hoodrivernews.com
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 A7
HOOD RIVER NEWS | Hood River, Ore.
SPORTS
‘I didn’t want
to quit playing’
Former Portland Mavs
pitcher from The Dalles
reflects on career
By GABRIEL BRAVO
News staff writer
When baseball is mentioned, teams
and players come to mind, like the Wash-
ington Nationals, Stephen Strasburg and
Ken Griffey Jr.
When America’s pastime is mentioned
to area old-timers, the Portland Maver-
icks come to mind.
Only in existence from 1973-1977,
the Mavericks played in the Northwest
League, a Class A short-season minor
league. In those five years, the Mavs
earned fan loyalty, beat favored oppo-
nents and provided a second chance to
hopeful baseball dreamers from across
the country.
Michael Guischer, from The Dalles, was
one of them.
With hopes of pitching in the major
leagues, Guischer tore cartilage in his
knee in his final year at Portland State
University in 1972.
“I thought that it was going to be the
end of it,” Guischer said. “I didn’t want
to quit playing and I knew there was a
little chance of climbing out of there and
getting anywhere. But I was still young,
loved the game and I’ve been playing
since I was 8 years old. I just wasn’t ready
to call it good.”
Guischer returned to baseball in 1974
for one season with the Eugene Emeralds,
then transferred to the Mavericks and
pitched in 1975 and 1976.
“Well, I had probably the best year in
Eugene. I was seven and one and I got re-
leased along with pretty much the whole
ball club,” Guischer said. “College kids
came from all over the country to (the
Mavericks) weeklong inter-squad game.
Guys were coming in and out from eight
o’clock in the morning to eight o’clock at
night. So, everybody got a chance to play
and got a chance to see everybody. I got
something out of that camp as one of the
two pitchers.”
This unconventional way of recruiting
attracted baseball players who didn’t fall
in the, then, traditional baseball player
category: guys weren’t in the best shape,
smoked in the in the locker rooms and
had no filter. Despite their misleading
appearance, the Mavericks played well.
In its inaugural year, the Mavs had
a 45-35 record, 50-34 in 1974, 42-35 in
1975, 40-32 in 1976 and 44-22 in their last
season.
Maverick fans appreciated the under-
dog aspect of the team. With no affiliation
with a major league club, the Mavs beat
other clubs who were affiliated with the
Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodg-
ers and the San Diego Padres.
“We were pretty seasoned ball players,”
Guischer said. “There was rumors that
(other clubs) sent people down from their
higher ball clubs to beat us.”
Game attendance for those five years
averaged 2,724. During Guischer’s two
years with the team, total season at-
tendance exceeded 100,000. In its final
season, it is estimated a total of 125,300
people attended Maverick home games.
“When I was going to school at Port-
land State, we’d go to a lot of the triple-A
games; Portland Beavers were a Triple A
club,” Guischer said. “There’d only be a
couple hundred people in that ballpark
watching them. For some reason, when
the Mavericks started playing, they were
very supportive of the ball club. It was a
fun place to play. Great fan support.”
Now that it’s been over 40 years since
he played for the Mavericks, Guischer has
been married for 27 years and has two
daughters who also picked up the sport
and position.
Daughters Chelan and Ann-Marie
Guischer were raised playing the sport
and were babysat by Sarah Clark, former
star pitcher for The Dalles High School.
“During the summers, (Clark) baby-
sat the kids so she had an influence on
them too and she helped coach pitching
lessons,” Guischer said. “They ended up
loving the game and played as long as
they could.”
Both daughters continued the baseball
tradition and played in college. Chelan
attended Linfield College in McMinnville,
Ore. while Ann-Marie went to the Oregon
Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls.
Guischer has helped in TDHS’s soft
ball team but couldn’t continue due to
work scheduling conflicts. But with the
kids out of the nest and retirement in the
horizon, Guischer said he’d like to, again,
give back to the sport.
“If I ever do retire, I would probably
give it a go again,” Guischer said. “I really
enjoyed softball. I wouldn’t mind doing
the assistant coach managing end of it.
I’d work with the pitchers more than
anything.”
Photo courtesy of Michael Guischer
PITCHER for the Portland Mavericks, Michael Guischer, was with the team for the 1975 and 1976 season.
H OOPS C LINIC W ITH C ODY K UNIGEL
Substitute teacher and basketball coach Cody Kunigel held a basketball clinic aimed at improving second through
eighth graders’ offensive strategy Jan. 20 at Vannet Court at Hood River Valley High School. HRV senior Cruise Hawk
(blue shirt) and HRV graduate Juan Zuniga (white shirt) face off as Eric Fauth (grey shirt) moves in for a screen with
Cody Kunigel (farthest right) supervises.
Photos by Gabriel Bravo
Hoop clinics have been going on for about three years now, Cody Kunigel said.
Families from The Dalles, Maupin and as far away as Heppner attended the clin-
ic. A session for second through fifth graders was from 8-9:30 a.m. and a session
for sixth through eighth graders was from 10 a.m. to noon.
HRV senior and basketball starter Cruise Hawk volunteered in the sixth through eighth session. Twenty-one kids participated in this session. The kids in Monday’s session seemed enthusiastic and eager
to learn basketball skills, Hawk said. Because this is Hawk’s last year in school, he said he wanted to give back to the community and help kids in developing their skills.