The fourth in an occasional sequence of profiles on Southern California athletes who’ve flourished of their post-playing careers.
Earlier than there was Mookie Betts, there was Invoice Russell.
An excellent outfielder in his first three main league seasons, Russell moved to the infield full time in his fourth yr. It was a catastrophe.
“It was one thing I misplaced a number of sleep over,” mentioned Russell, who led the majors with 34 errors that yr. “After the season, I simply collapsed for a couple of weeks.”
Then he picked himself up and went to work on getting higher and in his second yr as a shortstop he led the majors with 560 assists, led the Nationwide League in defensive WAR and made the primary of three all-star groups.
He went on to play extra video games for the Dodgers than any participant in Los Angeles historical past.
It was a exceptional profession, one which hardly wanted a second act. However even after he left the stage, Russell by no means left the theater. Six months after his final at-bat — he struck out as a pinch hitter within the last week of the 1986 season — Russell was again in uniform because the group’s bench coach.
He later managed within the Dodgers’ minor league system, changed Tommy Lasorda in that job on the main league degree and, for the previous 13 years, has labored within the group’s neighborhood relations division, teaching youth camps and showing at colleges, fan fests and different occasions. Since 2002 he’s additionally served as an umpire observer, partly as a result of the job will get him a very good seat behind the plate at Dodger Stadium.
If the group had been to a decide a Mr. L.A. Dodger, somebody emblematic of the group’s historical past and values since transferring to Southern California, the soft-spoken, humble Russell, a Dodger for practically half a century, must be in that dialog.
Nevertheless it was his dedication to mastering the swap from the outfield to shortstop — turning into the primary distinguished participant since Honus Wagner to make the transfer — that actually modified the course of the franchise. If he hadn’t made it work, the Dodgers might by no means have had the braveness to show a minor league outfielder named Davey Lopes right into a second baseman, the place he grew to become Russell’s double-play associate.
If he hadn’t made it work, the Dodgers might by no means have tried pushing a scatter-armed third baseman named Steve Garvey throughout the diamond to first, opening up the place to Russell’s proper for Ron Cey. The ensuing infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey performed collectively for 8 ½ seasons, longer than any quartet in baseball historical past, successful 4 pennants and a World Sequence.
“Every one in all us had totally different abilities,” Russell mentioned. “It was powerful at first however rapidly we began having success. It’s 4 brothers.”
From left, Ron Cey, Invoice Russell, Davey Lopes and Steve Garvey pose earlier than an old-timers sport at Dodger Stadium in 2013. The infield quartet gained 4 pennants and a World Sequence collectively.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Instances)
Now Betts, a six-time Gold Glove-winning outfielder, has mastered the transfer too, serving to the Dodgers to the cusp of their twelfth division title in 13 seasons. Nonetheless if Betts perfected the shift, Russell pioneered it.
“He was an excellent athlete,” mentioned Steve Sax, Russell’s double-play associate his final 5 seasons. “He was perhaps the quickest man within the group. The entire genesis of having the ability to transfer guys round was the thought they’re so athletic, why can’t they make the transition?
“And he proved that to be true.”
At 76, Russell is almost 4 a long time faraway from his final of his 2,181 big-league video games, all with the Dodgers. However he’s nonetheless match, not far off his enjoying weight of 175 kilos. And whereas he was as soon as among the many quickest gamers within the majors, he now strikes at a purposeful saunter slightly than a dash. Wire-rim glasses crease his once-boyish face and the mop of straw-blond hair he as soon as tucked underneath his cap has gone white, leaving him trying extra like a school English professor than a once-iconic athlete.
“I simply loved going to the park and being with the fellows. They only make you’re feeling younger once more,” mentioned Invoice Russell, who turns 77 in October.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Instances)
What hasn’t modified is his love for a sport that has been his life and for a group that has change into his household.
“I simply loved going to the park and being with the fellows. They only make you’re feeling younger once more,” mentioned Russell, who typically wears a wry smile that implies he’s in on a joke nobody else is aware of about.
