appeared in one game for the Salem Trailblazers of the Pacific Coast League, scoring no points in limited action against Yakima on January 11, 1947.

Source:

Milestone #5 - Pacific Coast Basketball League

So that was the Pacific Coast League. Two seasons of grand ideas but poor attendance. The third season and the expansion of the league were still planned until the very end. Pretty interesting league, and fun to learn about players and a league geographically isolated from a majority of the country. I was kind of surprised on how many of those players remain a mystery to me. It's not like newspapers didn't cover the league, but box scores are not the easiest to find.


Here are the players of the PCBL by the numbers:


Number of PCBL players:  118
Unidentified/unknown whereabouts: 21
Surviving PCBL players: 3. Definitely possible that of the 21 mystery players, a few could be still alive. Until I am able to identify them, though, it looks like we have three survivors.

Longevity:
Of the 118 players, 19 players (16.10%) lived to see the age of 90. (So far... one of the three survivors is a mere 89 as I write this). Two men (1.69%) died before the age of 50.

From here, I will update some MBC blog posts with some new information given to me by John Grasso, and then I will be taking a vacation for a bit before returning.

Rube Wirkkunen

Reuben Richard "Rube" Wirkkunen


Born:
April 13, 1924
Astoria, OR

Died:
September 24, 1974
Astoria, OR


Career
1940-41 Astoria High School - Oregon (High School)
1941-42 Astoria High School - Oregon (High School)
1942-43 Astoria All-Stars (Military)
1946-47 Oregon State College (College) JV
1947-48 Astoria Royal Chinooks (PCBL)
1947-48 Vancouver Hornets (PCBL) 

After high school, Rube entered the U.S. Navy.


Source:

Stan Williamson

Stanley Norman "Salmon" Williamson


Born:
October 12, 1923
Portland, OR

Died:
March 31, 1973
Alameda County, CA


Career
1940-41 Astoria High School - Oregon (High School) JV
1941-42 Astoria High School - Oregon (High School)
1942-43 Astoria High School - Oregon (High School)
1943-44 University of Oregon (College) Freshmen
1945-46 University of Oregon (College)
1946-47 University of Oregon (College)
1947-48 University of Oregon (College)
1947-48 Portland Indians (PCBL)
1949-50 Springfield High School - Oregon (High School) Head coach
1950-51 Springfield High School - Oregon (High School) Head coach
1951-52 Springfield High School - Oregon (High School) Head coach
1952-53 Springfield High School - Oregon (High School) Head coach
1955-56 University of Oregon (College) Assistant coach

After playing as a freshmen, Williamson entered the USMC to serve his country in World War 2. The 5'7 guard returned to be one of Oregon's highest scorers. 
Stan graduated finish playing at Oregon and signed with Portland on March 11, 1948. He was head coach at Springfield HS and then took an assistant job at UO, while selling insurance around Eugene.


Son of John (1893-1960) and Eva Williamson.




Source:

Tom Werner

Thomas Charles Werner


Born:
May 29, 1911
Pittsburgh, PA

Died:
June 11, 1988
Seattle, WA

Career
1928-29 Roosevelt High School - Seattle (High School)
1931-32 University of Washington (College)
1943-44 Alpine Dairy - Seattle (Independent) Head coach
1947-48 Tacoma Mountaineers (PCBL) Head coach / player
1950-51 Alpine Dairy - Seattle (Independent) Head coach

A long-time coach around Seattle (above record not complete), Werner was the head coach of the Tacoma Mounaineers. Late in the 1947-48 season, in Tacoma's 30-point loss to Portland on March 13, 1948, Werner put himself into the game. I am pretty sure that was his only playing appearance that season.

Tom married Inga Fosberg (1913-1995) in 1936 and they had two sons and a daughter.

Source:

Bob Warren

Gentry Robert Warren III


Born:
January 22, 1922
Tulsa, OK

Died:
November 26, 2010
Chula Vista, CA


Career
1940-41 Eastern Oklahoma A&M  (College)

1944-45 Oklahoma A&M (College)

1947-48 Astoria Royal Chinooks (PCBL)

A fine player from Tulsa, Warren found his way to Astoria and played for the Chinooks for the 1947-48 season.


