Portland Mavericks

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The Portland Mavericks were a minor league baseball team in Portland, Oregon, United States. They began play in the Class A Northwest League in 1973 after the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League moved to Spokane, Washington. They were operated as an independent club, owned by ex-minor league player and television actor Bing Russell. His son, actor Kurt Russell, played for the club in its inaugural season. 17-year minor league star Hank Robinson managed them to a division title that first season. There were no playoffs between division winners that season. When the PCL expanded for the 1978 season, they added a new Portland team (with the previous Beavers name), and the Mavericks shut down (after receiving considerable compensation from the PCL). In 1977 the Mavericks attracted 125,300 fans to ~33 home dates, while the 1978 Beavers had 96,395 fans and ~69 home games.

The first year Mavericks-Hollywood connection was not limited to Bing and Kurt Russell. First year manager Hank Robinson was an extremely successful character actor. First year players Robbie Robinson (1971-81 pro player), Jason Tatar (1972-78) and Ken Medlock (1967-74) all have had long careers as actors as well. Perhaps the most successful Hollywood story from the team is that of Maverick Bat Boy, Todd Field, who went on to have a long career as an actor before becoming a three-time Academy Award nominated Writer-Director.

Among the various cast-offs who made up the Mavericks' roster was former major league pitcher Jim Bouton made a comeback with the Mavericks, after having been out of baseball since retiring in 1970. His landmark book, "Ball Four," was set mostly in Seattle, and Bouton returned to pitch at Sick's Stadium in 1975 after a five-year absence, tossing a 2-1 complete game win over minor league vet hurler Bill Tsoukalas and the Seattle Rainiers. After the game, he said to a reporter, "I told Joe Schultz I'd pitch here again someday. I just didn't say at what level." Bouton pitched for the Mavericks again in 1977, eventually making it back to the majors with the Atlanta Braves the following year. Bouton's greatest Maverick achievement was his collaboration with another Mavericks pitcher, Rob Nelson, to develop Big League Chew, a shredded chewing gum product.

The Mavericks played home games at what was then known as Civic Stadium. The Mavericks departed when Portland returned to the Pacific Coast League in 1978, but their legacy endured, and helped inspire the establishment of several independent minor leagues beginning in the 1990s, including the Northern League.

[edit] Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1973	45-35	2nd	Hank Robinson	won division (no playoff)
1974	50-34	2nd	Frank Peters
1975	42-35	3rd	Frank Peters	Lost Playoffs
1976	40-32	2nd	Jack Spring	Lost Playoffs
1977	44-22	1st	Steve Collette	Lost Playoffs

[edit] Further Reading

• Jim Bouton: "Buses, beer and emboldened batboys", in Mark Armour, ed.: Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, 2006, pp. 114-115.