While mathemat- icians might be tempted to disagree, Akifumi Kato continues to demonstrate that the shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line. Those who remember horse racing in Spokane, remember Playfair Race Course. And those who remember Playfair, probably recall Kato, the jockey who, strictly speaking, became the most successful rider in the annals of the ill-fated historic track. Playfair may be defunct. Kato is not.
For the obvious reasons, it’s hard to draw a big crowd when you’re 98 years old. But Jim Seabeck, thoroughbred breeder, owner, occasional trainer and regional livestock mogul, attracted nearly 200 people and a horse to his funeral mass Friday in St. Augustine Catholic Church. His rich, full, adventure-packed life came to an end March 9 in Spokane, his home since 1964.
Once upon a time, it was said that Dwight Aden had never dropped a fly ball. Even though almost never would be more accurate and more than 60 years have passed since he roamed center field for the Spokane Indians, Aden’s reputation outlives him as one of the finest athletes in the city’s professional baseball history.
The passage of time has concluded the living history of the ill-fated 1946 Spokane Indians baseball team. Former pitcher Darwin "Gus" Hallbourg died of a heart attack Saturday night in a care center near Modesto, Calif. Hallbourg, 87, developed pneumonia after a minor stroke in late September. A resident of nearby Manteca, he was the last survivor of the worst accident in American professional sports history.
Edo Vanni, Northwest minor league baseball's most memorable showman and one of its finest players, has died at the age of 89. The feisty former outfielder, who authored some of his finest seasons and nuttiest pranks while playing for the Spokane Indians, died Monday in a Bellevue care center. Services have been scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. in Seattle's St. Catherine of Siena Church. Vanni was the last of the original Seattle Rainiers.
Pete Jonas, among the enduring figures in the history of Northwest minor-league baseball, died Saturday in Spokane, but not before building a legacy of on-field accomplishments, amusing anecdotes and community service. Born Wilfred R. Jonas in Walla Walla, the pitcher-outfielder was among the oldest surviving players from the Western International League (1937-52) and the second oldest living former Spokane Indians player. He was 89.
