Pilots long gone, but not forgotten

By PAUL DAQUILANTE

Of the News-Register

Of course Ken Griffey Jr.'s name jogs memories of years gone by when it comes to major league baseball in Seattle.

But before "Junior," there were Jake Aker, Gary Bell, Jim Bouton, Wayne Comer, Tommy Davis, John Donaldson, Jim Gelnar, Gus Gil, Greg Goossen, Jim Gosger, Larry Haney, Tommy Harper, Mike Hegan, John Kennedy, Bob Locker, Mike Marshall, Jerry McNertney, Don Mincher, John O'Donoghue, Marty Pattin, Merritt Ranew, Rich Rollins, Diego Segui, Fred Talbot and Steve Whitaker. Don't forget Dooley Womack either.

They're all vintage Seattle players.

They were Pilots, managed by Joe Schultz. They played at Sicks Stadium on Rainier Avenue South, where a Lowe's Home Improvement Center stands today. Calling the balls and strikes on radio was Bill Schonley, the former Portland Trail Blazers' announcer.

The Seattle Pilots and Kansas City Royals were American League expansion teams in 1969. A year later, poof, the Pilots were history. Here today, gone tomorrow.

During spring training of 1970, team owners Max and Dewey Soriano sold the fledgling franchise to current major league baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, and he moved it to Milwaukee. After a single season in Seatle, the Pilots became - and still remain - the Brewers.

The Mariners arrived in the Emerald City in 1977.

On this, the 40th anniversary of those Pilots, McMinnville filmmakers Steve Cox and Brad Powers, owners of Velocity Studios, are producing a feature-length documentary on the team.

"The Seattle Pilots: Short Flight into History" traces the history of the team from the awarding of the franchise to Seattle through the sale to Selig. The film will tell the Pilots' story through interviews with former players, front office personnel and beat writers, as well as baseball historians. Photographs and a limited amount of film footage of that season - the team rarely played on television - will round out the production.

Cox, 41, works for the Forestry Media Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis. He also teaches at Chemeketa Community College in Salem.

Powers, 43, runs Rolling Hills Culinary Services in Oregon's wine country.

Cox, who grew up in Longview, Wash., was just a toddler when the Pilots played their one and only Seattle season. He was 10 when the city welcomed major league baseball back in 1977, with the Mariners docking at the Kingdome.

"I was a big fan," Cox said. "I read 'Ball Four' when I was 12. I had gotten into baseball by then. For people really into baseball, if you ask them what their top five baseball books of all-time are, I think 'Ball Four' would be at the top of the list."

"Ball Four" is a book written in 1971 by former major league pitcher Jim Bouton. The book talks about Bouton's career with the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and - especially - the Seattle Pilots. Despite its controversy at the time, with Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn trying his best to discredit it as something detrimental to the sport, it is widely considered one of the most important sports books ever written.

Bouton had befriended sportswriter Leonard Shecter during his time with the Yankees. Shecter approached him with the idea of writing and publishing a season-long diary.

Bouton, who had taken some notes during the 1968 season, his last with New York, had a similar idea in mind. So he readily agreed.

"I've probably read it a dozen times," Cox said. "I read it again before we started the project.

"It's a timeless story. I think the book is what's preserved interest in the Pilots after all these years."

Art Thiel, a sports columnist with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, was interviewed for the film.

He said the Pilots have never been forgotten. Their names have been forever inscribed into baseball culture, he said.

"I was looking for a project to work on," Cox said. "It occurred to me the 40th anniversary of that one season is coming up soon. I thought waiting for the 50th anniversary might be a mistake. A few of the players have died. More will probably die over the next 10 years."

His thought was, "Why not start this project now, when we have all these guys around to talk to? We know what Jim Bouton's perspective is about the 1969 team. Let's hear from some others."

Powers has lived in the Pacific Northwest for 12 years. He migrated from the East Coast, where he was a Baltimore Orioles fan.

"I'm a baseball fan, first and foremost," Powers said. "When Steve brought up the idea, he said, 'This is something you're probably not interested in.' But I was interested right away."

The first phase of production has been completed. Interviews have been conducted with many of those associated with the Pilots.

They are now seeking funding to complete the project. That will involve significant travel for additional interviews and the acquisition and licensing of visual materials.

"We're fortunate people have been willing to cooperate with us," Powers said. "There is a lot of enthusiasm among the people involved."

Bouton could be considered the cornerstone of the project, because of "Ball Four" He lives in Western Massachusetts.

Cox and Powers visited him and found him very supportive.

"He though it was a terrific idea," Cox said. "He gave us a lot of suggestions. He sat with us for an hour and talked nonstop about things."

Bouton strongly suggested Cox and Powers contact the Mariners and gauge their interest in hosting a Pilots weekend during the coming season.

Former players and other members of the organization would be reunited. Mariner fans could pay tribute to them. It would be a wonderful opportunity for the filmmakers to catch up with anyone they would still like to visit with.

Cox and Powers have run the idea by the Mariners, but have gotten no indication of interest.

One moment stands out about their visit with Bouton. He removed a box from a closet in his house. It was full of notes he and Shecter used to write "Ball Four." Cox said it was amazing to see such a mountain of paper.

"He scribbled on whatever he could find - air sickness bags, receipts, anything," Cox said. "Then he dictated these notes onto cassette tapes. He has a mountain of those. They were sent to the publisher. A secretary transcribed the notes. Bouton and the publisher would work through them."

The pair have also interviewed Pagliaroni, Locker and Bell. Not as receptive were two former Pilots, Steve Hovley and Mike Marshall.

"Hovley is represented in the book as a counter-culture figure, an intelligent guy who just kept to himself," Cox said. "Bouton felt like he was an outsider. He was polite to us, but prefers not to dwell on the past."

Cox said Hovley formed a plumbing company in Southern California and is happy to live in the present and think about the future.

Hovley started the 1969 season with a crewcut. According to the book, he refused to cut his hair, not wanting to discriminate against any particular hairs. Cox says it's a true story.

Marshall attended Michigan State University in East Lansing and earned three degrees, including a Ph.D in kinesiology.

"He went on to become a doctor," Powers said. "He's put his baseball days behind him and doesn't want to say anything."

Selig is someone the pair would very much like to interview. They doubt it's going to happen, though.

Powers said the Pilots' brief history isn't something Selig likes talking about because of the role he played in the franchise's departure from Seattle. Cox said Selig is viewed as a villain by some with ties to the Pilots.

The pair originally targeted April, the start of the Pilots' 40th anniversary season, as their date for completion. They have plowed $66,000 into the project, but figure they need $85,000 more.

"Now we're at the point where we've taken it as far as we can without outside funding," Powers said. "But it's a slow economy and a slow process."

Cox sad, "Everything we have done has been self-financed. We've hit the wall, but we've got to be done before this season is over."

They don't want to strike out on this one.

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