The Next Generation Filmmaker Series Presents “The Battered Bastards of Baseball”

Photography by Seth Browarnik on January 23rd, 2014 in Celebrity, Culture, Sundance 2014

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Wyatt Russell & Kurt Russell

Park City, UT – January 20, 2014 – It was a dinner and a movie kind of night at Sundance Film Festival as The Next Generation Filmmaker Series presented “The Battered Bastards of Baseball”. The film, directed by Maclain Way and Chapman Way, depicts one of baseball’s last great, unheralded true stories as Hollywood veteran Bing Russell (best known for playing Deputy Clem on “Bonanza”) created the only independent baseball team in America at the time, the legendary Portland Mavericks. Bing operated without a Major League affiliation and tryouts for the Mavericks were filled with hopefuls who arrived in droves from every state in America, many of whom had been rejected by organized baseball.

Bing’s Mavericks generated unprecedented success: shattering attendance records, signing Bing’s son as a player and team Vice President, producing the most successful batboy in baseball, re-launching the controversial career of Jim Bouton, hiring the first female general manager in Baseball, and inspired one of America’s beloved bubblegums – Big League Chew. “The Battared Bastards of Baseball” is as much about the independent spirit as it is about baseball. The Mavericks’ in your face attitude was contagious to fans, and during their short reign, they basically held up their middle finger to the sports establishment and said we’re playing this game on our terms, not yours. They were the real life Bad News Bears.

After viewing the film guests, including Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell, got to chat as they were treated to a sit down dinner with delicious pot roast and risotto. They were served refreshers of Patron cocktails and wine.

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