Linfield connections to Portland Mavericks pro baseball team

Sports documentary 'The Battered Bastards of Baseball' is, according to a review in the Jan. 21, 2014, Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune, a "spirited retelling" of the Portland Mavericks (Mavs) Class A professional baseball team, which existed 1973-1977. Link to review: http://bit.ly/1GkRhkq

There are two Linfield connections to the Mavs:

--Catcher Ron Webb, Linfield 1972 grad, lettered in Linfield baseball in 1969 and 1970 playing for Coach Roy Helser. He lettered in 1971 (Linfield's second NAIA World Series championship team) and 1972 as catcher for Coach Ad Rutschman. Interesting to note, Webb was catcher on the Rutschman coached 1968 Hillsboro High School state championship baseball team.

--Third baseman Steve Collette, lettered in Linfield baseball 1966 (Linfield's first NAIA World Series championship) and 1967 teams coached by Roy Helser. Transferred to OCE, now WOU/Western Oregon University and played baseball for the OCE Wolves. He was Mavericks manager/player in 1977, the team's final season. A graduate of North Salem, Ore., High School, he died at age 56 in 2003. He's a member of the WOU Athletic Hall of Fame. His "Hall" bio does not mention Linfield and Mavericks. Link to bio: http://bit.ly/1jD6p2H

==Oregonian – Aug. 2, 1973: 
Mavericks ink catcher Webb
The Portland Mavericks dealt close to home Wednesday when they signed catcher Ron Webb of Hillsboro to a contract.

Webb had been playing for Hillsboro's City League semi-professional team.

Two years ago, catching for Linfield College, he led his team to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) championship. He was named All-America and the national tournament's most valuable player.

He batted .400 for the season and .448 in the tournament.

He also was the catcher on Hillsboro high school's 1968 state championship baseball team.

Last year he was assistant diamond coach at Linfield, as the team finished runner-up in the NAIA West Coast Regional Tournament in Los Angeles.

==Bulletin, Ore., Bulletin – Aug. 3, 1973: 
Relief helps Mavericks
AP story datelined Portland about Mavs beating a not named opponent, 3-2. In the game's fourth inning, the team's newest member, catcher Ron Webb, drove in two runs with a double.

==Oregonian – Aug. 4, 1973: Governor intervenes for Mavs
Hang in there, Maverick fans. Ron Webb will be around for the series with Walla Walla.

Replying to a game-story "letter" in Friday's Oregonian, Gov. Tom McCall said that he had requested the Oregon National Guard Adjutant General that Webb be allowed to make up his two weeks of summer duty at a later date.

Later Friday, the Mavericks received word that Webb's master sergeant had given him a weekend pass to participate in the weekend series.

Portland and Walla Walla are battling for first place in the Northwest League. The Washington team holds a two-game edge after Friday's first game of a four-game series, the last meetings this season between the teams.

In revealing his request, McCall said he considers the Mavericks, the only independent minor league team in organized baseball, the best thing to happen in Portland baseball in 20 years.

Webb is a catcher who played his high school ball in Hillsboro. He was signed earlier this week by the Mavs.

==Oregonian - June 5, 1974: Story says the Mavericks scheduled an exhibition game with the Portland Lobos of the City League. "The Lobos, national champions the past two years in Casey Stengel semi-pro baseball, supplied the Mavericks last year with catcher Ron Webb."

PHOTOS from Linfield Oak Leaves yearbooks show Ron Webb,  Steve Collette and Tom McCall. Photo of McCall shows him as Oregon Secretary of State delivering address at Linfield 1965 Commencement. According to the Oregonian, at that commencement Linfield President Harry Dillin awarded McCall a Linfield honorary doctor of laws degree.

NOTES:
Besides Gov. McCall helping Linfielder Ron Webb and the Portland Mavericks, two more bits of info.

First, some historians consider McCall to have been a maverick in his time as Oregon governor. So, he was an Oregon maverick aiding the Portland Mavericks.

