A GREAT VIEW FOR A DODGER THROUGH AND THROUGH

Russell hasn't veered far from the ballpark, or organization he embodied with his work ethic and humility

- BY KEVIN BAXTER

ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times BILL RUSSELL, 76, works as an umpire observer from his perch at Dodger Stadium, where he played for 18 years and is essentially his home.

Before there was Mookie Betts, there was Bill Russell.

An outstanding outfielder in his first three major league seasons, Russell moved to the infield full time in his fourth year. It was a disaster.

"It was something I lost a lot of sleep over," said Russell, who led the majors with 34 errors that year. "After the season, I just collapsed for a few weeks."

Then he picked himself up and went to work on getting better and in his second year as a shortstop he led the majors with 560 assists, led the National League in defensive WAR and made the first of three All-Star teams.

He went on to play more games for the Dodgers than any player in Los Angeles history.

It was a remarkable career, one that hardly needed a second act. But even after he left the stage, Russell never left the theater. Six months after his last at-bat — he struck out as a pinch-hitter in the final week of the 1986 season — Russell was back in uniform as the team's bench coach.

He later managed in the Dodgers' minor league system, replaced Tommy Lasorda in that job at the major league level and, for the past 13 years, has worked in the team's community relations department, coaching youth camps and appearing at schools, fan fests and other events. Since 2002 he's also served as an umpire observer, partly because the job gets him a good seat behind the plate at Dodger Stadium.

If the team were to a pick a Mr. L.A. Dodger, someone emblematic of the team's history and values since moving to Southern California, the soft-spoken, humble Russell, a Dodger for nearly half a century, would have to be in that conversation.