Last year the East Texans managed to win only 47 games in season play, but this year they burst their cellar bondage to finish in second place, only a game behind the league leader. In the playoffs, the East Texans needed only ten games to win the privilege of flying the pennant in 1953. They romped over the Texarkana Bears, four games to two, and made short work of the Austin Pioneers, four games to none, to capture their first championship since 1940. All were seven game playoffs.
Oddly enough, two of the three players who were left from last year’s team figured in last night’s 2-1 victory which clinched the title.
Gale Pringle, who won 11 games and dropped 16 last year, came back with only two days rest to hurl a seven-hitter at the Pioneers last night, and Johnny Stone came off the bench after an injury to pound an inside the park home run in the fourth inning with manager Billy Capps on base to provide the winning runs.
Pringle won his second game in the final playoffs and his fourth of the playoff series last night. Both victories over the Pioneers were by 2-1 scores.
Stone was hit in the face by a batted ball while pitching batting prior to the opening game against the Pioneers in Tyler Friday night and was forced to miss the first three games. Johnny came off the bench to replace Joe Campbell when the latter became ill in the second inning and had to be removed from the game.
In the fourth, Capps got on by virtue of a base on balls and Stone made his first appearance at the plate against the Pioneers in the playoffs, and drove a towering drive to left center field. Ken Mapes, Austin centerfielder, chased the ball back to the wall and crashed into the fence as the ball hit a few feet away and bounced back toward the infield. Dazed by the collision with the wall, Mapes failed to retrieve the ball before Capps and the speedy Stone had sped home with the winning runs.
Austin bunched two of their seven safeties off Pringle in the first to score their lone run.
Walt Maurer and Don Mason, the first two men up for the Pioneers, laced singles, with Mason’s blow enabling Maurer to scamper into third base. Earl Hochstatter drove a long fly to center field, with Maurer scoring from third after the catch.
However, Pringle did not escape without his close calls.
In the fourth, the Pioneers threatened seriously when they bunched two hits and a walk. Pringle managed to get out of the jam by striking out pitcher Dean Franks with the bases loaded.
From that time on, Pringle kept the Pioneers under control, allowing only two scattered singles.
Franks pitched one of his better games of the season. He allowed only six hits, all in separate innings, but he yielded a walk and Stone’s homer in the fourth and that was the ball game. Franks won 20 games over the regular season route while dropping 14 decisions.
Tyler threatened seriously only once more during the contest, that in the fifth inning. Second baseman Jack Louman led off with a triple, but the threat ended as quickly as it developed when Louman was caught off third. Louman had to slide into the hot corner on the hit and as he got up to dust himself, he took his foot off the bag momentarily and Austin’s Ed Wayne put the ball on him for the out.
Last night’s triumph enabled the East Texans to bring another pennant back to Tyler, the first since 1940 when the Tyler Trojans won the flag in the now defunct East Texas League. It is the Rose City’s first Big State League pennant.
Only three members of last year’s last place ball club were around for the finish of this year’s championship season. They were Pringle, Stone and Irv Carlson. Milan Vucelich would have been around except for a leg injury which caused him to miss the last half of play.
Tyler pitching made the difference in the playoffs, allowing the Pioneers only five runs in the four games. Besides Pringle’s first and last game 2-1 triumphs, Red Murff recorded a 5-1 victory over Jon Andre and Eddie Bowles, with help from Armin Somonte, Bert Garcia and Murff, posted a 3-2 decision over George Socha. Pringle’s first victory was over Al LaMacchia.
Tyler players returned home today for brief stops while they pack their belongings and head for their homes. Some of the East Texans left directly from Austin.
Besides finishing second only a game out of first place and winning the pennant in the playoffs, the East Texans had several other individual standouts during the 1952 season, such as:
1. Tyler had three hurlers to win 20 or more games, counting the playoffs. They were Murff with a 25-13, Pringle with a 24-11 and Bowles with a 20-11.
2. Dean Stafford won the home run championship of the league with a 48 circuit clouts and counting the all-star game and playoff contests, he had 52 round trippers for the year.
3. Stafford was selected the most valuable player in the league for the second straight year.
4. Pringle and Stafford were named to the all-star team at the end of the season.
5. Manager Billy Capps was named third baseman and manager of the South all-star team for the league’s first annual all-star game.
6. Four Tylerites were voted on the all-star team in July. They were Stafford, Pringle, Murff and Vucelich, and when Vucelich was forced out of action by an injury, Johnny Stone was named in his place. Stone was next in line of voting.
7. For the second consecutive year, Stone was voted the most popular East Texan by the fans.
8. Seven East Texans ended the season with averages over .300, but only four of those were regulars. Regulars with over .300 averages were Stafford .352, Joe Campbell .346, Ralph Fernandez .309, and Bob White .306. Others hitting over .300 were Stan Karpinski .396, Ralph Zavalla .318, and Eddie Bowles .301.
9. Three Tyler hurlers had over 100 strikeouts. They were Pringle 182, Murff 152, and Bowles 119.
Tyler will be co-champions with the Temple Eagles of the Big State League. Temple, who finished atop the league but to Austin in the first round playoffs, and Tyler will both fly pennants in 1953. Each team will receive $177 to divide among the players.
TYLER EAST TEXANS AB R H BI PO A Irv Carlson SS 4 0 0 0 2 3 Billy Capps 3B 3 1 1 0 1 1 Joe Campbell CF 1 0 0 0 1 0 Johnny Stone CF 3 1 2 2 2 0 Dean Stafford LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 Bob White 1B 4 0 1 0 9 0 Stan Karpinski RF 3 0 0 0 2 0 Jack Louman 2B 3 0 1 0 0 6 Rafael Fernandez C 3 0 1 0 8 0 Gale Pringle P 3 0 0 0 2 1 TOTALS 31 2 6 2 27 11 AUSTIN PIONEERS AB R H BI PO A Walt Maurer LF 5 1 2 0 0 0 Don Mason SS 4 0 1 0 4 4 Bill Ankoviak 1B 4 0 1 0 9 1 Earl Hochstatter RF 4 0 0 1 4 0 Ed Wayne 3B 4 0 1 0 2 2 Tom Jordan C 3 0 0 0 5 0 Melvin Nunes 2B 3 0 1 0 2 2 Ken Mapes CF 3 0 1 0 1 0 Dean Franks P 3 0 0 0 0 1 John Andre PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 TOTALS 34 1 7 1 27 10 --------------------------------------------------- TYLER 000 200 000 - 2 AUSTIN 100 000 000 - 1 --------------------------------------------------- LOB--Tyler 3, Austin 3. DP--Austin 1 (Wayne, Nunes and Ankoviak). 2B--Nunes. 3B--Louman. HR--Stone. SF--Hochstatter. TYLER IP H R ER BB SO Pringle (W, 2-0) 9 7 1 1 3 7 AUSTIN Franks (L, 0-1) 9 6 2 2 1 4 Umpires--Smith, Odom, Mazur and Mann. T--1:40 A--2,661