Judgment Calls for Russell

He was watching the pennant race Saturday from a field-level seat at Dodger Stadium. Actually, he was focused on how the four umpires were handling themselves as part of his job as a major league umpire observer.

This has been the first summer since 1966, when he signed with the Dodgers out of Pittsburg, Kan., and ultimately appeared in more games than any player since the move from Brooklyn, that he has been out of uniform.

At 54, however, Bill Russell retains much of the impassive personality that he brought to the Dodgers as an 18-year-old, and if he is hurt or frustrated to be so close to a familiar diamond, so close to the action without being part of it, he isn’t going to show it or say it.

If, indeed, it seems a shame that the Dodgers--with whom he spent 32 years as player, coach and manager, an anchor at shortstop in an ironman infield that included Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey--were among several organizations that couldn’t find a position for him when they were contacted during the off-season, he will leave that, too, for others to say.

“I’d like to be in uniform,” Russell said from his seat behind home plate. “I’d be happy to return to the Dodgers. But I’m enjoying what I’m doing. It’s kept me involved, given me a different perspective.”

Coupled with general manager Fred Claire and fired as Dodger manager in a Midnight Massacre on June 21, 1998, Russell managed Tampa Bay’s double-A team in Orlando, Fla., to a league title in 1999, served as the Devil Rays’ bench coach under Larry Rothschild in 2000 and managed San Francisco’s double-A team in Shreveport, La., last year before suspected budget cutbacks prompted San Francisco to go in a younger and less expensive direction with their farm staff this year.

Russell was left in a surprisingly unresponsive job market during the winter and ultimately responded to a USA Today article outlining how baseball, as part of a new concept agreed to with the new umpires’ union, was seeking former players and others to serve as observers--the goal being to help improve the overall umpiring.

Because Russell and his wife, Susan, live in Glendale, a short hop to Dodger Stadium and only a few SigAlerts from Edison Field, Russell felt there was nothing to lose.

While continuing to moonlight in promotion and development for Rich and Jeff Odekirk’s expanding Big League Dreams Sports Parks, Russell has been one of 13 national observers, attending just about every Dodger and Angel game and filing reports at the end of each series. He doesn’t deal with the umpires directly, nor does he focus on ball-and-strike work. His observations deal more with positioning, hustle and how the umpires keep the game moving. He also watches replays and interprets missed calls.

“I’ve always had good rapport and respect for the umpires, and now even more so,” Russell said. “I mean, if you only watch ESPN, you’re going to see the occasional bad call over and over, but it’s a small percentage. I’ve had the opportunity to take a closer look this year, and they’re right far more than they’re wrong. It just shows, from what I’ve seen, how good a job they do and how important they are.”

Maybe Russell is being a bit diplomatic in case he manages at the major league level again.

After 10 years as a Dodger coach, the last 2 1/2 as Tom Lasorda’s bench coach, Russell was named interim manager on July 9, 1996, when a heart attack sidelined Lasorda, whose health remained an issue at the end of the season. The Dodgers went 49-37 under Russell that year, reaching the playoffs as a wild card, and gave Russell a two-year contract.

However, the failure to hold a mid-September lead in 1997 tended to overshadow an 88-74 record, and the immediate expectations of the club’s new ownership, coupled with the Mike Piazza trade that created a roster upheaval and cost Russell his most consistent power hitter, led to his firing with a 36-38 record in June of ’98.

“I thought I had done a good job, but it’s part of the game to be fired,” Russell said. “We weren’t that far out of it, but you had new ownership wanting its own identity, own people, and Fred and I weren’t part of the plan.

“It’s their team, I can respect that. I might have been hurt at the time and still don’t think it was justified, but I have no animosity or hard feelings. As I said, I’d love to come back.”

Sources close to the situation think Russell will eventually return to a teaching position within the Dodger system, possibly next year.

A stumbling block, they insist, has been Lasorda.

Despite their long and close relationship, the sources say that Lasorda, still a senior vice president with the club, believes Russell was too eager to take the managerial reins while Lasorda’s status was in doubt because of his 1996 heart attack, and subsequently did not make him feel welcome in the clubhouse after Russell had been given the permanent position in ’97.

It is noteworthy that at his Hall of Fame induction that year, Lasorda was asked whom he would select to manage his own team and answered Bobby Valentine, a clear shot at Russell, who would not comment on any of this as he watched Houston defeat the Dodgers, 6-1, Saturday.

He did, however, salute Jim Tracy and Mike Scioscia for keeping the Dodgers and Angels “focused and moving in the right direction” this year. On a team lacking a regular player hitting .300, the Dodgers “have done a great job of picking each other up, and the pitching and defense, in particular, have generally been very good,” he said. “Of course, the pitchers can be a little more relaxed knowing they have an Eric Gagne or Troy Percival sitting in the bullpen.”

Russell’s seat among the paying patrons hasn’t been his customary one this year.

The umpires may be better for it, but couldn’t 36 years of experience prove more beneficial to the organization with which he spent 32 of those years, or another not influenced by petty perspectives?