It may not be the greatest history but the Mid-Missouri Mavericks had a decent run
despite the poor performance on the field. Their first season would become their
best season, as the novelty of the professional baseball drew fans from all
over the area to see the new Mavericks play. Even with "bad weather" as Tim Perry
of the Frontier League History Pages explained (http://flhistory.gofreeserve.com/)... the team drew 75,000 fans...45k more than the 30,000 they had drawn at Canton
Ohio the previous season. The inaugural team wasn't a very good one (and neither
were any subsequent teams), but they did feature a few noteworthy players...
Blake Blaise led the team in home runs (21 2B, 10 HR, .240), and Bill Greenwell's
(21 2B, 6 HR, 78 RBI, .300) 78 RBI led the entire league. Speedster Jake Whitesides
(23 2B, 11 3B, 4 HR .298) tacked on an impressive 11 Triples, also leading
the Frontier League. As for the pitching it was pretty awful. The best record
was owned by Grant Dorn (6-7, 3.74 ERA). The rest of the staff was in the
high 4.00's to the mid 5.00's in ERA. Closer Dan Moellering was the only bright
star of the franchise with a 2-1-3 record and an ERA of 0.95. The Mavericks finished
with a record of 33-57 (.367). |