“Many families had a pool in their backyard,” Russell has said, “but our backyard had a batting cage.”
Kurt Russell has starred in numerous films, including Overboard (1987), Unlawful Entry (1992), and Backdraft (1991). But baseball ruled when Russell was growing up. Kurt’s father, Bing, had a passion for the game and helped land a minor league team in their hometown, the Portland (OR) Mavericks.
Courtesy Bend Magazine
Later, his son Kurt signed with the Class A Bend (OR) and Walla Walla in the Northwest League. Then came a stint with Double-A El Paso, and Russell started the season well, hitting .500 a week in the 1973 season. Then disaster struck. “I was trying to turn a double play at second base, and the runner came high and hit me hard,” he said.
It ended up being a career-changing injury. El Paso released him, but he still got a chance to play for two years (1973 and 1977) with the home-standing Mavericks. In four years in the game, Russell batted .292 in about 400 at-bats with 41 RBIs, 2 HRs, and a .745 OBP (on-base plus slugging).
Injury derailed a major league career, but fans still got a chance to see Russell perform on a different stage.
