Covering some baseball topics: Pat Casey, Friends of Baseball and Mavericks Independent League

Pat Casey (Courtesy: OSU Athletics)

Updated 6/14/2021 6:00 AM, 10:00 PM

Let’s talk baseball as we head toward summer …

• Sources say Pat Casey pulled his name from the running for the vacant LSU head coaching job because of family considerations.

The oldest of four children to Pat and wife Susan — Jonathan — still lives with the Caseys. Jon, 35, has congenital autistic-like symptoms and is unable to live on his own. Though the former Oregon State coach — who retired after winning his third College World Series championship in 2018 — was intrigued with the idea of getting back into coaching at a program such as LSU, he wants to do what’s right for the family. That means staying put in Corvallis.

Paul Mainieri — retiring after 15 successful seasons with the Tigers — reached out to Casey about the possibility of being his successor. The pair have known each other for some time. When Mainieri left Notre Dame after the 2006 season to take the LSU job, Casey interviewed at Notre Dame before deciding to stay put in Corvallis. Oregon State lost to LSU twice at the 2012 Baton Rouge Regional, fell to the Tigers again twice in three games in the 2017 CWS, then beat them twice in the 2018 Corvallis Regional — by scores of 14-1 and 12-0 — on the way to a national championship.

Casey visited Baton Rouge last weekend and met with LSU officials. He was impressed with state-of-the-art Alex Box Stadium, with a capacity of more than 10,000, and with the athletic facilities, including nearly 10,000 square feet of locker and meeting room space and a weight room dedicated to baseball.

After some consideration, the Caseys chose not to uproot Jon, who has become a fixture in the Corvallis community and has grown comfortable with such a setting. They live a few blocks from the OSU campus. Jon can walk to and from games at Reser Stadium, Gill Coliseum and Goss Stadium. Few are as devoted to Beaver sports or follow them as closely as Jon, who served in various capacities (bat boy, ball boy, manager) for many of the school’s teams while growing up. If there is an unofficial mayor of the city, it’s Jon, and he wears the title proudly.

Jon isn’t the only part of the family piece. Pat’s other three children live in the state. All of his six siblings are Oregon residents, including older brother Chris, head football coach at George Fox. His parents, Fred and Bev, live in Newberg. They have been married 63 years.

Casey didn’t want to land at another Pac-12 school because he has a hard time seeing himself coaching against Oregon State, where he won 900 games and three College World Series titles over 24 years. The opportunity to coach in a well-heeled Southeast Conference program gave him pause, and a competitive fire still burns inside him. In the end, he chose to stay home.

“Nothing is more important than family,” Pat has told me on several occasions.

Casey, 62, seems unlikely to coach again at the college level. He has one more year on his contract as special assistant to OSU athletic director Scott Barnes. I don’t see him staying in that position after the contract expires. Casey has plenty of money and nothing left to prove as a coach.

I could see him working part-time as a major-league scout or in some capacity at the professional level. He has a fertile mind and much left to give in the sport that he loves. More than anything, Casey is a man of integrity and an excellent human being. He would be a tremendous addition to any baseball program or organization. Ask the thousands of players whom he has coached, the men who have coached with him, the athletic department employees who have worked alongside him.

As I write this, I recall a story I wrote on University of Portland pitcher Tommy Renda in 2007, the year Casey won the second of his three national titles at OSU. After a 10-1 win at Etzel Field, Casey greeted Renda — a left-handed pitcher who had limited use of his right arm due to cerebral palsy — with a handshake, a pen and a baseball.

“First time all year I’ve asked for an autograph,” Casey told me afterward. “Jon was in our dugout feeling sorry for (Renda). I told him, ‘No, Jon, that’s good stuff. There’s a guy who is making the most of what he has, just like you do.’ To me, that’s what college athletics is all about.”

That, folks, is what Pat Casey is all about.

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Youths participating in “Play Ball Everywhere” event at Walker Stadium. Resources from the Oregon Community Foundation’s Summer Learning Grant will fund Play Ball pop-up events across the state. (Courtesy Friends of Baseball)

Friends of Baseball is a Portland-based organization that has been helping promote the sport at the grass roots level since 2005. It was founded by Keenan Longcor and his son, Ben, as a family foundation intended as a vehicle to pay it forward in the sport they loved. It is now a non-profit run by Nova Newcomer, who took over as executive director in 2014.

Recently came news of an unprecedented $200,000 allocation that stands as a “watershed moment for our work,” Newcomer tells me.

Jayden Henderson distributing bats and balls through a partnership as part of the Play Ball Everywhere initiative. (Courtesy Friends of Baseball)

FOB is receiving $100,000 each from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Oregon Community Foundation. It’s the largest set of contributions ever extended to Friends of Baseball.

The funding through ARPA — a federal program — will be used to help underserved youth and communities return to the baseball field after time away due to the pandemic. The OCF money comes in the form of a K-12 Summer Learning Grant to extend the foundation’s “Full Count RBI” enrichment program and serve the youths most impacted by COVID-19 throughout the state.

Screenshot of “Full Count RBI” virtual academy class, featuring special guest Brian Hunter (top left), who played 10 seasons in the major leagues and twice led the American League in stolen bases (Courtesy Friends of Baseball)

Since 2015, FOB has served an average of 3,000 youths annually through its Full Count RBI after-school and summer program in the Portland metro area. About 80 percent of the participants identify as black, indigenous or youth of color, and more than 75 percent are from low-income families. It started as a one-week program for 35 elementary kids in the Jefferson High district and has grown to cover five districts in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, with special focus on Northeast Portland and east Multnomah County.

