Salem, Oregon, Monday, December 31, 1956 1956 Produced Few Team Titles, Mostly Individual Feats Benson's Near-Miss One of Top Stories By JOHN HARVEY Capital Journal Sports Writer A lithe, lean timber-hopper from Willamette university kept 5alem sports fans rooting for him over a period of four months as he ran his heart out in quest of his announced goal the U. S. Olympic team. He is Dean Benson, whose flying feet over the high hurdles earned him honors, in three national meets. In fact, as the photo on this page shows, he was of the caliber of the eventual Olympic champion, Lee Calhoun of North Carolina State, against whom Benson ran several times. tics of the others could not be The student from Bend, not en dowed with the natural speed of Calhoun, won his honors by per fecting a form admired wherever he competed. He was undefeated until the NAIA at San Diego, placed third in the NAIA in 14.2. fifth in the NCAA in 14.1 and sixth in the national AAU in 13.9, which stands as a Willamette school record. Individuals Stand Out The year was more of a collec tion of individual feats than team championships. Bunny Mason won the Oregon Open, Jim Norval won two firsts in the state prep track meet, Dale Hartman of Willamette won the district NAIA half mile. Don Lebold won the Oregonian singles bowling handicap, Bob Ryan won the Rose City Classic in bowling. , Kent Myers became the first Salem golfer to play in the Na , tionat Open, Dale Jones and La Moyne Mapes of South Salem played in the Shrine game, Dale Patton of Willamette made the Northwest conference baseball all star team as catcher, Don Can non won the Grand Pacific Handi cap trapshoot at Reno, and in roller skating Salem had the Northwest queen, Andrea Fultz, from Salem Skateland. The Salem Senators occupied the summer sports scene as usual, but much of the baseball news occurred after the season was long in the record books. First, Hugh Luby, popular field and gen eral manager of the Solons for the past six years, signed to be general manager of the Eugene entry in the Northwest league. This left Salem without ahead man, and the club hasn't found one yet. The next big event was the taking over of the reins of the club by 58 partners, who will write off any deficit the club in curs next summer. Stockholders of the Senators agreed to let this group run the team and a steer ing committee was appointed, AUTO RACING Auto racing enjoyed a banner year at Hollywood Bowl. The Capital Auto Racing association provided the drivers for many of the races, thus increasing the local interest. Fay Ladd of Ger vais won the CARA hardtop cham pionship by adding the 100 - lap finale to his many victories. Dick Pace copped the Northwest quartermile hardtop championship held at the Bowl in August. Hal Hardsity won the big stock car event with Wild Bill Hyde taking second although he finished by sliding upside down over the finish line. The destruction derbies proved to be the most popular events as capacity crowds were usually assured for the mayhem filled events. BASEBALL The Senator pro-season ticket sale failed and as a result the club had financial difficulty for most of the year. After a sixth place first half finish, the Senators re bounded in the second half to Departs . .... i',, IV "M Hugh Loby. departed the Sa lem baseball scene alter six years. -inH nn in second nlace. Led by the powerful Dai ot Lnucu esse- gian and the pitching oi a n o y JOE PALOOKA ii I iwrng wawr I r'amt Wi?Sf. Jowe T ha-ha... T TEE-HfcE...TKE nursc j WiLjakJSrT CKAV, W068Y jK'j8 HOWE, KZXiiiSl A THANP.SA YOU MIRED WILL 86 Jbi - '. George and Jerry Cade, the Sen ators were in the second half race until they dropped three straight to Yakima in the final series of the year. Yakima took the titles of both halves. Essegian with his powerful bat took the league baiting champion ship by hitting .366 while Cade. a rookie from Drain, led the league in strikeouts. During the second half neither player was stoppablc, and at the minor league meeting both were drafted. Lade went to Macon of the Class A Sallv league, and Essegian was drafted by the Rochester club of the triple A International circuit. However, the Sacramento Solons had strings on Essegian unknown to the slugger, and as a result he was declared a free agent. The Senators have appealed to minor league czar George Trautman, but the outlook isn't too bright for a favorable verdict. On the high school scene the North Salem Vikings took the dis trict crown but were turned back by eventual state champion Lin coln, 2-1, in the state quarter finals. Leftv Jack Loy was the mainstay of the club and pitched a two-hitter and fanned ten in los ing to Lincoln. Dale Patton of Willamette was on the all - Northwest conference team as a catcher, but the Bear cats under Johnny Lewis had only an average season, failing to re capture the conference crown. Curt Jantze joined his brother Phil at Ardmore, Oklahoma, in