Yesterday, Bill Russell turned 75 years old. To me, Russell was one of those steady, but sometimes unappreciated and underrated players. He spent his entire playing career with the Dodgers. He would also coach for the team and took over as manager when Lasorda had his heart attack.
I did a profile on Bill last December. But it got me to thinking, just how many of our Dodgers that we followed for so long are now getting up there in years, as am I. The infield are all in their 70’s now. Cey is a little bit older than me; he turns 76 in February. Garvey turns 75 in December and is running for Feinstein’s senate seat. Lopes is the old man of the bunch; he is 78 now.
Russell was just one of those guys you see out there every day, unspectacular, but steady. Garvey was the star everybody loved. Lopes and Cey were the workman types. Came to play every day and played hard.
Russell lasted longer than any of them, 18 years as a Dodger. Only Zack Wheat in Dodger history played as long as a Dodger as Russell did. And Bill had some big moments in clutch games. But he was never the guy the fans were counting on to win a game.
He left the team shortly after FOX traded Piazza. Neither he nor Fred Claire had any idea the trade was being made. He later coached for the Rays and managed in theirs and the Giants systems. He currently works for MLB’s umpiring department.
It also made me think about how many of these types of players are essential to a team’s success. Jim Gilliam was the same type of player. Russell started as an outfielder and was moved to SS in the early 70’s but he could play a very good center field. Lopes and Garvey were moved too. Lopes was also an outfielder.
The Dodgers have one of those guys now. Miguel Rojas. Nothing really spectacular about the guy, but he is a defensive wizard, and he occasionally gives you some surprising offense. Russell never hit more than 7 homers in any of his seasons, and several times he hit none. Rojas hit 11 one year and 9 another. .301 was Miggy’s best mark, Russell had a .286 season. He also did not strike out much. 64 times was the most. 74 for Rojas.
I can remember several World Series and playoffs where it wasn’t the stars who came through in the clutch, it was the subs or the unheralded regular who was just in there day after day doing his best. In the 78 World Series, Jackson got all the headlines with his 2 homers and 8 driven in. But it was Bucky Dent and Brian Doyle who tormented LA. Dent had 10 hits and 7 driven in. Doyle had 7 hits and scored 4 runs in the six games.
It takes all kinds to make a winning team, and it is not always the star players who shine. The Dodgers this season had several examples of that. Peralta and Heyward were steady contributors most of the year. Peralta did not hit a home run after July, but he made several very good defensive plays that helped the team win. Heyward provided solid defense and an improved batting style that allowed him to hit better than he had in years. Peralta is a gold glove finalist.
The thing about those Dodger teams was they gave the kids a real shot and they blossomed. Not all of them mind you, but some became very good players. Our kids are going to need that chance too. Maybe they will surprise some people. In today’s world though, many are not willing to wait. Sometimes, things are worth waiting for.
Discussion (18)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Maybe we can hire Trump as our new manager. He seems able to get people fired up! Surely he could single handedly lose 10 games for us to get to the magic 90 win wild card mark
I do have to apologize to everyone because I simply have a low threshold for bloodthirsty, nonsensical idiots. It’s a weakness I have.
I have no horse hitched to Dave Roberts. Fire him. I don’t really care. After all, he was 1-21 in his At-Bats in the Playoffs, right? It was really Doc, not Mookie and Freddie.
Show me any sport where your top two superstars totally fail and I will show you a losing team – every time. You don’t have to look any further.
Only thing I know about Bochy is it seems his teams always get hot when it matters most
I’m not here for your opinions. I like to hear what fellow dodger fans have to say also have a lot of respect for bear even if we have disagreements. Also think colin cowherd is a narcissistic complete idiot who’s opinion I got no respect for
Mark if you don’t think managers have a lot to do with motivation your the one clinically insane. Players feed off their leaders and trust me I already knew you’d get down to petty little childish name calling when anyone thinks anything negative of Roberts. Personally I think most of your opinions are dog crap but I’m not gonna sink to the level of calling you a moran. I agree with dodger dad they just find another Roberts type, I’d call a company puppet and everyone deserves a trophy type
Bob Melvin will be named manager of the Giants in the next couple of days. A great hire for the Giants.
I have to agree Bear! Some managers get far too much credit, others not enough. Personally, I always thought Joe Torre was way overrated! a manager of egos? Yes a great tactician? No way. Now I do think MLB managers are way superior to NBA coaches. I think the majority of NBA coaches are a joke, along with the WWE officials they have! I like Bochy, but his teams got hot at the right time, and he didn’t get in their way. I thought Kapler might make a good manager, then I watched! not so much. hate the d backs or not, Lovullo has done a good job. And for everyone wanting Doc gone, they would find another “Doc” probably not as good as the “Doc” they have!
The Dodgers don’t have a problem getting to the playoffs, but advancing is another story. They need starting pitching that won’t implode in the playoffs and AF said his priority is pitching.
Of the 5 free agent starting pitching names that have been mentioned here a lot. Flaherty, Giolito, Montgomery, Nola, Yamamoto. After giving more weight to their career playoff stats than their regular season stats (The stats I look at). I would rank them like this:
1 Yamamoto – I do worry about his production out of the country translating to production in MLB. But his stats are FAR better than the rest of the 4.
2 Nola – Pending, because he’s still pitching.
3 Montgomery – Pending, because he’s still pitching.
4 Flaherty
5 Giolito – I wouldn’t even consider him.
If I were AF, I’d get Yamamoto, Nola, and Hader. Also keep some key Dodgers pitchers that are free agents. S. Miller, Treinen, D. Hudson, Reyes and call it a pitching staff. Only S. Miller doesn’t have a club option.
