Baseball History Podcast

William Ellis Russell was born October 21, 1948, in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Teamed with Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Ron Cey for over eight years, Russell was an integral part of baseball’s longest-lasting infield and a vital cog in the Dodgers’ annual drive for a pennant.  He played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series champion
Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast:  Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities.  I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 26 of the 2010 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 4 week of June.
June 251984 Dodger infielder Bill Russell plays his 1,953rd game to become the team’s leader in games played.
William Ellis Russell was born October 21, 1948, in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Teamed with Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Ron Cey for over eight years, Russell was an integral part of baseball’s longest-lasting infield and a vital cog in the Dodgers’ annual drive for a pennant.  He played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series champion.
A prep basketball star, Bill Russell was signed to a baseball contract out of a Kansas high school too small to field a baseball team.
Russell came to the Dodgers as a 20-year-old outfielder in 1969, and his first two Major League seasons were spent in the outfield.  During the 1970–71 offseason, Russell was converted to a second baseman, and then – the following year – to shortstop, becoming a regular in 1972.
Manager Walt Alston considered him an even better outfielder than Willie Davis but needed a shortstop to replace Maury Wills in 1972, and Russell was chosen.  After a rough start, leading National League shortstops in errors in 1972, he was named to the 1973 All-Star team.  He would be named an All-Star again in 1976 and 1980.
Russell was the club’s everyday shortstop for the next 12 years, anchoring an infield that included third baseman Cey, second baseman Lopes and first baseman Garvey.  This infield crew has the distinction of being the longest intact unit in baseball history with eight and a half seasons together.
With Russell at short, the Dodgers made it to the World Series in 1977, 1978, and won it all in 1981.  Only Zach Wheat played more games and seasons as a Dodger than Russell.
Russell batted .263 over his regular season career, and – coincidentally – posted the same average in 23 World Series games in 1974, 1977, 1978, and 1981.
Russell’s finest Fall Classic was in 1978, when he garnered 11 hits and batted .423 in a losing effort against the New York Yankees.  He also hit .337 over five National League Championship Series.
After his retirement as a player in 1986, Russell became a coach on manager Tommy Lasorda’s staff in 1987.
In 1992–93, he piloted the Dodgers’ AAA farm club, the Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League, but posted losing records each season.
He then rejoined Lasorda and the Los Angeles coaching staff in 1994 and was considered by many the heir apparent to Lasorda’s job.  In June 1996, the 68-year-old skipper suffered a mild heart attack and Russell was named acting manager.  But when Lasorda’s health had recovered, the Dodger front office decided to make Russell’s appointment permanent on July 29.  Russell finished the 1996 season, compiling a record of 49-37 and bringing the Dodgers home in second place, earning the National League wild card spot in the playoffs before being swept in three games by the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series.
The following year, he directed the Dodgers to an 88-74 mark and another runner-up finish in the National League West.
The team was sold after the season to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Group, who showed little tolerance for a slow start in 1998.  On June 21, Russell and General Manager Fred Claire were both shown the door with the team lingering at 36-38.
His departure from the Dodgers followed arguably the most unpopular trade in Los Angeles sports history as the club’s new ownership traded Mike Piazza along with third baseman Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins.  Neither Russell nor general manager Fred Claire were ever notified of the trade.  He and Claire’s departure signaled an end to a 30-plus-year association.
Russell went on to coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and managed farm teams of both Tampa Bay and the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers’ arch rival.
Bill Russell currently works for Major League Baseball’s umpiring division.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball DictionaryUnder the letter: K
Key hit A timely hit that turns the game around or determines its outcome; for example, “Smith’s key hit in the ninth brought in the winning run.”
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Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast.  I’ll see you later at the ballpark.