the Class D Sooner State league after being signed off the OSC campus by St. Louis Cardinal scout Tony Governor. This brought a blast from OSC baseball coach Ralph Coleman as both Jantze boys were baseball prospects at Corvallis. Don Luby, ex-South Salem high catcher and the son of Hugh Luby, led the tough Sawdust league in hitting by easily outdistancing the rest of the league with a .435 aver age. Dan is a sophomore at OSC. BASKETBALL North and South Salem both made it to the state tourney In Eugene in March but both lost their first two games. The Saxons fell to state champions Franklin 65-2 in one of the most exciting tournament games. They dropped a 72-55 game to Pendleton in the consolation round. North Salem lost to Milwaukie and Beaverton in its two games. Earlier North Salem had topped the Saxons 53-49 to hand South Salem its first de feat in the crosstown series. Bend took the district title, out me Lava Bears lost out in a four team district tourney held at South Salem. Ken Hunt resigned his North Salem head basketball post in March to accept a joo in a a n Francisco and Ward Paldanius from Astoria was named as his successor. The biggest basketball event of the year In Salem was the state Class A-Z tourney neia during March at South Salem. Although the three day tourney did not draw as well as planned, It Is again scheduled for Salem. .. A powerful St. Helens team ran all over its opponents in gaining the state title. On the all-state team were Marlin Marsh and Joe Mc Knight of St. Helens. Stew Robin son of St. Francis, Don Nelson of Coquille and Earl Doman of On tario. . ... Willamette had one ot mcir worst seasons, finishing filth in the Northwest conference. BOWLING The big bowling news in 1956 was the completion oi ine pam"- , Cherry City Bowl, soum oi w-'" in November. The establishment is one of the finest on the coas and will be host to the state meet in January. Frankie Evans proved to be me best local kegler. winning 'rlP to the national individual matcn games in Chicago this mow. though he finished out of " money. He also rolled a 300 and a 977 series in open pW lor the highs of the season. J Glodt set a new leaeue record when he missed a perfect y missing the number five P"1 the last ball. Evans roLd " for the high series in l"1 P, J ' Local trundlers fared c" in out - of - town tourneys V" i n.u d..,- the I-cbold boys. Gerlingcr Carriers " nou iu.,s, Carriers ' mum m j Benson's Willamette University's Dean Benson, 1955 NAIA a race by Lee Calhoun of North Carolina State, high hurdles champ, nearly won an Olympic berth who later became Olympic champ at Melbourne, in trials at Los Angeles. Here he Is edged in IKE GAVE A BOOST Old Timers Cart Away Most Of Golf's By HAL WOOD United Press Sports Writer The biggest golfing story in the West in 1956 was the four-day visit of President Eisenhower to the Monterey Peninsula and the Cypress Point Golf Club. The President's swing isn't ex actly a thing of beauty, but his love for the game and energy devoted to it proved once again that he is the nation's No. 1 club swinger. Mr. Eisenhower didn't set any record on the tough Cypress Point Club and he didn't win any championships. But he did give the so-called "golfing capitol of the world" a large-scale inter national publicity jolt. Youngsters Took Over The old-timers of the profes sional circuit won just about all the top money during the winter tour in California. Veteran Lloyd Manerum (44) started things off by winning the rich Los Angeles won the state team title with the Lounge winning a weekend tour ney at Longview. Francis Miller won the local duck pin title by rolling an 610 series to defeat Don Heppner and Tom Wood to capture the handi cap singles award. GOLF The young swingers dominated the local golf spotlight this past year with a record number of en thusiasts going to me two local clubs during the clear weather that lasted into November. Bob Prall won the Oregon Golf ers Association medal play and was fourth in the Northwest Open. Gene Bunny Mason, copped first Oregon Open golf title. He also went to the NCAA tourney at Ohio Stale wilh his 1'nlrerslty of Oregon golfing mates. .. Kent Myers of Willamette won a berth In the national open. At Oak Knoll sixteen-year-old Barbara Brown won the women's fall handicap, and OCE student Jack Knudsen took the men's fall handicap. The veterans won their share of events with Salem Golf Club pro Bunny Mason winning the Oregon Open Golf tourney at Eastmnre land Club In Portland. Pat Mik- Ua finally won a tournament at Open Champ tit , i Performance Tops in '56 Tournament Loot Open and the $6,000 first prize. Then Dr. Cary Middlecoff, the re formed dentist, followed by snag ging the individual championship in the Bing Crosby clambake at Pebble Beach. The Palm Springs Invitational went to 45-ycar-old Jimmy Demaret. When the weather got warmer and the professionals returned to Las Vegas in