Secondly, there was a possibility that McCall could have been a Linfield president. Following the Linfield presidency of Gordon Bjork, 1968-1974, Cornelius Siemens was interim president, 1974-1975. McCall served two terms, 1967-1975, as Oregon governor. His last date in office, the end of his second term, was Jan. 13, 1975. During the latter part of his second term, Linfield made an effort to have McCall succeed Bjork as president. (But, in reality, he would have succeeded Siemens.) McCall considered the offer to be Linfield president. According to the book Inspired Pragmatism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College, McCall “declined the offer, consenting to election as a (Linfield) trustee” in January 1975. During his trustee tenure, McCall served as Linfield trustee chair.

McCall has a connection to Linfield football. A story in the Nov. 3, 1974, Sunday Oregonian, says Gov. McCall was part of an estimated crowd of 4,500 on Nov. 2, 1974, which “ringed ancient Maxwell Field, and saw small college football at its best” when #3 nationally-ranked Linfield defeated #2 PLU, 15-14.

:::

RON WEBB:

Photo likely by Rusty Rae

Links to Ron Webb info from Portland Tribune:

https://pamplinmedia.com/ht/120-hillsboro-tribune-sports/333602-212837-former-century-ad-ron-webb-named-to-linfield-hall-of-fame-

https://pamplinmedia.com/images/artimg/00003562737282.jpg

--About Steve Collette,  see "Mavericks: The Battered Bastards of Baseball," by Steve Lundeberg, Albany, Oregon, Democrat-Herald.  June 18, 2014: 

https://democratherald.com/blogs/any-given-lundy/the-battered-bastards-of-baseball/article_dc220732-f709-11e3-a7f0-0019bb2963f4.html

--About Ron Webb, Linfield Hall of Famer, enshrined 2016:

https://golinfieldwildcats.com/honors/linfield-athletics-hall-of-fame/ron-webb/163

--About Scott Carnahan, a Linfield grad who went on to become Linfield baseball coach and athletic director, had a connection to the Portland Mavericks, too. Read Rusty Rae's story:

https://www.linfield.edu/linfield-news/wildcats-in-the-news/linfields-top-cat-retires-scott-carnahans-farewell-arms/

"But out of college, his career turned in a different direction. He had a contract with the Portland Mavericks (at the princely sum of $300 per month) – which didn’t work out – he lasted three weeks."

 

--Steven Charles Collette

Jan 30, 1947-Sept 9, 2003

SALEM -Steve Collette, father, friend coach and athlete played his final inning Tue., Sept. 9, 2003.

Although his lost this inning to cancer, his lifetime record is in the "win" column. He will be remembered for the many lives he touched thorugh his dual loves of young people and sports. A time to celebrate his life will be held 2 pm, Sun Sept at the Salem Elks Lodge, 2336 SE Turner Rd. SE in Salem. As a legacy to him, contributions may be made to Steve Collette Athletic Scholarship Fund, WOU Foundation, The Cottage, 345 N. Monmouth Ave., Monmouth OR 97361.

Source: Salem, Ore., Statesman Journal, Sept. 13, 2003

Where Catball (Linfield Softball) plays

Photos taken afternoon of 10/21/2015

N-R story of 10/20/2015 about 'The Streak' at 60

The Streak at 60

By Robert Husseman

Sports Editor of the McMinnville N-R/News-Register 10/20/2015

SALEM – Of course there would be a poster.

The clock had not yet struck zero on Linfield football’s contest against Willamette Saturday when the Wildcats unveiled the red and purple letters against the white background. 60 YEARS 1956-2015 LINFIELD FOOTBALL, it read, marking the continuation of the wonderful and seemingly improbable, and also business as usual.

The Bearcats had, to their credit, raised the specter of doubt, holding Linfield to seven points in the first half and a three-and-out on the Wildcats’ opening drive of the second half. Linfield’s 60th consecutive winning season of football might have to be marked another day.

Then Spencer Payne asserted himself, Sam Riddle launched another of his timely bombs, and the Linfield defense suffocated the barely aspirating Willamette offense to erase any further doubts.

