Bill Sayles

Bill Sayles pitched for the USA at the 1936 Olympic demonstration baseball game. Sayles was an Oregon native who played college ball at the University of Oregon. After graduating he played semi-pro ball in Vancouver and recorded a 14-4 mark, attracting the attention of Major League scouts.

After one year of minor league ball, Sayles was called up to the Boston Red Sox in July 1939. He pitched in five games that season in relief, but struggled. After three more years in the minors and a trade to the New York Giants, Sayles came back to the majors in May 1939. He pitched in 23 games that season, 18 with the Giants, and then 5 more after a trade to the Brooklyn Dodgers. That was the end of his Major League career.

Sayles joined the US Army Air Force in February 1944, and was assigned to be a tail gunner. However, he ended up as a physical education instructor at Fort Lewis, Washington. While there he further injured his arm and could never pitch again.

After the war, Sayles played one more year of minor league ball with the Asheville Tourists of the Class-B Tri-State League, playing as an outfielder and managing the team. He was again their player-manager in 1947, but retired from baseball after that season. He and his family settled back in Oregon where he worked for a forest products company.

In 1957 Sayles returned to baseball as assistant general manager of the Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League, a position he held until 1959, when he became general manager. In 1962 he left that job and became the West Coast scouting supervisor for the St. Louis Cardinals, which he did until 1982. From 1983-95 Sayles owned the Esquire Men’s Apparel Shop at Salishan Spa and Golf Resort on Oregon’s Pacific Coast.