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Mains, James R. (Bud) (1980)

Writer: Maine Baseball HOF
Maine Baseball HOF
Aug 12, 2019
2 min read

JR Mains Baseball Bats

Mains, born in Bridgton in 1922, the son of 1970 Maine Hall selection Willard (Grasshopper) Mains, attended Bridgton High before transferring to Morristown NJ High, then Storm King On the Hudson, a private school in NY State. In 1943, mains was a sophomore on a Harvard University team which played a Boston Red Sox nine in need of spring batting practice. Mains breezed to a 13-0 win. Fastballer Mains was signed by Philadelphia's Connie Mack and traded to the St Louis Browns. He died, "still St Louis Browns property" he had remarked wryly, March 17 1969. He continued the family bat business while diversifying wood products.

Mains Baseball Bats



Mains Bat Ad

From Wikipedia


James Royal Mains (June 12, 1922 – March 17, 1969) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played one game for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943.


Biography

Mains was born in Bridgton, Maine, and was the son of former MLB pitcher Willard Mains. He attended Harvard University and played on the freshman baseball team in 1942.


Mains started his professional baseball career in 1943. That season, he pitched for the Eastern League's Utica Braves and went 0–8 with a 6.64 earned run average. He also made one start for the Philadelphia Athletics late in the season, a complete-game loss. It was his only major league appearance. The following season, he went 3–9 back in the Eastern League.


In 1945, Mains pitched for the American Association's Toledo Mud Hens and went 5–8, mostly in relief. He then moved on to the Little Rock Travelers of the Southern Association. He set career-highs in 1946 in wins, losses, and innings pitched, going 6–16 with a 4.60 ERA in 178 innings. In 1947, he went 3–10. That was his last season in the high minors. He later pitched in the Provincial League.


Besides playing baseball, Mains also manufactured baseball bats in Bridgton. He had one son, who is also named Jim.


Mains died in 1969, at the age of 46.



 
 
 

Comments

Meet the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
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Portland Press Herald 4/10/2026
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/10/meet-the-2026-maine-baseball-hall-of-fame-inductees/?copylink=true

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Former St. Dominic and current Gray-New Gloucester coach Bob Blackman and Cony coach Don Plourde are among the 11 members of the newest class. Four coaches currently preparing for the upcoming high school baseball season are among the 11 inductees in the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame class.

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Gray-New Gloucester’s Bob Blackman, Brewer’s Dana Corey, Hampden Academy’s Jon Perry and Cony’s Don Plourde are all part of the class that will be inducted on Oct. 4 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Blackman coached St. Dominic High School to nine state championships in 22 seasons before the school closed at the end of the last school year. He was named the coach at Gray-New Gloucester in September. Corey hit .359 at the University of Maine in 1971. He played two seasons in the Chicago Cubs system and has been the head coach at Brewer for 18 seasons.

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Perry hit .381 at the University of Maine in 1981 and helped the Black Bears reach the College World Series. He has coached for the past 45 seasons at the high school, American Legion and collegiate levels. 

Plourde is in his 17th season as the coach at Cony High School and has been named the KVAC Coach of the Year five times. He has been coaching at various levels for more than 30 years. 

Others earning induction are: 

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• Al Cloutier, who has been involved in baseball in Augusta as a player, Cony High and American Legion coach, Babe Ruth League director and volunteer. 

• John Kolasinski, who was a college coach at for 37 years, first at Husson and later at Siena Heights University in Michigan. He is a five-time New England Coach of the Year winner.

• Mark Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who is now in his 36th season working on the medical staff of the New York Yankees organization. 

• Scott Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who will be inducted posthumously. Littlefield coached at Florida State University and the University of Southern Maine before working for 34 years as a Major League Baseball scout, including 16 as a player personnel special assistant for the Texas Rangers.

• J. Ronald Livington, who will be inducted posthumously. Livingston was an All-Star infielder for the semi-pro Presque Isle Indians in the Northern Aroostook League in the 1930 and 1940s. He also coached and was a director in the South Portland National Little League.

• Mike McCullum, of Portland, who hit .338 at the University of Southern Maine and earned ABCA Division III All-American honors in 1999. 

• Jim Taylor of Lewiston, who was a founding member of the Central Maine Board of Approved Baseball Umpires and was instrumental in starting the Maine chapter of the Collegiate Baseball Umpires Association.

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Maine Baseball Hall of Fame day  Delta Dental Park aka Hadlock Field 7/19/2026
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