May, the younger generation took over with Gene Littler winning the top $10,000 first prize for the second year in a row. The San Diego Open in October went to Bob Rosburg, another of the youngsters. An old-timer, 47-year-old Art Bell of the California Club in South San Francisco won the state open crown. The state amateur title went to Ken Venturi again, who defeated Dr. Bud Taylor of Pomona and Cucamonga in the finals. Venturi Turned Pro Venturi, from San Francisco, caused a major splash in the Salem Golf Club by taking the men's . title. . Mrs. .Seth ..Smith copped the women's title. FOOTBALL A limited practice season hurt the South Salem Saxons, and after dropping their first two games the Saxons came back and went on to win six of the final seven to gain a share of the district title for the third straight year. They closed out the season by thump ing North Salem 35-0, and in los ing North Salem was held to a net yardage of 25. Albany, however gained the berth in the state play offs, by virtue of its early season victory over the Saxons. Mel Fox took over the coaching reins at North Salem after Al Gray quit. The Vikings had a dis mal season, but they managed to tie Albany, J 3-13. Ted Ogdahl used two platoons and the net result was one of the most Interesting Willamette trams in many years. Although green and Inexperienced, the Bearcats I tied for third In the conference and had a successful season at the gate with many local fans turning out for the games. Chuck Koanl was named to the little all Northwest team as a tackle for his defensive play. Sllverton provided the top foot ball story of the year by placing second In the state A-Z playoffs, losing to Kred sport 7-6 In the finals. The Silver Foxes were un defeated going Into the final at North Bend. Central won the Willamette ! Valley league, Alsca took the BLMP six man league and ad vanced to the state finals before losing, Jefferson won the Marion County B title although the title was later given to Colton, and Sheridan and Willamina tied for the Yawama title. HORSE RACING The Oregon state fair meeting was the most successful one in history under the direction of Keith Evans. A betting total of $812,870 for the seven day meet set a record with 10.000 fans at tending the races on Labor Day. Freddy The Fox won the In augural, Labor Day and Au Re voir Handicaps in dominating the feature races. He and Shy Count I tied the world record of 1:19 2-5 national nrinLs bv leadine the for 134 furlongs on a half -mile By Ham Fisher THE CAPITAL' JOURNAL' Masters Tourney at Augusta, Ga., through the first three rounds. But he faded on the final day and Jackie Burke won the title. Near the year's end, Venturi turned professional. The best amateur in the world. Harvie Ward of San Francisco, won his second straight National Amateur crown and he remained m the simon-pure ranks. The state women's amateur crown went to Barbara Romack of Sacramento, who crushed Mrs. George Downing, 11-9, in Uie finals. In the women's professional rank-, former Los Angeles ace Marjcne Bauer Hagge, took over as the leader of the feminine pay-for-play golfers by winning an unprecedented eight tournaments, including the ladies' PGA title. The National Public Links Tour nev. slaved in San Francisco, was won by Junie Buxbaum of Memphis. oval track during the meeting. Jockey Dewey Henshaw, a lead- ne apprentice rider, was serious ly injured when thrown on t h e third day of the meeting and re mained unconscious for six weeks. His riding career was ended by the fall. TENNIS Willamette again won the con ference title with Bud Mull and Ray Myers going to San Diego to take part in the NAIA meet. Larry Johnson of North Salem took the district eight singles champion ship, and bouth Salem s Bill Jacobson and Roger Stewart copped the doubles championship. Jacobson went on to take the Jaycee teen-age title and won a trip to Los Angeles for the na tional title, but he injured an ankle and was forced to drop from the tourney. TRACK Jim Norval, the short speedster from North Salem, put on a tre mendous one - man show at the state meet to lead North Salem to third place in the state. Nor val took firsts in the 100 and 220. led the winning North Salem re lay team to victory and took fifth in the broad jump. South Salem easily took the district title, and Dan Moore, then a sophomore, placed second in the broad jump with a leap of 21-8. Benson was the leading Willam ette trackman, but distance run ner Dale Hartman accounted for many wins. Hartman won the 880, and mile in the conference meet and went on to win the district NAIA BttO. Larry Thompson cap tured the conference pole vault crown for the Bearcats. Probably the most thrilling event of the year was the mile run between Bill Drllinger and Jim Bailey that highlighted the Willamette Relays. The two ran shoulder to shoulder all the way with Delllnger nipping the Aussie at the tape. The time was 