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Halifax Cardinals Levinson and Wilkinson with Stellarton Albions Raines and Bachelor1954
Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Joe Kretschmar of the Liverpol Larrupers reachers for the ball1954
Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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With Groat unavailable, Brooks turned to another Duke star, Billy Werber Jr., whose father had played eight years in the major leagues. According to Yankees scout Paul Krichell, Werber could run "faster than Groat, hits the ball farther, has a good arm and is just as aggressive." Werber's signing also encouraged other Duke players to come to Nova Scotia, including Al Spangler who would become a ten-year veteran in major league baseball with Milwaukee, Houston and the Chicago Cubs. Spangler joined the Halifax Cardinals in 1952 and returned for part of the following season as well.Werber played for the Albions in 1952 and 1953 before military service beckoned. In 1956 the Cincinnati Reds signed him to play for Nashville of the Southern Association. Having already lost two years to military service, however, Werber had no intention of a lengthy stay in the minors, and gave the Reds an ultimatum: "Either play me in the major leagues or I will take over the family insurance business." When the Reds tried to send him to the minors after spring training in 1957, Werber was as good as his word, retiring from baseball and a likely major-league career.
While the Albions had a relatively easy time of things in 1951, it was a far tougher row to hoe in 1952. The '52 Albions finished behind Art Hoch's pennant winning Truro Bearcats during the regular schedule, but rallied to sweep Hoch's collection of southern stars in the final playdowns. In 1953 the Liverpool Larrupers finished atop the standings in league play, but Stellarton again bounced back to eliminate them in the first round of the playoffs. The Albions then bested the Kentville Wildcats four games to one in the finals for their third successive championship.
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Photograph of the 1952 Truro Bearcats.1952
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Umpire Peaches Ruven calls the play during a game at Little Brooklyn in Dartmouth.1953
'Little Brooklyn', Dartmouth Nova Scotia
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It was clear during the 1953 season that the other clubs in the league had caught up with and perhaps exceeded Stellarton in talent. Liverpool's lineup touted future major leaguer "Wild Bill" Oster and All-American Chuck Heerlein on the mound. Their battery-mate was Tommy Gastall, an all-around athlete who had followed in the footsteps of Harry "the Golden Greek" Agganis at Boston College. In addition to playing football and baseball, Gastall captained BU's basketball team in his senior year. Gastall returned for a second year in Liverpool in 1954 before jumping directly to the big league Baltimore Orioles in 1955. At the time The Sporting News considered him "probably the most sought-after player in the country." In October, 1956 the baseball world was shocked to hear of Gastall's death when the small plane he was piloting crashed into Chesapeake Bay.The '53 Kentville Wildcats were also anchored by future major-leaguers. Battery mates Dave Stenhouse, who started for the American League in the All-Star game of 1962, and catcher Steve Korcheck both subsequently graduated to the American League Washington Senators. Jourrneyman infielder Bill Kearns, a career minor leaguer in the Brooklyn organization and until recently chief scout for the Seattle Mariners, was the Wildcats playing manager.
Also in the Wildcat lineup were eventual All-American shortstop Prohovich and pitcher Ron Perry from the 1952 NCAA Champion Holy Cross University club, and young lefthander Dick Bunker out of Norwood, Mass. and Notre Dame University. Bunker would later play five seasons of Triple-A Ball, but bad boy habits likely denied him a major league career. A talented hurler, with stuff that made major league scouts drool, Bunker was often in trouble with the Phillies for what The Sporting News euphemistically referred to as "breaking training."
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Billy Carter of the Halifax Cardinals slides into home plate1954
Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Halifax and District Baseball League Guide for the 1954 season.1954
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In their quest to make the playoffs in 1953, Stellarton made a personnel decision that in the long run had serious ramifications not only for the Albions, but for the league as a whole. As the July 15th player deadline approached, the Albions worried that they might be eliminated from playoff competition and feared the loss of post-season gate revenues. At the eleventh hour they signed twenty-seven year old John "Monk" Raines, who had won 26 games for Edenton of the Coastal Plains League in 1952, and 18 the year before. Purchased conditionally from Edenton by Atlanta after his two phenomenal seasons, Raines appeared in two spring training games against the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in 1953. Raines started the season in Atlanta but annoyed club management when he jumped the club without permission to attend the birth of his first child. When the Braves tried to return him to Edenton they found that the club had disbanded. Now declared a free agent, Raines accepted the Albions' offer at $600 per month. This was more than he made in Atlanta, and 50% higher than that of the other Stellarton players.Bolstered by the addition of Raines, the Albions went on to win the 1953 league championship, seemingly vindicating the decision to bring him in at what some considered an exorbitant salary. But the Raines strategy didn't work for everybody. Other clubs were racking up serious losses as they struggled to stay competitive and make the playoffs. The Halifax Cardinals airlifted over fifty players into town during the season. Unfortunately they missed qualifying for post-season play. Most of the recruits failed to stick and the club finished the season over $10,000 in the hole. The Cards would have lost more had not interim-manager Johnny Clark convinced his players to take a pay cut of $100 per month for the last month of the season.
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Championship pennent presented to the Stellarton Albions8 December 2004
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The following year Stellarton struggled out of the gate once again. Even with Raines back in uniform the team was suffering on the mound. In the spring Brooks had lost a pitcher he had been counting on when Clemson's Billy "Digger" O'Dell signed as a bonus baby with Baltimore. Hoping to shore up pitching for the stretch run, the club's management rolled the dice once more at the player deadline. This time the intended saviour was journeyman Johnny Waselchuck, enticed from the Cincinnati Reds organization by a salary exceeding that of Raines. But the plan backfired. The Albions were eliminated in the semi-finals and lost the hoped for revenues from a lengthy playoff series. The monthly salary total for the club that year was $7652 for eighteen players, (the equivalent of a Class A minor league club). More significantly, $1,800 of that went to just three players, Raines, Waselchuck and playing coach Bill Brooks. Like Halifax the year before, Stellarton lost over $10,000 on the season.Ironically, while the league's financial circumstances deteriorated, the level of play had never been better. Three of the league's young stars in 1954, Tommy Gastall and Art Swanson of Liverpool and Tommy Carroll of Halifax signed bonus contracts and jumped directly to the major leagues. Other future major leaguers that year included Bella and Bob Davis from Halifax, Dave Stenhouse from Kentville, Grover "Deacon" Jones from Truro, and Stellarton pitcher John Anderson. In 1954 the Halifax Cardinals ended Stellarton's reign as league champions, with a club that included familiar faces from a few years before. Popular coach Bob Decker was back with his perennial sidekick "Smokey" Jim Heller as ace of the pitching staff. Also on the mound that year were future Kansas City Athletic Bob Davis just back from military service, and Jerry Levinson who had returned to the league after three years in the minor leagues with Hagerstown and Calgary. Levinson was slated to go to Calgary the next day when he heard of Decker's return to Halifax, and turned his back on his professional career to be back with his old coach.
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Don Swanson and Tom Gastall of the Liverpool Larrupers pose before a game.1954
Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Jack Cosgrove, Bill Cline, Jim Heller and Bob Scariato1954
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Three members of the Halifax Cardinals1954
Wanderers Grounds, Halifax, Nova Scotia
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