When the Vancouver Mounties roamed the friendly confines of Capilano (now Nat Bailey) Stadium in the 1950s and ’60s, my friends and I would make the trek to the Little Mountain ballpark to see dozens of soon-to-be and once-were big leaguers display their talents in the Pacific Coast League, just a step away from the majors.

Names come to mind: Steve Bilko… Jim “Mudcat” Grant… Brooks Robinson… Willie McCovey… Vada Pinson… Willie Davis… Gaylord Perry… George Bamberger… Maury Wills… Art Houtteman… Dizzy Trout… Dusty Rhodes…

My pal Ian Dixon (who went on to play four years in the New York Yankees’ farm system as a third baseman-pitcher) and I would even go to observe the umpires since we were already umpiring Babe Ruth League games at 16 and 17 years of age.

But once we went specifically just to watch – and hear – the legendary “Voice of the Seattle Rainiers,” Leo Lassen, broadcast a Seattle at Vancouver game from the box seats along the first base side. It was Aug. 18, 1959, 50 years ago this week.

We managed to secure tickets for the seats right next to Leo and his assistant who looked after the technical part of the broadcast and read the commercials. I don’t think he did any colour commentary. Nobody could do better play-by-play with colour than Leo anyway.

You see, Lassen, who began broadcasting Seattle baseball in 1931 and didn’t put down his microphone for good until after the 1960 season, mesmerized his listeners – including us – with his beautifully detailed accounts of the game, all done with his decidedly nasal-toned voice.

Actually my first recollection of Leo Lassen is in bed, under the covers.

Okay, let me explain that.

When I first got hooked on baseball as a 10-year-old in 1952, I discovered Lassen doing the Seattle games on radio. Most people didn’t own television sets yet. Radio was still king.

Bedtime each evening came about the third inning and time for lights out for this little boy. So with the radio pulled underneath the covers – and the volume turned down low to prevent detection from unsuspecting parents with a lack of appreciation for the importance of Lassen’s superb accounts – I listened to Leo’s spellbinding, mostly monotone voice and tried to keep a scorebook as best as I could in the dark.

Lassen would say the game is never over until the last man is out. One time he said it when Seattle was losing with two out and two strikes on the batter in the bottom of the ninth. The Rainiers rallied and the game ended up going 16 innings. I stayed awake the whole time.

Often Lassen would do re-creations of out-of-town games, relying on his superb knowledge of players’ idiosyncrasies to portray the scene of a game far away.

Sometimes Ian and I would rent a reel-to-reel tape recorder and do our own play-by-play versions of make-believe games, usually trying to imitate Lassen.

It’s difficult to put Lassen’s unique voice on paper as he painted a picture-perfect description of each play with intricate detail, though if you ever heard him you’ll still be able to hear him say…

“There’s a high fly ball going back to the left field wall… back, back, back, baaack… and its oveRRRR. Vern Stephens hit a low inside fastball high over the left centre field fence, 365 feet from home plate, just to the left of the Nesbitt’s soft drink sign with two men aboard…It’s Seattle 4 and San Francisco… ahh… 1.”

Or how about: “It’s a ground ball to the shortstop… Wise takes it on the second hop, over to Mauch… back to first. It’s a double plaaaay… Bill Glynn hit an outside curveball, letter high, towards the hole between short and third. Casey Wise fielded it cleanly at his shoetops on the second bounce, threw to Gene Mauch covering the bag at second to get Bobby Balcena and the throw to first beat Glynn by a step and a half. The inning is over. One Seattle run, two hits and no one left on base. At the end of three, its Seattle 1 and… ahh… Los Angeles no score.”

Then there was: “There’s a swing and a foul tip that hits the catcher right in the midriff. If you’ve never been hit by a foul ball, you don’t know what you’ve missed… Two balls and a strike…”

So now it was Aug. 18, 1959, and Ian and I were sitting there beside Leo as he described what turned out to be no ordinary game indeed.

Vancouver was fighting for first place with Portland and Salt Lake City with the likes of Mounties’ favourites Marv Breeding, Jim Finigan, Ray Barker, Joe Taylor, Ron Hansen, Jim Pagliaroni, Joe Frazier and Wayne Causey, et al. Remember them?

But the latter three all struck out as pinch hitters as Seattle’s 6’6” right-hander Mark Freeman got the best of the Capilano Stadium home side, pitching a sparkling no-hitter and allowing only three base runners, two on walks to Taylor and Frank Kellert, and one on a Rudy Regalado error while striking out seven of the final nine batters.

I distinctly remember Lassen summarizing the pitching gem by saying, “I’ve never seen a no-hitter quite like it.”

Recalling Lassen’s comment recently, I thought maybe Freeman had walked eight or nine hitters. Research in microfilm of the Vancouver papers – stories by Clancy Loranger and Denny Boyd no less – I found that not to be the case.

What I do know is that it was us who had never seen a no-hitter quite like it – sitting virtually in Leo’s lap as we took in the game through Lassen’s eyes and vocal chords.

There wasn’t a no-hitter in Tuesday’s nooner contest this week out at Nat Bailey on the 50th anniversary of that game. And, of course, Leo Lassen wasn’t there. But the fresh air, the action on the field and reminiscing about witnessing the sights and sounds of Leo Lassen in living colour was special enough.

Back, back, baaack… but the memories will never be over.

This is episode 344 from Len Corben’s treasure chest of stories – the great events and the quirky – that bring to life the North Shore’s rich sports history.