82-year-old woman bleeds Dodger Blue
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

THE WAY WE WERE--Eileen Russell, at far left, poses with her basketball team in this 1930s photograph. Her older sister also played on the team from Ohio and is standing at the far right.

Eileen Russell just might be the most devoted Dodger fan around. The blue fingernail polish and blue sunglasses give her away every time.

She’s definitely one of the oldest. At 82, the Agoura Hills resident recently earned recognition as the oldest official member of the Los Angeles Dodger Booster Club.

Russell, who lives in Old Agoura with her 48-year-old daughter Robin, has been watching the team play regularly since they moved to Dodger Stadium in 1962. Because of her arthritis, she doesn’t attend the 50 or so home games that she used to, but still watches the team on television, even keeps score.

Russell had a heart attack in 1997 and said, for heaven’s sakes, she almost missed opening day.

"When I was in the hospital I told my doctor to get me out of here for opening day and he said ‘I’ll do it if you can do it’ … Sure enough, my son came down from Salinas and took me in a wheelchair. That (expletive deleted opposing pitcher) Curt Schilling beat us!"

Russell said one of her fondest Dodger memories occurred in 1959 when she took her two children––Robin and her older brother––to the Los Angeles Coliseum for "Roy Campanella Night."

The future Hall of Fame catcher had returned to the field for the first time since the tragic car accident that ended his career the previous season.

Her favorite players ever to wear Dodger blue? That’s easy. It’s the four 30-home run hitters of 1977: Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Reggie Smith and Dusty Baker.

When Russell turned 80 years old, her friends hosted a baseball theme celebration with all the party trimmings in Dodger blue.

"Vin Scully sent an autographed picture to her for her birthday," recalls Robin.

Russell’s 15-year-old grandson apparently is the quite ball player himself. She only hopes he knows where his loyalties lie.

"When he moved up [to Salinas] I said you better be loyal to our Dodgers because you know it’s Giants’ country up there." Russell’s love of sports goes back to 1930s when she was a child living in Akron, Ohio. From the time she was in middle school, young Eileen showed prodigious ability as a softball player, among other sports.

"I was 12 and my sister was 14 when the married women’s team asked us to play," she recalls. "I know it sounds kind of odd, but they were desperate for players … I played catcher because I was the only one who would play close enough to the batter. We had no gear in those days."

Her first memories of Major League Baseball came when she attended an Indians game.

"I went to Cleveland one time to see Bob Feller pitch, but you couldn’t really see him because it was such a fast ball."

Russell, who had a sharp eye in a lot of sports, also belonged to the high school rifle team.

"We beat the pants off the DeMolay [youth club] boys," she said with a chuckle. Eileen’s target at the time was sports, not boys.

Her favorite sport might have been bowling, she said. A women’s team for which she competed won a California Bowling Association title in the mid-60s and even went to the nationals.

"I loved them all, but I think in bowling I did better. As for spectator sports, I loved baseball."

Her most interesting experience, however, occurred in basketball.

In her 20s, she played for the Akron Femmes traveling basketball team and competed against a rival team from Cleveland. Olympic gold-medal sprinter Stella Walsh was a player and coach for the Cleveland women. Only problem is––as an autopsy later showed––Walsh, was a man.

Walsh, who hailed from Poland, had male genitals and both male and female chromosomes.

"My sister was only four-nine and guarded her all the time," Russell said. "Walsh was five-nine and she looked like a man."

Russell regrets that her 84-year-old sister can’t remember those unique, fun times.

Regretfully, Russell said, "We can’t reminisce anymore because she has Alzheimer’s disease."

Russell remains sharp mentally, but her physical abilities are limited. Lately, she walks with the help of a cane.

Russell used to take part in a swimming pool therapy program called "Twinges for Hinges" offered by the Conejo Valley Arthritis Support Group, but had to drop out as her health deteriorated.

The area’s biggest baseball fan said she still plans to see about 15 to 20 Dodger games this summer. Sitting behind home plate with her blue sunglasses and blue fingernails, Eileen Russell hasn’t lost her ability to cheer.