4:10. TRAVSIIOOTISG Larry Horn, a 14 - year - old shooter from Grants Pass, won the state handicap at the Oregon State Trapshoot held at the Salem Gun Club in June. The win com pletely surprised everyone at the meet as Horn became the young- jest champion in history of t h e ! shoot. Don Pptrr nf Knhlimitv was unbeatable at 16 yards and took the most laurels at the week long shoot. iJon Cannon of Salem won the Grand Pacific Handicap at t h e big west coast shoot in Reno after coming out on top In two shoot off 5. WRESTLING Matchmaker Elton Owen con tinued presenting the lively Tues day ninht cards at the Salem Ar mory with the fans turning out in laree numbers. On the hieh school front North Salem lied for fillh in the stale meet ith .Jim Jones and Je'.k Berger getting second places. The Vikings took second in the dis trict meet a Berger and Clark Luchau won district titles. Leading Salem Stories 1. Willamette's Dean Benson, high hurdler, places In three national meets, reaches Olympic Trials. 2. Salem Senators adopt part nership plan for at least a one year try. 3. Hugh Luby resigns after six years as Salem Senator man ager, goes to Kugene. Chuck Essegian, Senator outfielder, wins Northwest league batting championship and Senators fin ish second in second half come back. 4. Al Gray, football coach, and Ken Hunt, basketball coach, both of North Salem High, resign, Mel Fox and Ward Paldanius hired. 5. South Salem and Albany tie for district football champion ship, Albany getting playoff spot for early victory over Saxons. 6. Two of nation's leading mll ers race In Willamette Relays, Bill Delllnger beating Jim Bai ley. 7. Jim Norval, North Salem, scores 244 points In state track meet to lead Vikings to third place. 8. Bunny Mason, Salem Golf club pro, wins Oregon Open with great rally In last nine holes. 9. Cherry City Bowl opens Its 16 alleys: Don Lebold wins Ore gonlan singles handicap In Port land, Bob Ryan wins Rose City Classic, Gerllnger Carriers win stale team title. 10. Record betting total of $812,870 at state fair horse race track. Ice Postpones Annual Race PORTLAND (UP) - Freezing rain on the slopes of Mount Hood yesterday forced cancellation of the second half of the scheduled Portland Day ski races. Competi tion in the men's A, B, and junior divisions went by the boards in the freeze-out. . A croup of Bend skiers led the Saturday winners as women held their competition in the annual event. Grctchen Goodrich won the B women; Joan Saulbert, the junior expert women and kva Morcoull cr the Junior Intermediate wom en's crown. All three are from Bend. Other Saturday winners includ ed Nan Coffcn. Cascade, junior novice women; Bob Kjome, Cas cade, junior intermediate men; Dick Bale, Cascade, junior novice men, and Bud Holder, unattached, class C men. The rules of golf will remain the same In 1957, reports the United States (joll Assn. HowiThlsiNewspapenHefpsr Advertisers. i By earning this symbol ) '-Via. 1956 Brought Odd Incidents For Fans to Chuckle At By A. C. JONES Capital Journal Sports Editor Salem's 1956 sports year had its chuckles, too. At Waters Park, where ardent baseball fans are broadminded, there was the mystery of where the tomatoes and firecrackers were coming from. The tomatoes, by chance, landed on some Yak ima players gathered on the mound to rejoice about cinching the second half championship at the expense of the Salem Sena tors. The firecrackers appeared from out of the sky at odd intervals every few days, sometimes beside the dugout of the visiting team. Then there is the story of the basketball referee from Salem, Al Lightner, who set the Pacific Coast conference buzzing when he forfeited a game to Southern Cali fornia when the California gallery wouldn't stop pitching pennies onto the floor. Lightner, getting support later California's Fight Game Again On the Ropes As Year Rims Out By SCOTT BAIIXIG United Press Sports Writer California's fight game, which had staggered up last spring at the count of nine after being decked by a torrid state mvesti gation, . was back on the ropes again as the year ran out. The latest storm centered around Art Aragon, edgy welter weight contender, who was sus pended indefinitely by the state of Texas on Dec. 20 on charges of offering Dick Goldstein $500 to take a dive against him in a scheduled San Antonio fight. The bout never took place. Dist. Atty. William McKesson of Los Angeles County said he was investigating a possible tie- in between Aragon and gombler Mickey Cohen as a result of the Texas action. "Golden Boy" Aragon figured in last March's investigation at Los Angeles where Tommy Camp bell and Carlos Chavez each tes tified they "got out early" in bouts with him. Campbell said he did it on orders of Babe McCoy, Olympic Auditorium matchmaker. Chavez said he felt too tick to go behond the first round. I License Suspended I McCoy's license was suspended 9 This newtpiper la t member of the Audit