034944's blog

Bing Russell’s baseball team

The movie is about actor Bing Russell and how he made an independent baseball team called the Mavericks that lasted from 1974 through 1977. The reason Bing made the team is because of his love of the game baseball.

I never loved something as much as Bing Russell loved baseball. He loved the game ever since he was nine years old. He asked and recruited people to become part of the team. Bing Russell is originally from Los Angles, California where he had a movie career.   He started the team in Portland, Oregon since the Oregon Beavers season had ended, there was no more baseball in Oregon.

Bing started baseball tryouts to find the right team. Three to five hundred people tried out for the team because they loved playing baseball and a few of them got a place on the team. They were the only independent team in Oregon and in the country. Currently there are 65 independent teams.

They were successful because of their love of playing baseball and their devotion to the game, the players were in their 30s or late 20s and some had a lot of experience.

In 1977, the Mavericks discontinued due to the returning conflict with the Oregon Beavers and court. The problem was that the Oregon Beavers were a state team and owned the baseball related franchise.

Bing Russell was later sent to court to resolve the issue. The Pacific Conference League offered him twenty-six thousand dollars instead Bing fought it and settled it in court. He was paid two hundred and six thousand dollars huge amount of money to buy out the Maverick’s franchise territory.

The movie show how a Hollywood actor from Los Angeles, California turned a baseball dead city in Oregon to a free independent team that loved to play the game.

I think people who like sports and movies should see this film because it talks about the first independent baseball team in history. When I first see I thought it was just another boring documentary film but it shows me a very true and fun loving story. The one thing I do not like about the film is cursing and unexpected events such as going to court along the way. In the end I enjoyed the film and I say you should watch it and enjoy it to as much as I did.

~ by 034944 on .