“Billy’s very particular,” mentioned Peter O’Malley, the Dodgers’ proprietor and president all through a lot of Russell’s profession.
“He was steady. Standard with the followers for certain. He deserves extra credit score that he’s obtained.”
Russell grew up a brief drive from each the Missouri and Oklahoma state traces within the type of nondescript Kansas city the place all people knew their neighbors and laborious work wasn’t a advantage, it was an expectation.
The center little one in a household of 5 youngsters, he attended a highschool so small it didn’t have a baseball group. So he performed basketball in the course of the winter and baseball on sandlots and with American Legion groups in the course of the summer time. He was the type of participant scouts as soon as described as “an athlete,” that means he was good sufficient and gifted sufficient to excel at any place, although the Dodgers listed him as an outfielder after they chosen him within the ninth spherical of the second beginner draft in 1966.
He gave most of his $14,000 signing bonus to his dad and mom, minus the cash he wanted to purchase a second-hand Chevy just like the one his finest good friend drove.
Russell shot up the minor-league ladder, enjoying simply 221 video games earlier than making the soar from Class A Bakersfield to the majors in 1969, doubling in his first big-league at-bat.
The adjustment from the minors to the majors was far simpler than the change from the tiny mining city of Pittsburg, Kan., to the technicolor sprawl of Southern California.
“Coming to Los Angeles, you’ve received to be kidding me. An enormous metropolis like this?” mentioned Russell, who had hardly ever traveled greater than 30 miles from Pittsburg earlier than signing with the Dodgers. “My city was solely 10,000 folks so I needed to develop up quick.
“I’m 20 years previous, I’m within the main leagues and the minimal wage is $10,000. It wasn’t even $1,000 a month. However that was extra money than I’d ever considered. And I’m enjoying in Hollywood.”
After enjoying 18 seasons with the Dodgers, Invoice Russell managed the ballclub from 1996-98.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Instances)
Taking part in solely within the outfield, too, though Monty Basgall, a fellow Kansan and the previous minor league infield teacher who scouted Russell as an athlete, was already plotting the transfer to shortstop, probably the most difficult defensive place after catcher.
“Shortstop is a troublesome place,” mentioned Derrel Thomas, a former teammate who performed all over the place however pitcher throughout a 16-year big-league profession. “Lots of people don’t give Monty Basgall any credit score for what he did serving to with the infielders.”
After some preparation within the educational league and the minors, Russell made his main league debut at shortstop on the ultimate day of the 1970 season, then performed 47 video games as a center infielder a yr later. However the transfer didn’t change into everlasting till Russell’s fourth season when he changed an ageing Maury Wills.
“I wasn’t ready to say something, actually,” mentioned Russell, who nonetheless speaks with a noticeable Midwestern accent.
“I had doubts about it, no query. However I figured my longevity within the huge leagues, if I had [any], would include transferring to the infield.”
In reality, the transfer practically ended his profession. Russell made his first poor throw seven video games into the season and by the all-star break he had as virtually as many errors as extra-base hits. By then, he was additionally trying over his shoulder, anticipating the Dodgers to place an finish to the experiment.
“I’m shocked they didn’t,” he says now. “The followers received concerned too. It wasn’t a standing ovation once I was coming again to the dugout after making some errors.
“At the moment folks introduced transistor radios to the stadium. You may hear [Vin Scully] doing the sport. I might hear him say one thing about me at shortstop. Speak radio was simply approaching board and so they had been on me. It was a number of unfavourable stuff.”
Quitting, nonetheless, wasn’t an possibility.
“Possibly I used to be too dumb, I don’t know,” Russell mentioned with a shrug. “I by no means considered giving up or going again residence. What am I going to do again residence? I did say to myself, ‘I’m going to point out these folks I can play this place.’
“And I did. For 13 years.”
