gcrl - secret origins!

not so secret, actually.

in the beginning, there was only bill russell.he first appeared in the 1970 topps set as an outfielder, having played in 98 games during the 1969 season. russell debuted on april 7, 1969 against the reds when, replacing len gabrielson in right field, he doubled in his first major league at bat. interestingly enough, he wouldn't play his first game at shortstop until 1970, and even then it would be only for one game that season.

sporting the black batting glove, russell made only 3 errors in 136 chances in 1969 for a fielding percentage of .978. at the plate, he hit only .226 with an ops+ of 86. yikes. thanks baseball reference!