Bureau of Circulttloni, nonprofit, cooperative Monition of publishers, tdvertlwrt, and advertising agencies. Our circulation is audited at regultr intervsli by eiperieneed A B.C. circulation suditors and their reports are mde iviilabl to our advertisers without obligation. MEASURE OFlllRVICE..,MARKfOFllNTIQRITY from other coaches, was hung in effigy on the California campus the next day. One ironic twist: Bill Borcher, Oregon basketball coach, told the Salem Breakfast club early in the season that Washington and Bruno Boin could he stopped by guarding Boin nnd Coshow, the post men. "Washington is overrated," he said. The Huskies finished with a 11-5 record, Oregon wilh a 5-lt. Steve Anderson, Oregon fresh man sprinter, almost was too humble to enter the invitational 100-yard dash in the Willamette Relays. But he won it in 9.9. Edo Vanni, Wenatchee's colorful manager, wrestled a bear between games at Waters Park. The Bear won. Bob Prall lost two golf tourna ments In "sudden death" playoffs to Cliff Smith in the Shrine tourney and to Klwyn Bowyer in the Champion of Champions tourney. for life by the Slate Athletic Com mission. McCoy says he will fight the ban in court. The game all but died in San Francisco, which once considered itself the hub of West Coast box ing. Jimmy Murray, a veteran promoter who figured pro: 'nent- ly in the Oakland phase of the investigation, turned in his license to go into real estate. Murray's action followed a recommendation by Jim Cox, the committeo coun sel, that his license be revoked along with that of McCoy, Eaton and Johnny Munro. Munro followed Murray to the exit. San Francisco promoter Bennie Ford, who was recom mended for a fine along with manager Sid Fl a h e r t y, only showed sporadically. When Ford matched Joey O lam- bra against Rocky Castcllani Dec. 1, It marked the first fight Inside a ring that San Francisco had seen in four months. However, bouts continued to be singed in San Jose, Richmond and Stockton while Portland shaped up as heir apparent to Flaherty's stable. Eddie Machen. who took over as the urbane manager's meal ticket after the decline of Bobo 'CM. m A well known" symbol Is like a good reputation-SifflcuIi to establish and even more difficult to maintain. During your daily activities in your store or In your home you come into contact with many trade marki that symbolize an assured measure of performance or quality.' They may range from initials on an' electrical appljance to words like "sterling" or "prime." ... i Like Its counterparts, the membership symbol of the Audit Bureau jof Circulations' provides you iwithra1 reliable measure of our circulation performance based Jon the highest standards known for. either, print;or4broadcast media. The"A.B.C.-symbol cannot be'purchased itTmustibe earned through performance. Continued use of this symbol is predicated on'our ability, to! maintain1! these1; highest standards of circulation value. Whenever you think of advertising media, It will pay you to ask, "Does it measure up to A.B.C. standards?" You can be sure it does if you use the advertising columns of CapitalflJournal Section JJi-Pajre" 8 Dennis McKee, North Salem guard, wouldn't tell Coach Ken Hunt that he had the flu and played against Cottage Grove in the playoffs for a state tourney berth. North and South high school' 880 relay teams ended in a dead heat in the district, allowing both to enter the state. This permitted North to win the state 880 relay blue ribbons and third place among teams. Clyde Prall scored a hole-in-ona at Salem Golf club on Thursday, and his son, Bob, aced one on Fri day. A bowler, Gary Austin, reached the U-Bowl one night, reached into his bowling bag for his ball and found a 10-pound bag of mush and a sack of salt. Willamette lost its first homa conference basketball game in nine years to Lewis k Clark. Whit man still hasn't won in Salem in Coach John Lewis' reign. Olson, fought twice there last summer while rolling to 19 vic tories without a loss as a pro. Ring Magazine named him the boxer who had made the most progress in 1956. Olson Retired Olson, the toast of West Coast boxing only 18 months ago, hung up his gloves after one of the most remarkable descents In mod ern history. The former world middleweight champion started on the way down in June of 1955 when he was flattened in three rounds in a vain assault' on Archie Moore's light-heavyweight title. Then came a two-round knockout at the hands of Ray Robinson last December as the Harlem Sugar man regained the 160-pound championship. Olson got as far as the fourth against Rob inson in last May's rematch be fore taking the full count again. Bobo then retired in October while training for a comeback bout against Sammy Walker. Only one other world chanv pionship fight was held on the West coast in 1956, a January go at the Cow Palace where Sandy Saddler kept the feather weight championship by stopping; Flash Elorde. r