Bing Russell

Although best known as the deputy on Bonanza (1959) and Robert in The Magnificent Seven (1960), Russell was also well-known on a national level as the owner of the Portland Mavericks Baseball Club. Helming the only independent team in the Class-A Northwest League, Russell was an innovator. Before Bull Durham (1988), there were the Mavericks. Russell kept a 30-man roster because he believed that some of the players deserved to have one last season. His motto was one 3-letter word. Not WIN, although the Mavericks did just that. No, the word was FUN. He created a park that kept all corporate sponsorship outside the gates, hired the first female general-manager in professional baseball, and the the next year hired the first Asian-American GM/Manager. That season his team set a record for the highest attendance in minor-league history and went on to win the pennant. Ex-major leaguers and never-weres who couldn't stop playing the game flocked to his June tryouts, which were always open to an