By laborious work and dedication, Russell turned his fielding from a legal responsibility into an asset and the Dodgers started to win, reaching the World Sequence 4 occasions over the subsequent 9 seasons. And whereas Russell by no means gained a Gold Glove — he twice led the majors in errors — he completed within the high 5 in fielding share by an NL shortstop thrice, was within the high 5 for putouts 4 occasions and within the high three for assists six occasions.
He was understatedly sensible, a lot in order that Cincinnati Reds’ shortstop Dave Concepcion as soon as mocked Russell’s critics saying he didn’t know who one of the best fielder was “however I certain watch Invoice Russell within the playoffs quite a bit.”
“He would by no means give up. By no means,” O’Malley mentioned. “Making that transition on the main league degree, he deserves extraordinary credit score for that.”
Virtually misplaced within the deal with his protection was the actual fact Russell was a tricky out, hitting higher than .271 six occasions and excelling in clutch conditions.
“That went all the best way again to highschool,” mentioned Russell, who hit the shot that took his underdog group to the ultimate of the Kansas state event. “It’s only a calmness. You possibly can’t describe it. You possibly can’t educate it. It’s one thing that comes over you and also you get a peaceful feeling that you just’re going to succeed.”
As a highschool infielder at Arroyo Excessive in El Monte, James Baker was given his selection of uniform numbers. He didn’t need to suppose lengthy earlier than choosing one.
“I wore No. 18,” he mentioned. “Due to Invoice.”
It was the identical quantity he had worn in Little League and American Legion ball.
“He was Mr. Clutch,” Baker, 61, mentioned of Russell. “He was the dean of the infield.”
“The beauty of Invoice Russell,” added Rick Zubiate, 57, Baker’s brother-in-law “is he wasn’t flashy. He made all of the performs he was presupposed to. Not solely that, he had a presence and he commanded all people round him to be higher and anticipate extra of themselves.”
Russell could also be little greater than a face on an previous baseball card to Era Z. However for youngsters of the ‘60s like Baker and Zubiate, he stays the archetypal Dodger, one with a Dodger Blue resume that’s unassailable. Which is why Baker and Zubiate braved rush-hour site visitors final week to drive to Ontario, the place Russell was showing at an occasion for the Dodgers’ latest minor league affiliate.
“I beloved him,” Baker mentioned after asking Russell for an autograph.
And what’s to not love? He performed extra video games and has extra World Sequence at-bats than any participant in L.A. Dodger historical past. He trails solely Willie Davis and Garvey in hits and solely Clayton Kershaw has matched Russell’s 18 seasons at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers supervisor Tommy Lasorda, proper, hugs Invoice Russell within the dressing room after the Dodgers beat the Phillies, 6-5, in Sport 3 of the 1977 NLCS.
(Related Press)
However he additionally managed within the group’s minor league system, was the bench coach underneath Lasorda for seven years, then managed the big-league group for elements of three seasons, posting the fourth-best successful share by a supervisor because the franchise left Brooklyn. And he nonetheless pulls on his previous uniform — with the brilliant pink 18 over his Dodger blue coronary heart — a number of occasions a yr to hitch former teammates together with Garvey, Sax and Steve Yeager in reminiscing with followers at fantasy camps and clinics.
“We’ve enjoyable on the market,” he mentioned. “Individuals come from everywhere in the nation. [It’s] such as you’re nonetheless concerned in the entire scene of being a serious league participant.”
If the velocity and energy of Willie Mays is synonymous with the San Francisco Giants and the fashion and style of Ted Williams is emblematic of the Boston Purple Sox, Russell’s blue-collar work ethic and country-boy humility is the embodiment of the Dodgers since they moved to Southern California.
“Quintessential Dodger?” O’Malley mentioned. “Completely proper. From begin to finish, he deserves the credit score. He was revered and preferred by all people.”
Russell stood out, O’Malley mentioned, partly as a result of he blended in.
“He was quiet,” he mentioned. “However eager humorousness. If he wished to make a degree or be heard, he might nail it with a remark. It was fairly darn humorous.”
