Portland Mavericks
|
Portland Mavericks 1973–1977 Portland, Oregon |
|
| Class-level | |
|---|---|
| Previous | Class A-Short Season |
| Minor league affiliations | |
| Division | South (1973), West (1974), North (1975, 1976), Independent (1977) |
|
Previous leagues
|
Northwest League (1973–1977) |
| Major league affiliations | |
| Previous | Independent (1973–1977) |
| Minor league titles | |
| League titles | none |
| Division titles | 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977 |
| Team data | |
| Nickname | Mavs |
| Colors |
"Streetwalker Red" "Dig Black" "Snow White" |
| Ballpark |
Civic Stadium (1973–1977) |
|
Owner(s)/
Operator(s) |
Bing Russell |
| Manager | Hank Robinson Frank "The Flake" Peters Jack Spring Steve "Cut" Collette |
| General Manager | Lanny Moss, Bob Levesque |
The Portland Mavericks were an independent professional baseball team in the northwestern United States, based in Portland, Oregon. They began play in the short-season Class A Northwest League in 1973, after the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League left after the 1972 season and became the Spokane Indians. The Mavericks operated as an independent club in Portland for five seasons, until the return of the PCL in 1978, and played home games on artificial turf at Civic Stadium in Portland.
The Mavericks were owned by ex-minor league player and television actor Bing Russell, and were initially the league's only independent club. As owner, Russell kept all corporate sponsorship outside the gates, and hired professional baseball's first female general manager, as well as the first Asian American general manager. Russell's motto in life was one three-lettered word: "fun".
Ex-major leaguers and never-weres who could not stop playing the game flocked to the team's June try-outs, which were always open to anyone who showed up. Most of the Mavericks players were older than their opponents and had been released by other organizations, not all for baseball reasons alone. For this reason, Russell kept a 30-man roster because he believed some players deserved to have one last season.
Among the various castoffs who made up the Mavericks' roster was former major league pitcher Jim Bouton, who made a comeback with the Mavericks in 1975 after having been out of baseball since retiring in 1970.
Bing Russell's son, actor Kurt Russell, played for the club for a month in its inaugural season in 1973. The first-year Mavericks' Hollywood connection was not limited to the Russells; manager Hank Robinson (1923–2012) was a character actor, and players Robbie Robinson, Jason Tatar, and Ken Medlock all had long careers as actors. Perhaps the team's most successful Hollywood story is that of Maverick batboy Todd Field, who went on to have a long career as an actor before becoming a three-time Academy Award-nominated writer and director.
...
Wikipedia