Full Count RBI fellow Kolby Cantue-Cliette (middle) was part of the inaugural year of the program in 2015. It has now served more than 1,250 youths and will expand the program state-wide this year (Courtesy Friends of Baseball. Photo by Intisar Abioto)

“We’re hoping to bring our work statewide,” Newcomer says. “We’re hoping to expand our ‘Play Ball Everywhere’ events to every county in Oregon. We intend to license our summer and after-school programs through partners and provide the curriculum and template to run this in other parts of the state. We’re focusing on low-income and youths of color to make sure these resources are going where they’re most needed.”

Zulaykha Armstrachan prepares to throw the ball during a drill while participating in Play Ball Everywhere event. With support from the PIL and a Nike Community Impact grant, Friends of Baseball is beginning a new program — Full Count RBI Girls Lead Softball Institute — this summer. (Courtesy Friends of Baseball)

The OCF grant is part of $40 million authorized by the state legislature to various entities to help children coming out of isolation after the stay-at-home edict due to the pandemic.

“We happened to have a program that is ready-made for the difficult situation so many children have struggled with this year,” Newcomer says. “(Legislators) liked our plans to get families and students engaged in sports and outdoor activities. Representative Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas) led the charge in having us be included in the ‘Rescue Plan Act’ funds from federal government.”

The influx of money stabilizes FOB’s financial situation, which has generally had an annual budget of between $200,000 and $250,000. (The organization has several corporate partners, including the Seattle Mariners, Dick’s Sporting Goods, PNC Bank, Atkinson Insurance and Mineral, the latter a human-resources consulting firm.)

Friends of Baseball’s “virtual academy” staff (Courtesy Friends of Baseball)

FOB has a staff of coaches who stage rotating clinics, plus workers who distribute equipment, help with field improvements and perform other duties such as food pantry distributions.

“We’re trying to make sure children have a bat and ball and their families have what they need so they can go out to play,” Newcomer says. “Play is a safety net for kids. The pandemic taught us that. Thank goodness programs like ‘Friends of Baseball are here at this moment.’ We’re positioned just right to address the needs at this moment for children. We’re grateful other institutions felt the same about our work.

“Baseball and softball can bring a lot to our community. It’s about the connection and the lessons and feeling a part of something. In no time in history has that been more needed than right now.”

Amen to that.

Those interested in becoming sponsors or making tax-deductible contributions to Friends of Baseball can go to the organization’s website (friendsofbaseball.org) or contact its office at 503 389-3753.

• 

Volcanoes Stadium (Courtesy: Mavericks League)

The Mavericks Independent League’s inaugural season is in full swing in Salem.

The new professional loop, with no ties to Major League Baseball, is a result of MLB’s recent contraction that trimmed some 40 affiliates, including the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

The Volcanoes, who participated in the Class A short season Northwest League from 1997-2020, were left without an operating agreement or a league. Owner Jerry Walker, with the help of son Mickey, put together a four-team league to help breech the gap.

The league’s name comes from the spirit of the Portland Mavericks, a rollicking independent franchise that captivated baseball fans in the city played in the Northwest League from 1973-77. The Mavericks are one of four teams in the MIL, joining the Volcanoes, Senators and Campesinos de Salem-Keizer.

Each team plays a 48-game schedule, with all contests held at Volcanoes Stadium, which is owned by the senior Walker. The teams play three games a week, with single games on tap each Thursday and Friday and double-headers slated for Saturday and Sunday. League play began May 13 and continues through the end of August, with playoffs set for the first two weeks of September.

The Senators are named in honor of the old Salem Senators, who played in Northwest League and Western International League from 1940-87. Campesinos — “farm laborer” in Spanish — pays tribute to the contributions of Latino farm workers of the Willamette Valley.

The team managers carry familiar names.

The Mavericks’ Alan Embree pitched 16 seasons as a reliever in the major leagues. Campesinos’ Daniel Robertson is a former Oregon State outfielder who played parts of four seasons in the bigs. The Senators’ David Wong is an ex-OSU assistant and father of former Beaver infielder Joey Wong, who played 10 years in the minor leagues, advancing as high as Triple-A. Joey is now an undergrad assistant at his alma mater. The Volcanoes’ Tony Torcato, who played parts of four seasons with the San Francisco Giants — hitting .298 in 47 career at-bats — began his pro playing career with the Volcanoes in 1998.

About 300 prospects signed up or tried out for the four teams in April. Each team wound up with a 22-player roster.

“We have players from all over — from Venezuela, North Carolina, Maryland — you name it,” says Kelly Ireland, the MIL’s sales and marketing rep.

Robertson, who had served as an undergrad assistant at Oregon State last year, got involved for a couple of reasons.

“I would like to coach or manage in pro ball,” says Robertson, 35. “Because of the pandemic, staffs were being cut and jobs were at a minimum. No one was hiring. I had to get some experience. This is the best way. There is no experience like managing.”

The MIL, Robertson says, “is a good opportunity for young guys to get out and play. A lot of kids hadn’t played for a year. I felt like they needed a manager who could give them a place to play without worrying about wins and losses, all while learning the game and seeing how their game fits into the next generation of pro ball.”

Campesinos players may not be worrying, but they are winning. They led the league through Friday play with a 9-4 record, followed by the Volcanoes (8-5) and the Mavericks (7-6).

The quality of play, Robertson says, is hard to define.

“There are guys in our league who can play anywhere in the country and guys who can’t,” says Robertson, who played in two independent leagues — the American Association and the Atlantic League — on his way to the bigs. “We have some very good players in our league.

“It’s been an awesome for me,” he says. “These kids are great. They work hard every day. We have guys who are trying to learn how to win and how to maximize their opportunities.”

Volcanoes Stadium is currently operating with fans allowed at 25 percent of its 5,000-seat capacity. Tickets are available in the $6 to $8 range.

“It’s affordable,” Ireland says, “and it’s a blast to watch.”

Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below.

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