PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 12, 2021
Cain named commissoner
of Mavericks League
MAVS,
continued from Page A12
NWL south division title,
despite
many
hijinks
throughout the season
—
manager
Frank
Robinson, a longtime
minor leaguer, was
suspended for the year
after punching an
umpire.
The
Mavericks
went
50-34
the
following
year,
fi nishing in second
place in the newly
formatted NWL west
division. After the season,
Russell hired Lenny Moss
to be the team’s general
manager — the fi rst female,
and fi rst Asian-American,
general
manager
in
professional baseball history.
In 1975, the Mavericks
won their second division
title in three seasons.
Jim Bouton, an aging
knuckleballer who pitched in
the majors for nine seasons,
made fi ve appearances for
the Mavericks and posted
a 4-1 record with a 2.20
ERA — Bouton was also
the inventor of Big League
Chew. However, Portland lost
in the championship series
to the Eugene Emeralds. At
the one championship game
that was hosted in Portland,
the Mavericks attracted more
than 5,000 fans.
After
winning
the
division yet again in 1976,
the Mavericks had their best
season in franchise history
in 1977, going 44-22, which
was the best record in the
league. The Mavericks hosted
the Bellingham Mariners in
the championship series.
The
deciding
game
three of the series was in
Portland and had 7,805 fans
in attendance — in contrast
to the 575 fans who were on
hand to witness game one of
the series in Bellingham. The
Mavericks lost the game 4-2
in their last ever contest at
Civic Stadium.
While
the
Beavers
struggled mightily with
attendance numbers in the
early ‘70s, that was never an
issue for the Mavericks. In
three of their fi ve seasons
in Portland, the Mavericks
attracted more than 100,000
fans. The 125,300 fans that
came to watch the Mavericks
over 33 games in 1977 is still
an attendance record for the
short-season Single-A level.
When the Pacifi c Coast
League expanded in 1978,
Major
League
Baseball
(MLB) took interest in
Portland once agains as a
spot for a minor league
affi liate.
The Portland
Beavers rejoined the PCL
in 1978 and the Mavericks
were shut down after the
league paid Russell a total of
$206,000 when Russell took
the matter to arbitration.
Along with Bouton, Larry
Colton, Jeff Cox and Dick
Rusteck all played in the big
leagues either before or after
playing with the Mavericks.
The Mavericks batboy was
Todd Field, who went on
to become an Academy
Award nominated writer and
director.
In 2014, Netfl ix produced
a documentary called The
Battered Bastards of Baseball,
which is all about the
Mavericks fi ve-year run in
the NWL and the infl uence
they had on independent
baseball in the years to come.
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Long-time baseball execu-
tive Jack Cain has been named
as commissioner of the Mav-
ericks Independent Baseball
League.
Cain has spent over four
decades in baseball serving as
team owner, senior advisor,
general manager and league
president. 1981 marked Cain’s
entry in baseball as owner of
the Bend Phillies.The team be-
came the Bend Bucks in 1987
and eventually the Bend Rock-
ies in 1992, a name they held
until the franchise moved and
became the Portland Rockies
in 1995.
Cain had phenomenal suc-
cess in Portland drawing nearly
a quarter-million fans in each
of his fi rst two seasons in the
Rose City and set an all-time
attendance record for Class A
short season baseball. Success
was not limited to the gate as
his teams won the Northwest
League Championship in 1997
and division Championship in
1999.
For his efforts, Cain was
named Northwest League Ex-
ecutive of the Year on three
different occasions and was
elected as Northwest League
President, a position he held
from 1985-1990.
Cain’s success in Portland
was the catapult for Triple-A
baseball’s return to Portland
that ultimately led to ending
Cain’s ownership tenure. The
Triple-A Portland Beavers
were quick to add Cain as their
senior advisor and special assis-
tant and he twice served as the
interim general manager for
the Beavers.
In addition, Cain won the
prestigious Bob Freitas Award
in 1999 for operational excel-
lence and Sporting News’ Ex-
ecutive of the Year honors in
1995.
In 2002, Cain and his wife,
Mary, were honored by the
Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation and the Portland
Rose Festival for their exem-
plary dedication and commit-
ment to children, family and
community.
Cain has always been an
active part of the community,
Cain
having served on the boards of
Portland Youth for Christ, Sal-
vation Army, Portland Rotary
and on the Executive Board of
the Old Timers Baseball Asso-
ciation of Portland.
Many area sports fans know
him best for his work on the
local gridirons, where he was a
high school football offi cial for
over 30 years.
“I’ve known Jack since my
entry into baseball back in
1989 and a fi ner gentleman
would be hard to fi nd. He has
earned the respect of many in
the game and his vast network
of relationships he has built
over the years will help jump-
start the Mavericks League,”
said long-time Salem-Keizer
Volcanoes team owner Jerry
Walker. “We couldn’t be happi-
er to have Jack as the fi rst Mav-
ericks League Commissioner.”
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