Wildcats 49, Bearcats 7. Thanks for playing at McCulloch Stadium. It was enough to make the most ardent cardinal red-and-gold-clad fan feel a little blue.

“The Streak is not a primary concern,” said former Linfield defensive end Ryan Carlson, proprietor of the Catdome Alumni blog and highlight video producer for the football team. “The Streak takes care of itself while the program in its current state has one thing on its mind, and that’s trying to get back to Salem.”

That’s Virginia, not Oregon, the site of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Division III national championship game. Linfield, at 5-0 overall and ranked No. 2 nationally by d3football.com, is paving the way there. Three Northwest Conference teams and two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams have already succumbed to the steamroller.

The Streak’s 60th birthday was marked with familiar postgame routine and new-age branding panache. Linfield players met near the south end zone of McCulloch Stadium for postgame remarks from head coach Joseph Smith, chanted, captured a postgame team selfie (the newest tradition unlike any other) and broke for position group meetings. Each position group posed with the 60 YEARS poster, from the stars to the freshmen not listed in the participation report. As it stands alone in a football-crazed nation, The Streak belongs to every Wildcat.

“I think they’ve done a really good job of creating a culture where football’s important,” said Ken Goe, the longtime college football reporter at The Oregonian. “The other thing they’ve done is they’ve just hired really good coaches. They’ve just done a really nice job of identifying people who could coach. They’ve hired good people, so why would you change.”

The Streak has a lineage but no birthright. From Paul Durham to Ad Rutschman to Ed Langsdorf to Jay Locey to Smith, The Streak has been nurtured by coaches brought up in the Linfield system, either as players (Durham, Rutschman and Smith) or assistant coaches. Of the 19 (!) assistant coaches affiliated with the Wildcats this season, 16 are Linfield graduates.

“It’s kind of a product in itself, a byproduct of what we’re doing,” said Doug Hire, the Wildcats’ offensive line coach and a former Linfield lineman himself. “The way I coach now is the way I’ve been coached.”

“A lot of that coaching is teaching,” Goe said. “One of the things I think makes a liberal arts education important is, teaching is emphasized there. At the liberal arts schools, they’re hiring faculty members who can teach first. I think that extends to football as well.”

Longtime sports journalist and former Linfield football player Dennis Anderson must, now and forever, be credited as the progenitor of the streak becoming The Streak. It was Anderson’s research in the 1980s, after all, that established that Harvard had posted 42 consecutive winning seasons between 1881 and 1923 and Notre Dame had repeated the feat from 1889 to 1931.

(Central College of Iowa had 42 consecutive winning seasons between 1961 and 2002.) The Wildcats were hot on the heels of the Crimson and the Fighting Irish, and The Streak was properly identified and categorized from there.

“What he ended up doing was saving all of his vacation days, coming over (from Hawaii, where he lived and worked,) and donating his time to me to work with our football program,” said former Linfield coach Ad Rutschman, who is responsible for 24 of those 60 winning seasons. “He would save up enough time to where he could be here for the majority of our football season.”

Of course, Linfield had long since cultivated its reputation on the gridiron. Goe recalled attending a University of Oregon football practice not long after Oregonian sports columnist Steve Duin had written “that it looked like the best team in the state might be OSU, and it definitely wasn’t Oregon, and Oregon might struggle to beat Linfield.”

“The next day at practice, (then-head coach) Rich Brooks was walking between players (during stretching) at practice screaming: ‘The Oregonian thinks you guys are (expletives)! The Oregonian thinks you guys couldn’t beat OSU! The Oregonian thinks you guys couldn’t beat Linfield!’” Goe recalled.

“I could see the players turn and look at me and I thought, this is not a real comfortable place to be.”

Terry Durham, the Linfield Athletic Hall of Famer and son of the late coach Paul Durham, remembers discussion of the Wildcats’ winning run after nine seasons, or in 1964. (“For Linfield to keep the streak alive in winning more games than they lose every season is unbelievable,” Durham said. “It just doesn’t happen.”)

