Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Has anyone ever used him as their everyday shortstop? If so, what was the outcome? Is he worth a risk at $3.19 million?

:shock:

How about at RF? Surprisingly, he's a 1(-1)e5 there.

:shock:

Howdy,

SS is too important defensively to trust to a guy with a brick glove and high salary!
Gimme Metzger, Belanger, Bowow or maybe Brinkman at SS. YMMV.

Larry

Russell always seeemd like a good shortstop in real life...but not in this game. I agree it's an overpriced card, maybe because of his unusual position flexibility. Never used him.

No love for Russell? Anyone?

:shock:

He kind of looked like John Denver back when he was playing...other than that, I don't have much to say...he seemed like a lousy fielder. I would pass on him.

Truly one of the great centers in NBA history and arguably one of the best defensive players ever...You would think his rating would be higher given his greatness and the greatness of those Celtics teams he played for....Oh wait...I think I have the wrong Bill Russell!

Barbie, in the 70s the shortstops were almost all horrendous offensive players, and also most were competent fielders. He is ranked #41 among the SOM 70s shortstops defensively. Offensively, he's better than most in batting average, but doesn't draw many walks or have any power. He's just not a good option for most situations. I don't even think I've seen him playing for other teams in the leagues I've been in...he's just a wallflower. You're better off taking a scrub hitter who can catch the ball (there are 17 less expensive shortstops with MUCH better gloves, and another 15 less expensive ones with marginally better gloves) and applying the $$ you save somewhere else.

He was a terrible SS in real life and he is in SOM too. Maybe the Dodger front office loved him because he was white (if you recall that interview with Ted Koppel). He should have been a career utility player but somehow he had a starting gig with the Dodgers. I liked him better than Steve Garvey and Kirk Gibson, but that isn't saying much. Of course, I hated the Dodgers, so maybe he wasn't as bad as I remember.

I have two active teams, and I have Belanger on both. I try to get him or Campanaris just about every time. I was just curious about Russell because I read an article on another website about the Dodgers' infield in the late 70s. I've used Garvey, Lopes, and Cey. But never Russell. I've never seen him used. The article specified how long that infield stayed together. It seems Russell must have been doing something right....in real life. Oh well, I was just curious.

:D


I did pick him up for $750,000 on my 80s team. He looks like he might make a nice PH or PR.

:wink: