Willard `Bill' Lasley, Semi-Pro Baseball Star And Businessman
Willard A. ``Bill'' Lasley spent his later years running Lasley Knitting Co., but in the 1920s and 1930s he was known as a top pitcher in Northwest semi-professional baseball leagues.
In September 1924, he was plucked from the Montana Mines League to pitch for the American League St. Louis Browns.
It turned out to be a short career in the majors, which Mr. Lasley once described with characteristic humor as lasting ``about an hour and a half.''
Mr. Lasley, who died last Tuesday at his Queen Anne home, was 88. A memorial service was held late last week.
Following the month when he pitched four innings in relief for the Browns, Mr. Lasley decided to return to Seattle and pursue a new career, as well as his love of baseball.
Mr. Lasley met and married his first wife, Gloria Stapp Lasley, during that autumn in St. Louis.
During his years in baseball, Mr. Lasley played in the Mines League, for the Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League and for teams in the Timber League which included towns such as Aberdeen and Shelton but also for a while Seattle and Tacoma, said Mr. Lasley's wife, Anne Christie Lasley, whom he married in 1968 following his first wife's death.
``That was a league where he as a premier pitcher could earn $50 or $65 on a Sunday afternoon, depending on the crowd,'' she said. ``That was pretty good money during the Depression.''
Mr. Lasley once pitched a doubleheader, one game right-handed and one game left-handed, going the whole distance both times, his family said.
In a game with touring major-league all-stars, he played with Babe Ruth and against Ty Cobb.
Through baseball, Mr. Lasley formed lifetime friendships with many of the Northwest's sports greats including Bobby Morris, Eugene ``Beaner'' Walby, University of Washington coach Tubby Graves, Stan Riddle, Les Brainard, Pat Schlichting and Lafe Walseth.
Mr. Lasley was the last surviving member of a group which played poker together for 25 years.
Born in Gallipolis, Ohio, Mr. Lasley came to Fall City with his parents at age 3 in 1905. The family lived in Everett for a while before settling into the Ravenna neighborhood. Mr. Lasley attended University Heights Elementary School and Lincoln High School.
A man with a quick mind, Mr. Lasley taught himself the business and manufacturing techniques he later applied to his successful knitting company. ``He was a self-made man for sure,'' said Anne Lasley.
Mr. Lasley worked for Washington Furniture Co. and toward the end of the 1930s, with a partner, formed Lasley-Lynch Manufacturing to make furniture.
In 1946, after selling his interest in Lasley-Lynch Manufacturing, Mr. Lasley started Lasley Knitting Co. on the second floor at 163 S. Jackson St. in Pioneer Square, the same building which housed the furniture company.
``He loved to be happy. He loved a good joke,'' recalls Bev Wicker, who worked for Mr. Lasley. She described him as intimately involved with the business and a good friend to his employees.
``Someone would be missing from the plant, he'd go out and do their jobs,'' recalled Wicker.
Under Mr. Lasley's direction and that of his son, Willard A. Lasley Jr., the company made letter sweaters and jackets for high school and college teams for more than three decades.
Sold a dozen years ago, the company is still operating in the same location as T.M. Athletics.
Mr. Lasley was a member of the Seattle Tennis Club and Lafayette Lodge No. 241, F.& A.M. He was a past member of University and Rainier golf clubs and a charter member of Sahalee Golf Club.
He is survived by his wife, Anne Christie Lasley, and his son, both of Seattle; his daughter, Lynn Liffick, and grandchildren Thane and Kristin Liffick, all of Sun Valley, Idaho.
The family suggests remembrances to the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, c/o Dr. William Hutchinson, 720 Broadway, Seattle, 98122.