well, and you’re not fast enough.’” Having always been a top player, Bell was stunned. “It went from being the best day of my life to the worst,” he says. “It sort of broke my heart.”
In the 1969 amateur draft, the Indians picked him in round 16. Looking back, he says being drafted by the struggling Indians, rather than the powerhouse Reds, helped him advance more quickly to the majors. He spent just two full seasons in the minors before becoming the Indians starting right fielder in 1972 at the age of 20. He says he enjoyed playing for the Indians because it was close to home, they treated him well, and because once a year, in the annual Kid Glove Game that supported youth baseball, he played against the Reds. He vividly remembers his first one at Riverfront Stadium, chuckling, “One of the most memorable games I ever played in was an exhibition game.”
In 1973, he moved to third base, made the American League All-Star team, and established himself as one of the game’s top defenders at the hot corner. Through seven years with Cleveland and six with Texas, he was a five-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner. He produced his best season at the plate in 1980, when he slashed .329/.379/.498, while playing Gold Glove defense. Throughout these years, his goal remained to come home. “I always wanted to get back,” he says. “Playing for the Reds was something significant for those of us who grew up here.”
The Rangers granted his wish on July 19, 1985, when they dealt him for outfielder Duane Walker and pitcher Jeff Russell. “The Rangers did me a great favor,” he says. “I’d requested a trade to Cincinnati, and I’m pretty sure they could have gotten a better deal from some other clubs.” Though he was on the down side of his career by then, Reds fans were thrilled to have him at last.
“I was established and I’d been through it all, so the actual playing was old hat, but to be able to put on a Reds uniform and to hear [long-time Reds’ public address announcer] Paul Sommerkamp say my name in the Reds lineup was the greatest feeling in the world.” For that first game—and many others in the three years he played here—he got tickets for his parents on the first-base side of home plate so that from his position at third base he could see them right above the hitter.
On the 1986 team, which included five other local boys, he swatted a career-high 20 homers and became a leader in the clubhouse. His one regret: “I wish I’d gotten back to Cincinnati sooner, at the pinnacle of my career.” In July 1988, the Reds sent him to Houston, and at the end of 1989, spent with the Rangers, he retired after 18 Major League seasons at age 37.
Since then, he has managed the Tigers (1996–98), the Rockies (2000–02), and the Royals (2005–07), and is currently the assistant general manager of the White Sox. His sons David and Mike made it to the majors, with Mike playing for the Reds in 2000, making the Bells the only three-generation family in team history.
MIKE BELL
DECEMBER 7, 1974–
Major League Career
2000
Time as a Red
2000
Position
THIRD BASE
IN THE ON-DECK CIRCLE AT COORS FIELD, Mike Bell felt a flutter of nerves—anticipation, anxiety, excitement. Pinch-hitting for Reds starter Pete Harnish in the ninth inning against the Rockies, after seven seasons in the minors and a lifetime of dreaming about this moment, he would bat for the first time in the big leagues. And with that at-bat he would make Major League history. Never before had three generations from one family played for one franchise. Grandfather Gus starred for the Reds in the 1950s, father Buddy in the 1980s. Only four families ever put three generations in the majors.
As if the moment needed another dramatic element, his dad, the Rockies’ manager, watched from the opposing dugout. Then, suddenly, Bell was called back. With a 9–2 lead, Harnish decided to bat for himself and pitch the bottom of the ninth. Bell says Harnish apologized afterward, having not realized the situation. The historic first at-bat happened a few days later in Houston.
Bell grew up in Indian Hill and Blue Ash while his dad played for the Indians, Rangers, and Reds. He calls his baseball pedigree “a blessing and a curse,” explaining, “when you grow up with it, you figure you’re going to play there as well.”
He followed his brother David (who played 12 seasons in the majors) to Moeller High School, helping win a state title in 1993 and earning first team All-City selections as a junior and senior. When the Rangers drafted him with the 30th overall pick, he launched his pro career, slashing .317/.395/.465 in rookie ball. By 22, he made AAA, but after that season, the Rangers traded him to the Angels, who three weeks later lost him in the 1997 expansion draft to the Diamondbacks, who within months traded him to the Mets. The rash of changes added a new level of anxiety, Bell says, which led to “the yips”—a mental block that prevented him from throwing naturally and accurately.
“It was a symptom of what I was going through,” he says. “I let the game get the best of me.” The issue had arisen before, he says. “It was something I’d dealt with since I was a kid. I was a careful kid and always tried to do the right thing.” He recalls that after the trades, “I tried to be perfect and it really intensified. To the point where I decided to quit.” But when he told the Mets his decision, they suggested he return to extended spring training and connected him with a sports psychologist. “That helped me put things together again,” Bell says. Grateful for the team’s patience, he says he has no regrets about the disorder, which he believes made him a more understanding, compassionate person.
He renewed his climb to the majors by signing with the Reds as a free agent in 2000, spending the first half at AAA Louisville. During the All-Star break, he and his wife, Kelly, visited family and friends in Cincinnati, and during the drive back to Louisville, Reds farm director Billy Doran called, telling him to meet the team in Colorado. He was now a Red.
Used mostly as a pinch hitter, Bell got into 19 games but started just four, hitting .222. When the season ended, he signed with Colorado to play for his dad, who sent him to AAA. He was called up for a second chance in the majors in September 2001 when Jeff Cirillo was injured, but Major Leaque Baseball shut down for a week following the World Trade Center attack, and when play resumed, so did Cirillo. Bell says, “Given what was happening in the world, not going to the big leagues was the least of my concerns.”
He retired in 2005 and worked in banking for a year before getting back into baseball. He is now director of player development for the Diamondbacks. As for his brief time as a Red, he recalls fondly the home run he hit on September 27 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. After the ball sailed over the left-field fence, Bell circled the bases, knowing that his grandfather and his father had also homered in the old ballpark. He says, “That was pretty special.”
LARRY BENTON
NOVEMBER 20, 1898–APRIL 3, 1953
Major League Career
1923–1935
Time as a Red
1930–1934
Position
PITCHER