“We were 1-4 in 1987. That’s really the first year I ever heard about a streak,” said Locey, now the head football coach at Lewis & Clark. “We ended up finishing 5-4.

“It’s quite a tradition, quite a heritage.”

As soon as The Streak was identified, it was used as a recruiting tool. Smith, a member of the Grants Pass High School class of 1989, remembers it as part of Linfield’s pitch to him. “It was 37 when I was a senior,” said Smith, who became an All-America defensive back for the Wildcats. “That’s the number that we would break to.”

Recruiting is an individual sport, but The Streak plays its role as called upon. It was there for a diminutive running back from Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove, California, named Tavon Willis, who is now the Wildcats’ third-leading rusher in 2015. (“Just to look at Division I programs and then to see Linfield College up there, I was like, this is my opportunity right here,” Willis said.) Tight end Levi Altringer was born in McMinnville and attended games at Maxwell Field as a toddler. “I got the little Linfield jersey to prove it, the one my little sister wears,” Altringer said. “It was super old-school – the arms go to the elbows, with the two stripes.

“The winning streak, it was always there for me. I knew the tradition of excellence at Linfield.”

“My parents aren’t 60. My grandparents are just over 70,” said Linfield wide receiver Brian Balsiger, a Portland State transfer who encountered The Streak in recruiting. “We’re talking about when they were born, in high school, middle school. That’s a long time. You think, how young was Coach (Rutschman) when that whole thing started?”

Streaks, Carlson noted, are made to be broken, but Linfield’s 57-7 record over the past six seasons hardly portends danger for The Streak. It is more ideal than idol, more omnipresent than factual. The Wildcats live it and breathe it in the midst of a football season but scarcely acknowledge it among themselves.

“It’s always fun to educate those who ask about it,” Balsiger said, in reference to The Streak.

He could have, just as easily, been speaking about the program.

Great moments in ‘The Streak’

1956--Hey, The Streak had to start somewhere, right? Linfield began the ’56 season 0-1-1, falling 19-17 to Lewis & Clark, but went 5-0-1 the rest of the way. The Wildcats’ season culminated in a 27-13 victory over Southern Oregon in which Linfield’s defensive line – led by All-American Vic Fox – allowed 37 rushing yards. The Wildcats’ destiny in the Northwest Conference was largely out of their hands until Pacific upset Lewis & Clark in the final week of the season. That give Linfield its second NWC title in school history – head coach Paul Durham had won the first one as a player, in 1935.

1965--What would become Linfield’s 10th winning season began with another milestone event: the Wildcats’ season-opening 17-0 blanking of Pacific Lutheran was the 100th victory in Paul Durham’s tenure atop the program. Linfield defeated Willamette, 26-6, to conclude a 7-1 regular season and clinch an NAIA playoff berth, where they eventually played St. John’s of Minnesota in the Champion Bowl in Augusta, Georgia. (The Johnnies claimed the championship, 33-0.) Wildcats players Bob Haack, Bob Wisti, Bob Ferguson, Jack Ostlund and Denny Schweitzer comprised a tough defensive line, and the offensive backfield – quarterback Terry Durham, halfback Rogers Ishizu, tailback Leroy Fails and fullback Odis Avritt – was equally formidable.

1975--The 20th consecutive winning season came and went with little fanfare but occurred in the midst of an historic stretch, as Linfield won at least a share of eight Northwest Conference championships in a nine-season span under head coach Ad Rutschman. The Wildcats knocked off College of Idaho, 34-6, on Nov. 2, 1975, as Drake Conti scored rushing touchdowns of 78 and 6 yards and Linfield held the Coyotes to 33 yards rushing. Don Rutschman – yeah, that one – caught an 18-yard touchdown pass to aid the Wildcats offensively. Linfield, 5-2 after defeating College of Idaho, would go 1-1 in its next two games to claim a share of the NWC championship.

