rustlin' up a new russell

after bill russell was fired by the fox regime, he joined the tampa bay devil rays organization and managed their triple-a team in orlando in 1999.  i found a card of him serving in that role, and was happy and sad about it at the same time.  in 2000, russell was promoted to the major league coaching staff for the devil rays, and so is featured on their 2001 topps team card.  however, that is not the same as a solo card, so when i became aware that russell had a card in the 2001 shreveport swamp dragons team issue set, i hunted and watched and stalked and waited.  now, thanks to a comc seller, here is the last of the bill russell managerial cards:

here's the back, that drops the knowledge that the swamp dragons are an affiliate of the san francisco giants!

russell managed the swamp dragons for just that one season, and then began his current role as an mlb umpire observer in 2002.

i'm still on the hunt for russell's 1997 dodgers police card (i finally bought the team set, but would like another russell for the pc), but this card puts a capper on his uniformed career.