Peach Basket Society: April 2022

Leo Kane, who played in the New England League after World War 2, was NOT on the 1946-47 Albany Senators. That was Robert Richard (Bob) Kane of Brooklyn, who played at Eastern District HS '37 and attended LIU prior to WW2.

Player listed simply as Ryan for Troy in the NYSL in 1946-47 was determined to be the same Ryan who played earlier that season for Albany. He was also identified as William James Ryan.

Removed the following players from the roster of the 1947-48 Portland Indians (PCBL) - They appear in no league box scores with the club: Jack Butterworth, Don Durdan, Mike Hafenecker, Ken Hays, Ted Sarpola

NEW LEADS UNRESOLVED:

Bill Anderson, PBLA - from Trenton, NJ

Harry Johnson, PBLA - from Long Island / Queens. Andrew Jackson HS, maybe St John's Prep, too

Gene Stump, NBA/BAA - various address sites list him as "deceased" but no obituary can be found

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

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:

Monday, April 11, 2022

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)

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: