William Ellis Russell (born October 21, 1948) is a former
shortstop,
coach and
manager in
Major League Baseball. Russell 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. He also served as the team's manager from 1996 to 1998.
Career
A right-handed batter and thrower, Russell came to the Dodgers as a 20-year-old
outfielder in , and his first two MLB seasons were spent in the outfield (veteran
Maury Wills was the Dodger shortstop). During the 1970–71 offseason, Russell was converted to a
second baseman, and then – the following year – to shortstop, becoming a regular in . Russell was the club's everyday shortstop for the next 12 years, anchoring an infield that included
third baseman Ron Cey, second baseman
Davey Lopes and
first baseman Steve Garvey. This infield crew has the distinction of being the longest intact unit in baseball history with eight and a half seasons together. 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. Russell wore number 18.
Russell was hit in the hand with a pitch in 1980, shattering his thumb. He was never really the same...
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