But Russell’s silent excellence typically went unappreciated. A .263 lifetime hitter who had fewer residence runs in his profession than Shohei Ohtani has this yr alone, he obtained simply three Corridor of Fame votes the one time his title appeared on the poll. For a time, even his loyalty to the Dodgers went unrequited; for years after his final sport as supervisor Russell felt unwelcome at Dodger Stadium, the results of a poisonous stew of bruised egos, Machiavellian maneuvering and company mismanagement.
It started halfway by the 1996 season when Lasorda, the supervisor who had groomed Russell within the minors then gained with him within the majors, had a coronary heart assault. A month later Lasorda stepped down and Russell took over on an interim foundation, guiding the Dodgers to a playoff berth.
That earned him the job full time however it didn’t earn him unquestioned help all through the group. The low-key Russell was a hanging distinction to the colourful and bombastic Lasorda, extra Mr. Rogers than Bobby Knight.
“He’s named the supervisor following Tommy. That’s not straightforward,” O’Malley mentioned. “And he did it in his personal approach.
“However issues didn’t work out. Following Tommy was not a simple process.”
Critics who had most popular hitting coach Reggie Smith, Mets supervisor Bobby Valentine or triple A supervisor Mike Scioscia — all former Lasorda pupils — over Russell quietly labored to undermine him and 74 video games into his second full season as supervisor, Russell was fired by the group’s new overlords at Fox, who additionally sacked basic supervisor Fred Claire, changing him with Lasorda.
By then a serious rift had developed between Russell and his former supervisor, who privately questioned Russell’s efficiency to administration and publicly questioned his {qualifications} to handle. In consequence many pointed fingers for the firings at Lasorda, who strongly denied being concerned.
Invoice Russell noticed umpires on behalf of MLB throughout Sunday’s Dodgers-Giants sport at Dodger Stadium.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Instances)
Both approach, the connection was irrevocably damaged.
Russell left with a .537 successful share over elements of three seasons, a greater mark — albeit over a far shorter span — than the one which took Lasorda to the Corridor of Fame. After firing Russell, the Dodgers by no means made the playoffs underneath Fox, with the seven-season postseason drought matching the group’s longest because the late Sixties-early Seventies.
The laborious emotions have softened some with the passing of each time and Lasorda, who died in 2021. (Russell, pointedly, was not invited to the funeral; Scioscia, Valentine, Garvey and Cey had been.)
“I knew him higher than anyone. I used to be like his son,” Russell mentioned earlier this month, sitting at a patio desk close to the neat two-bedroom Valencia home the place he’s lived for 20 years.
“I don’t wish to unhealthy mouth him however he wished to maintain managing. He simply couldn’t settle for not being there. That’s simply the best way it was.”
The slight wounded Russell, who took off his Dodger uniform for what he thought could be the ultimate time. O’Malley, who was within the room when Bob Graziano, the previous banker Fox put accountable for the group, fired the supervisor, invited Russell again to the stadium later that season. However the place the place he had grown from a boy to man wasn’t the identical.
So he went on to work as an advisor with a group in Taiwan, spent a season as bench coach in Tampa Bay and managed within the minors for each the Rays and Giants.
None of it felt snug.
“I used to be within the Dodger group 30 years,” he mentioned. “To go some place else, it wasn’t proper.”
After managing the Shreveport Swamp Dragons to a last-place end within the Texas League in 2001, he returned to Southern California — and Dodger Stadium — as an umpire observer for Main League Baseball, a job that lets him sit behind the plate and watch video games.
As if he might think about doing the rest.
“He’s introduced a distinct perspective as a result of he performed on the highest degree and he managed,” mentioned Matt McKendry, MLB’s vice-president of umpire operations. “However, you recognize, Invoice loves being on the ballpark and if he wasn’t doing what he’s doing for us, I believe he’d be at Dodger Stadium virtually each night time anyway.”
As a result of for Russell it’s by no means been a stadium. It’s residence.
