<p> Chapman and Maclain Way’s energetic telling of one of ba<x>seball’s great, unheralded stories is as much about independent spirit as it is about the game. When Portland, Oregon, lost its longtime minor-league affiliate, Bing Russell—who briefly played ball professionally before enjoying a successful Hollywood acting career—bought the territory and formed a single-A team to operate outside the confines of major-league ba<x>seball. When they took the field in 1973, the Mavericks—the only independent team in America—started with two strikes against them. What did Deputy Clem from Bonanza know about ba<x>seball? Or Portland, for that matter? The only thing uniting his pla<x>yers, recruited at open tryouts, was that no other team wanted them. Skeptics agreed that it could never work.<br/> But Bing understood a ballpla<x>yer’s dreams, and he understood an audience. His quirky, unkempt castoffs won games, and they won fans, shattering minor-league attendance records. Their spirit was contagious, and during their short reign, the Mavericks—a restaurant owner turned manager, left-handed catcher, and blackballed pitcher among them—brought independence back to ba<x>seball and embodied what it was all about: the love of the game.<br/> - J.N.</p>