Source:
News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), December 19, 1947

Jack Voelker

Jack Fredrick Voelker


Born:
May 12, 1914
Seattle, WA

Died:
January 4, 1998
Kent, WA


Career
Roosevelt High School - Seattle (High School)
1938-39 University of Washington (College)
1939-40 University of Washington (College)
1940-41 University of Washington (College)
1943-44 Alpine Dairy - Seattle (Independent)
1947-48 Tacoma Mountaineers (PCBL)

Born to Lewis and Emma Voelker, Jack was one of three brothers who played at UW. Dick was the oldest of the three, and Bob would join him on the Tacoma Mountaineers.


Source:
Eugene Guard, March 9, 1941
Eugene Guard, December 23, 1947

Suds Sutherland

Arvid Erick "Suds" Sutherland


Born:
March 27, 1923
Los Angeles, CA

Died:
June 3, 1999
Bradenton, FL


Career
(High School)
1941-42 Long Beach JC (College)
1943-44 San Diego (Military)
1947-48 Portland Indians (PCBL)

Born to Arvid and Anna Sutherland in Los Angeles, Sutherland served in the USMC during World War 2. After the war, he played with the Portland Indians but was released on February 5, 1948.

He was married to Charlotte (1930-1987)


Source:

Bob Voelker

Robert Harry Voelker


Born:
September 18, 1918
Seattle, WA

Died:
May 8, 1982
Anacortes, WA


Career
Roosevelt High School - Seattle (High School)
1938-39 University of Washington (College)
1939-40 University of Washington (College)
1947-48 Tacoma Mountaineers (PCBL)

Born to Lewis and Emma Voelker, Bob was one of three brothers who played at UW. Dick was the oldest of the three, and Jack was a teammate of his with the Tacoma Mountaineers.


Source:

Frank Smith

Paul Franklin "Frank" Smith


Born:
July 14, 1918
Hood River, OR

Died:
October 5, 1984
Fairview, OR


Career
La Grande High School - Oregon (High School)
1939-40 Eastern Oregon College (College)
1940-41 Eastern Oregon College (College)
1946-47 Eastern Oregon College (College)
1947-48 Astoria Royal Chinooks (PCBL)
1947-48 Portland Indians (PCBL)


Born to Paul and Mabel Smith in Hood River, Oregon, Frank was a basketball player at La Grande High School before heading off to Eastern Oregon College of Education. His education was interrupted by the U.S. Navy. During World War 2, served with the Seabees and was stationed Iceland, and then in Saipan in 1945. He returned to Eastern Oregon and finished his education and played pro basketball with Astoria and the Portland. After getting married, he moved into teaching and coaching.

He married Noreen Hitesman (1925-2016) in 1948 and they had three sons and fiver daughters.

Source:
La Grande Observer, June 26, 1945

Al Popick

Alvin Jay Popick


Born:
January 14, 1924
Portland, OR

Died:
September 30, 2009
Portland, OR


Career
1939-40 Lincoln High School - Portland (High School)
1941-42 University of Oregon (College) Freshmen
1942-43 University of Oregon (College)
1943-44 Camp Kearns - Utah (Military)
1946-47 University of Oregon (College)
1947-48 University of Oregon (College)
1947-48 Portland Indians (PCBL)

Born in Portland to Abe and Ruthella Popick, Al took to basketball early, and after playing at Lincoln HS in Portland, went on to play at the University of Oregon. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and was stationed in Guam during World War 2. After the war, he returned to UO and after graduating, signed with the Portland Indians on March 12, 1948, as the team was heading towards the playoffs. He would then referee high school basketball games while working as a clothing salesman. and later owning his own clothing shop. Popick was also an avid tennis player and player well into his 70's. He died of a heart attack in 2009.

Al married Janet Howe (1927-1988) in 1947 and they had two daughters and a son.

Source:
Oregon Live - Life Story of Al Popick