1987--Linfield’s 32nd consecutive winning season was also the one most fraught with peril, as the Wildcats started the year 1-4. In the season finale against Pacific on Nov. 14, 1987, the Boxers held a 12-7 lead in the third quarter before Linfield quarterback Randy Hare connected with Dave Erickson on a touchdown pass. A 39-yard field goal by Greg Gulliford brought the Wildcats ahead 17-12 late, but the winning season would not be secured until defensive end Steve Reimann intercepted Pacific quarterback Brett Smith in the final.

1998--When Linfield football secured the longest winning-season streak in the history of college football, students and fans tore down the goalposts at Maxwell Field. The Wildcats, in the third year of Jay Locey’s tenure, had had its hands full with Willamette on Oct. 17, 1998. The Bearcats outgained Linfield 375-289 for the game; the Wildcats had 10 penalties and converted on six of 17 third downs. With 44 seconds remaining, Linfield quarterback Brian Higgins found Nick Forsey on a three-yard touchdown pass to take a 20-19 lead. Willamette responded with a drive and a 50-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds that ultimately missed.

2005--One year removed from the fourth national championship in program history (and the first as a member of NCAA Division III), Brett Elliott had one of the best individual seasons in Linfield history. Elliott posted the second-best passing season in school history with 277 completions, 4,019 passing yards and 49 touchdowns in winning the Gagliardi Trophy and Melberger Award (best player in Division III) following the season; only his 2004 season was greater. The Wildcats went 8-0 in the regular season (clinching the 50th consecutive winning season with a 49-14 victory over Southern Oregon and racing into the D-III national championship game, where Linfield fell to Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Linfield 49, Willamette 7

SALEM – Spencer Payne rushed for a season-high 135 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and Sam Riddle threw for 212 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown pass to Eric Igbinoba, as the Wildcats secured their 60th consecutive winning season of football at the expense of the host Bearcats.

Willamette (1-4, 1-2 Northwest Conference) kept itself in the game against Linfield (5-0, 3-0 NWC) in the first half, trailing 7-0 at intermission despite being outgained 268-58. The Wildcats uncharacteristically struggled on special teams; kicker Michael Metter missed field goals from 48 and 50 yards, a bad punt snap resulted in a blocked kick for Kevin McClean, and a fake field goal on the final play of the half resulted in an interception.

As the Linfield offense warmed up in the second half, the defense suffocated the Bearcats. Linebacker Mitchell Kekel intercepted a pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown; on Willamette’s next possession, Asa Schwartz returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown.

Sutter Choisser rushed for 39 yards and a touchdown, and Bryan Cassill added a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Erick Douglas III caught four passes for 37 yards.

Eli Biondine led the Wildcats defensively with nine tackles, and Alex Hoff had four tackles for loss and two sacks on a six-tackle day. Mikey Arkans intercepted a pass for Linfield.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 2 nationally by d3football.com, host Whitworth Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1:30 p.m.

The Beat Goes On: Music of Linfield Football’s ‘The Streak’

“The Streak” is 60-years-old.

One measure of time during those 60 years -- 1956 to 2015 -- is music.

Some of those on the current (2015) Linfield football team might recognize songs or singers popular 60 or so years ago. For example, “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley in 1956.

It’s likely those on the team (1956) which started “The Streak” do not recognize songs on the other end of the list. An example is “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars in 2015.

Songs on this list were selected by Wildcatville not because they were necessarily the top-selling single of respective years, but because. Just because.

A tip of the Wildcat hat to music of Linfield’s “The Streak.”