Thinking outside the box, I would go to a 6 man rotation for 3 reasons. 1) So nobody’s arm falls off. 2) To keep them less worn out for the playoffs. 3) To give all of B. Miller, Pepiot, Sheehan their shots at starting. Considering Beuhler will probably be back.
And can you imagine (if possible) a bullpen of Hader, Brasier, Phillips, S. Miller, Graterol, and any two of these guys: D. Hudson, Treinen, Feyereisen, Reyes. Talk about lockdown.
You wouldn’t need to score a lot of runs with that pitching staff. No need for Ohtani.
My partial position players (13) Smith, Feduccia, Freeman, Lux, Betts, Muncy, Outman, DeLuca, Taylor, Busch, ?, ?, ?. One of those ? needs to be a platoon partner with DeLuca, definitely not named Peralta and I’m 50/50 on Heyward.
Forget about the luxury tax. As some here have said, the fans are pretty ticked off right about now.
On another note:
I’m glad the Asstros got knocked out for an obvious reason and glad for Seager. I’m rooting for the Phillies (because Arizona knocked out the Dodgers) until the World Series when I’ll be rooting for the Rangers.
Also not saying we had the pitching to go all the way this year but should have never got embarrassed like that. Two years in a row now which I’m having a hard time comprehending
I’m saying that Roberts used to be more able to create a winning attitude come playoffs you know going to WS regularly but recently has lost touch with getting his team pumped ready and confident when it counts the most. Of course can blame it on five day layoff or other things but I don’t believe in excuses
I think managers do way more than just fill out lineup cards. Some have the ability to instill confidence in their players much better than others on the biggest stages. Create a winning camaraderie that affects the psyche of the whole team and some can be detrimental in the opposite. Of course talent is main factor. Mark can call me stupid all he wants but in my opinion where Roberts used to have that ability has lost it in recent years come playoffs
Looks like Dusty Baker is going to step down from managing the Astroholes.
For those who still don’t rate Bruce Bochy
https://www.mlb.com/news/bruce-bochy-leads-3rd-franchise-to-world-series
Boring ass manager tho
Lasorda made two trades that meant anything, and he was the GM for all of about 3 months. Neither was a bad baseball trade. They needed a closer, Shaw fit that description. Shaw pitched in LA for four years, he is # 3 on the all time saves list for the Dodgers. Konerko was a player without a place to play. He was a first baseman and a catcher. After Fox traded Piazza, Johnson was the starting catcher. Karros was a fixture at first, so where was Konerko going to play? Konerko had been good at AAA but he had not shown that much in his short time in the majors. Lasorda didn’t have a crystal ball to tell him that six years down the road he would become one of the better power hitters in the majors. Dennys Reyes was a marginal reliever who walked too many. He finished his career 35-35 with a 4.21 ERA. Konerko didn’t really reach his potential until he turned 28. Six years after the trade. If anyone made a bad trade, it was Jim Bowden who traded Konerko the following year to the White Sox for Mike Cameron straight up.
Lasorda’s other trade was at the end of July when he sent Peter Bergeron, Ted Lilly and Wilton Guererro and a minor leaguer to the Expos for Grudzelanek, Bocachica and Carlos Perez. None of those guys were going to make a difference in where the Dodgers would finish. Gruzelanek became the regular shortstop, taking over for Vizcaino. Neither trade was a bad baseball trade.
It’s like fans keep bringing up the Dodgers sending Alvarez to the Astros for Fields. Alvarez hadn’t even played a game in the Dodgers system. How could anyone have known he would become the hitter he is now? Back when the trade was made, they did not even know where he would play on the field. He is primarily a DH. And there was no DH in the NL back then. Fields was a need. Alvarez was not.
Honestly, Bear, those were my favorite teams.
Not much turnover and the infield was the same every year. Russell, Lopes, Garvey and Cey. Today is just not the same. Different era, big money, analytics with players moving often with a few exceptions. The Dodgers have had three different shortstops in three years. Two of them were all-stars.
Russell was the least heralded of the famed infield, his sidearm throws across the diamond a trademark. It was almost casual.
Yes, then came Fox, the Piazza trade, Russell and Claire leaving, Tommy’s interim GM fiasco, then Kevin Malone — mostly bad memories.
All because Peter O’Malley misread the future, thinking only big corporations could fund MLB teams.
He made things worse by not letting Claire ink Piazza to a long terms deal at around $60 million, since it was his intent to sell the team, feeling the buyers and new owners should make that decision. Had that happened Claire and Russell may have been around longer since Fox had no real interest in owning or running a baseball team.
Even good old Frank McCourt understood that wasn’t the case, but a lot of that had to do with Ned Colletti, who somehow managed to keep the team relevant, even with McCourt’s mansion buying spree and lack of actual money.
But I will say one thing positive about Frank at the end of his bankruptcy spiral, you could sit behind home plate in the loge section for a mere $12 bucks. What a deal.
Those were the days, Bear.
Old Bear
You hi the nail on the head about giving the kids time to blossom doesnt seem Roberts and company get it. Wish they did instead of all the reclamation projects
I really have no rooting interest this postseason, but I do not want the Dirtbags winning the NL pennant. Go Phillies! I think a Phillies-Rangers series is going to go at least six games, and there will be some mashing of baseballs.