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OPENING DAY 1932
Neither of the DiMaggio brothers found themselves on a PCL opening day roster as both 18 year old Joe and 20 year old Vince were assigned to reserve rosters. Joe had a tough spring, going 1-for-14 although his only hit was a dramatic 3-run double with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th to give the Hollywood Stars a 7-6 come from behind win in a spring game with Portland. Vince had a little more success in spring training, going 5-for-14 with 2 homers but he was unable to crack Mission's opening day roster.
Meanwhile, first overall pick Sam Gibson was 2-1 for Portland in preseason action and named their opening day starter. The former Tiger and Yankee's PCL debut was a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels as he outpitched Max Rachac - the long time Mission Reds star who signed with LA as a free agent.
AUGUST 1
By the end of July the Mission Reds were starting to run away from the pack again. At 73-41 the Reds enjoyed a 5 game lead on Seattle while third place Los Angeles was 13.5 off the pace. 23 year old infielder Stan Hack was hitting .407 to lead the league while teammates Tony Lazzeri (.327,17,76), Chick Hafey (.354,17,78) and Ernie Lombardi (.309,20,77) were also off to their usual strong start for the Reds. Pitching wise, former Negro Leaguer Bullet Rogan (13-5, 3.78) - this league is not segregated - was filling in nicely to replace the departed Rachac, who at 9-11, 3.28 seemed headed for a losing season in Los Angeles.
SEPTEMBER 1
As the season hit September it was clear that Mission and Seattle would be the playoff clubs. The Reds still led at 91-53 but the surprising Rainiers were just 2 games off the pace. The Angels in third were a distant 15 games behind the Reds. Seattle was led by pitchers George Abrams (20-8, 3.15) and Harry Holsclaw (16-10, 3.52) but their real strength was the bat in the middle of the lineup that belonged to 31 year old Earl Averill (.325,39,127).
OCTOBER 1
By October 1st the Reds were 112-65 and enjoyed a 5 game lead on Seattle. Portland had snuck past Los Angeles and into third place but the Beavers were 19 games off the pace. As for the DiMaggio's, Joe was called up by the last place Hollywood Stars in late September and made his PCL debut in a 6-4 loss to Los Angeles on the 28th. He went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in that game with his first career PCL hit coming off of George Caster. Joe also played the next two games but was hitting just .182 at the end of September. 20 year old Vince got called up by Mission in late August but by the end of September had just 5 plate appearances. He was 2-for-5 including a 2-run homer, which was his first PCL hit and a walk-off game winner in the bottom of the ninth for a win over Seattle.
A story to watch for the final month of the season centers around Los Angeles slugger Dolph Camilli. After a relatively slow summer by his standards, the 26 year old belted 15 homers in September to give him 49 on the season. It will be a longshot but he is just 12 homers shy of his PCL record 61 set two years ago.
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