Nat Bailey Stadium was born "Capilano Stadium" in 1951. It replaced the aging Athletic
Park which had been the base for all Vancouver baseball since 1913. The new
concrete and steel ballpark was the jewel of Vancouver. It's sturdy construction
and simple beauty were impossible to ignore and before long this ballpark
was promoted from Short Season Single-A baseball to the Triple-A Pacific Coast
League. It was immediately pressed into service upon its completion and served
as the home ballpark for the |
Vancouver Capilanos... a Northwest League (then known as the Western International
League) franchise that was playing as a co-op team without affiliation. The Capilanos
of 1951 were a fantastic team who posted a 94-51 record. The reason for
their success had much to do with a pitcher by the name of Bob Snyder. With an
ERA of 2.97, Snyder would pitch 303 innings for the Capilanos winning a Northwest
League record of 27 games going 27-7 on the season. Snyder was joined by Pete
Hernandez who would post an impressive 17-4 record with a 2.80 ERA and George
Nicholas who went 15-7 with a 3.15 ERA. The hitting was pretty good as well,
with former NY Giant Charlie Mead (21 2B, 7 HR .280), former Chicago Cub Bill
Schuster (.299), Dick Sinovic (38 2B, 18 3B, 7 HR, .342) and John Ritchie (26 2B,
7 HR, .346). The Capilanos would finish the season just a 1/2 game out of 1st
place and the WIL (NWL) Championship. |