1956 --“Love Me Tender,” Elvis Presley

1957 --“That'll Be the Day,” Buddy Holly & The Crickets

1958 --“It's All in the Game,” Tommy Edwards

1959 --“Mack the Knife,” Bobby Darin

1960 --“The Twist,” Chubby Checker

1961 --“Hit the Road Jack,” Ray Charles

1962 --“The Loco-Motion,” Little Eva

1963 --"Louie, Louie," the Kingsmen

1964 --“I Want to Hold Your Hand,” The Beatles

1965 --"Wooly Bully," Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

1966-- "Hungry," Paul Revere & the Raiders

1967 -- "The Beat Goes On," Sonny & Cher

1968 --“(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay,” Otis Redding

1969 --“Proud Mary,” Credence Clearwater Revival

1970 --“In the Summertime,” Mungo Jerry

1971 --“Joy to the World,” Three Dog Night

1972 --“I Am Woman,” Helen Reddy

1973 --“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” Jim Croce

1974 --“The Streak,” Ray Stevens

1975 --“That's the Way (I Like It),” KC & the Sunshine Band

1976 --“How Deep Is Your Love,” Bee Gees

1977 --“Hotel California,” Eagles

1978 --“Grease,” Frankie Valli

1979 --“Rise,” Herb Alpert

1980 --“Funkytown”, Lipps Inc

1981 --“Celebration,” Kool & the Gang

1982 --“Chariots of Fire,” Vangelis

1983 --“Beat It,” Michael Jackson

1984 --“Ghostbusters,” Ray Parker Jr

1985 --“We Are the World,” USA for Africa

1986 --“Sledgehammer,” Peter Gabriel

1987 --“La Bamba,” Los Lobos

1988 --“Anything for You,” Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine

1989 --“Rock On" Michael Damian

1990 --“Step by Step,” New Kids on the Block

1991 --“Unbelievable,” EMF

1992 --“Jump,” Kris Kross

1993 --“Hero,” Mariah Carey

1994 --“The Power of Love," Céline Dion

1995 --“Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” Whitney Huston

1996 --“Macarena" (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio

1997 --“MMMBop,” Hanson

1998 --“I Don't Want to Miss a Thing,” Aerosmith

1999 --“Wild Wild West,” Will Smith featuring Dru Hill & Kool Moe Dee

2000 --“Smooth,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas

2001 --“Family Affair,” Mary J. Blige

2002 --“A Moment Like This,” Kelly Clarkston

2003 --“Hey Ya!,” OutKast

2004 --“Drop It Like It's Hot,” Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell

2005 --“Run It!,” Chris Brown

2006 --“Do I Make You Proud,” Taylor Hicks

2007 --“Stronger,” Kanye West

2008 --“Live Your Life,” T.I. featuring Rihanna

2009 --“I Gotta Feeling,” The Black Eyed Peas

2010 --“We R Who We R,” Kesha

2011 --“Firework,” Katy Perry

2012 --“Set Fire to the Rain,” Adele

2013 --“Wrecking Ball,” Miley Cyrus

2014 --“Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift

2015 --“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

Some of your favourite tunes not on the list? There's more here:
http://wildcatville.blogspot.com/2015/10/more-of-beat-goes-on-music-of-linfield.html

More of 'The Beat Goes On: Music of Linfield Football’s ‘The Streak’

1957 –“Chances Are,” Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis performed in Riley Gym in an 8 p.m. Oct. 22, 1965, concert.
1959 --"Tall Cool One," The Wailers (a.k.a. The Fabulous Wailers)
1961 --“Let’s Get Together,” Hayley Mills
1963 --“Surf City,” Jan & Dean
1964 --“The Witch,” The Sonics
1965 --“You Were on My Mind,” We Five
1965 --“I Got You Babe,” Sonny & Cher
1965--"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," the Rolling Stones
1966 --“(Double Shot) Of My Baby's Love, ” Swingin’ Medallions

1966 -- "Enter the Young," The Association
1966 --“Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys
1967 --“Kind of a Drag,” The Buckinghams
The Buckinghams performed in Riley Gym in a Homecoming 8 p.m. concert on Oct. 19, 1967.
1968 --"Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)," 5th Dimension
1968 --“And Suddenly,” Cherry People
1971 --“Riders on the Storm,” Jim Morrison & The Doors
1972 --“The Candy Man,“ Sammy Davis Jr
1991 --“Unforgettable,” Nat (King) & Natalie Cole

Slideshow: Linfield Football at Willamette 10/17/2015 -- 'The Streak' now 60-years old