PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 29, 2021
LEAGUE: Club’s plans for
future began in 2019
(Continued from Page A1)
four teams will play under
the Volcanoes umbrella. The
league will feature top-level
undrafted and released players,
as well as high-level collegiate
players and former Volcanoes
players.
The Mavericks and Sen-
ators have both played a sig-
nifi cant role in professional
baseball in the state of Oregon.
The Mavericks were the fi rst
independent team to play in
the Northwest League in the
1970s — the Volcanoes re-
cently bought the rights to the
Mavericks — while the Sena-
tors, before eventually becom-
ing the Salem Dodgers, began
playing minor league baseball
in 1940.
The idea for a four-team
league came in November
of 2019 when Major League
Baseball (MLB) announced a
proposal plan that would over-
haul their minor league system.
“We didn’t really believe
that we would be eliminated
from Minor League Baseball,
but we knew that we had to
come up with contingency
plans,” Walker said.
MYB,
continued from Page A1
as well as 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on
Saturdays. Outside of those
times, the fi elds would be
available on a fi rst-come basis.
If the city were to charge for
the times at $30 per hour per
fi eld – the going rate at KLL
Park – the value was estimated
at $1,920.
The organization will
try to control parking in
neighborhoods near the park
with a schedule that keeps
game traffi c from overlapping,
Bays said.
Mayor Cathy Clark asked
Bays whether the group was
prepared for the wear-and-
tear, and upkeep and usage
outside the MYB games
would require.
“We are totally okay with
that. Kids, or even dads,” Bays
After consulting with for-
mer Oregon State coach, and
three-time College World Se-
ries champion, Pat Casey, the
Volcanoes elected to model
their league after the Unit-
ed Shores Professional Base-
ball League, which began fi ve
years ago in Detroit, Mich. The
United Shores League plays
all of their games out of one
stadium and draws, on aver-
age, more that 3,000 fans per
contest. According to Walk-
er, many of the players in the
league wind up signing profes-
sional contracts once the sea-
son is over.
“It seemed like a setup that
could work for us, especially
with COVID-19 complica-
tions. If we keep everything
centralized here at Volcanoes
Stadium, we eliminate travel
and we can make accommoda-
tions for players better,” Walker
said. “Ultimately we decid-
ed that this was the best path.
“Once we started to get the
pieces in place, we realized that
this could be really special.”
Despite cutting more than
40 minor league teams from
their system, MLB contacted
said.
When asked whether the
other groups could reserve the
fi elds, Public Works Director
Bill Lawyer said he urged
against it.
“Right now, we think the
parking will not be a problem.
But that may change and I
don’t want to encourage more
parking problems,” Lawyer
said.
Soccer fi elds at the park
typically draw regular use by
adult soccer and rugby leagues
on weekends. MYB’s early
Saturday schedule coupled
with the low-impact nature
of tee-ball is not expected to
interfere with adults using the
park nearby even if the groups
do overlap in minor ways.
Bays said members of
the MYB board and player
families will volunteer and
supply equipment to upgrade
the fi elds.
the Volcanoes in December
to discuss the possibility of a
partnership. However, the Vol-
canoes weren’t remotely inter-
ested in their suggestions.
“Their offers for help were
empty. There was no real offer,”
Walker said.
During a typical season,
the Volcanoes would host 38
home games. But in the new
league, Volcanoes Stadium will
be hosting a total of 96 games,
with the regular season starting
on May 13 and concluding on
Aug. 29 — each team will play
48 games. Walker also plans for
the league to hold a champi-
onship series at the end of the
season.
Weekday games will be
played every Thursday and Fri-
day at 6:35 p.m. On weekends,
there will be two games each
day — one at 1:05 p.m. and
one at 6:35 p.m.
Each team will have any-
where between 22-25 players
and the league will hold an
open tryout in April, which
will be followed by a coaches
draft — Walker said that the
league already has its managers
for all four teams selected, but
he wasn’t willing to share who
they were. Players who can’t
attend the tryout can send
their credentials and video to
the league offi ce to be consid-
ered for one of the teams.
Walker says that about 50
players have reached out with
an interest in playing in the
league and that he expects
hundreds of players to attend
the tryout.
For players outside of the
area, the league plans to pro-
vide host families. The league
is also currently working with
an agency to set players up
with part-time jobs.
The Mavericks League
won’t be paying players for the
2021 season, but Walker says
that could change in the future. their seats.”
be more than just players on a
“There will probably be
However, what Walker said fi eld.”
high-level college players in he was most excited for the
While the Volcanoes are
the league and we obviously future is the amount of com- disappointed in how their re-
can’t pay them. But we also munity involvement the league lationship with the Giants end-
just don’t have the budget right plans to do with their players. ed, Walker is feeling optimistic
now,” Walker
With no travel about the organization’s new
said.
and just three experiment.
Because
“The general feeling within
games
per
the Volcanoes
week, Walker the organization is a lot of joy.
current web-
wants players We’re really excited for a new
site is current-
to take oppor- chapter. It’s unfortunate the
ly a part of
tunities to visit way things played out between
Minor League
local schools, Major League Baseball and Mi-
Baseball,
hospitals and nor League Baseball, especially
Walker says
senior care fa- with how (MLB) used draco-
that they will
nian powers to shove this down
cilities.
— Mickey Walker
begin phas-
“We
are everyone’s throat. But one way
ing out the
Mavericks League CEO going to have or another, we’re going to
site and in-
our
players make lemonade out of lemons
stead putting
e n t r e n c h e d and we’re going to keep chug-
info exclusively on the new in the community in a way ging along,” Walker said.
league website (mavericksin- we have never been able to
Season tickets and ticket
dependentleague.com).
do before, and I think it’s go- packages are currently on sale.
“There is going to have ing to allow for a much more Email mavericksleague2021@
to be a relearning process for personal connection with the gmail.com or call 503-390-
some people. The stadium will fans,” Walker said. “They will 2225 to purchase seats.
likely be renamed in the not-
so distant future,” Walker said.
Box scores, schedules and
game summaries will be avail-
able on the new website. Walk-
er also says that games will be
streamed online for people
to watch on their computers
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and tablets — the league is
planning on games being at
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roughly 25% capacity, which
is about 1,200 people, due to
COVID-19 guidelines.
“There’s a good chance that
some people will only be able
◆
to watch the game through
streaming, but it’s still going to
be cool,” Walker said.
◆
As far as in-game enter-
tainment is concerned, Walker
wasn’t willing to go into any
details, but he did say that it’s
◆
going to look a lot different
than it has in years past.
“We’re planning a lot of
special stuff this upcoming sea-
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