| Buddy Bell | |
|---|---|
 Bell with the Cleveland Indians,c. 1977 | |
| Third baseman /Manager | |
| Born: (1951-08-27)August 27, 1951 (age 73) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1972, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 17, 1989, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .279 |
| Hits | 2,514 |
| Home runs | 201 |
| Runs batted in | 1,106 |
| Managerial record | 519–724 |
| Winning % | .418 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
David Gus "Buddy"Bell (born August 27, 1951) is an American formerthird baseman andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB) currently serving as vice president and senior advisor to the general manager for theCincinnati Reds.
After an 18-year career with four teams, most notably theCleveland Indians, theTexas Rangers, and theCincinnati Reds, he managed theDetroit Tigers,Colorado Rockies andKansas City Royals for three seasons each and served as Vice President/Assistant General Manager for theChicago White Sox. He was a five-timeMLB All-Star and won six consecutiveRawlings Gold Glove Awards from 1979–1984.
He is the son ofoutfielderGus Bell and the father of former third basemenMike andDavid Bell, making them one offive families to have three generations play in the Major Leagues. When David was named Reds manager in October 2018, he and Bell became the fourth father-son pair to serve as major league managers, joiningGeorge andDick Sisler,Bob andJoel Skinner, andBob andAaron Boone.[1]
Bell was born while his father was playing for thePittsburgh Pirates. He attendedMoeller High School inCincinnati.[2] He was drafted in 1969 by the Indians and was regarded as a promising prospect from the beginning. He first appeared in the Major Leagues with the Indians in1972, appearing mostly in the outfield as a rookie, but afterwards becoming a fixture at third base. The 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 185 lb (84 kg) Bell was a solid, but not overpowering, right-handed hitter on a mostly lackluster Indians team. He was named to theAll-Star team in 1973.
After the1978 season Bell was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange forToby Harrah — another solid, veteran third baseman. Bell enjoyed his best season with the Rangers in1979, collecting 200hits, 101RBI, and his firstGold Glove Award. From 1979 through 1984, Bell won theGold Glove for third base in the American League. He also won theSilver Slugger Award in 1984. He finished in the top ten in batting average in 1980 and 1984.
In fielding, Bell was spectacular and often played far off the third base line, taking many base hits from opposing batters. In Total zone runs (a defensive statistic) he is ninth all time (ahead of Willie Mays) and 2nd among all third baseman (behind Brooks Robinson). His Range factor (another defensive stat) is fifth all-time among third baseman. He was in the top 10 infielding percentage 10 times and finished first three times.
In the middle of the1985 season, Bell was sent to theCincinnati Reds, where his father had been a popular player in the 1950s. Buddy responded with two more solid years playing for second place teams under Pete Rose. In1986, he hit a career-high 20 home runs. In the1988 season he began to fade and was traded to theHouston Astros. Bell was released in December and returned with the Rangers before the1989 season, in which he appeared sparingly. In an 18-year career, Bell posted a .279batting average with 201home runs and 1106 RBI in 2405games. He won six Gold Gloves, and made five All-Star Game appearances.
Following retirement, Bell worked for several years as acoach for the Reds, and from 1994-95 for the Indians. He managed theDetroit Tigers from 1996–98. He then managed theColorado Rockies from2000 through part of2002 when he was fired in April after a 6–16 start. As a manager both for Detroit and Colorado, Bell compiled a 184–277 record.
In November2002, Bell returned to coaching for the Cleveland Indians. On May 31, 2005, the Kansas City Royals hired Bell as their manager, three weeks afterTony Peña resigned. Bell won his first four games as a manager, becoming only the second Royals manager (afterWhitey Herzog) to do so and guiding the Royals to their first four-game winning streak since2003.
Bell took a medical leave of absence from the team on September 20, 2006, after a lump was discovered on his tonsils. Bell had experienced difficulty swallowing in the previous weeks,[3] and went to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale,Arizona, following the advice of Royals medical staff. On August 1, 2007, Bell announced that he would not be returning to the Royals bench at the conclusion of the 2007 season. Bell stated that his decision was his own, not based on pressure from the Royals front office, and that he wished to spend more time with his family.[4]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 1996 | 162 | 53 | 109 | .327 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1997 | 162 | 79 | 83 | .488 | 3rd in AL East | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1998 | 137 | 52 | 85 | .380 | Fired | – | – | – | – |
| DET total | 461 | 184 | 277 | .399 | – | – | – | |||
| COL | 2000 | 162 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 4th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| COL | 2001 | 162 | 73 | 89 | .451 | 5th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| COL | 2002 | 22 | 6 | 16 | .273 | Fired | – | – | – | – |
| COL total | 346 | 161 | 185 | .465 | – | – | – | |||
| KC | 2005 | 112 | 43 | 69 | .384 | 5th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 2006 | 162 | 62 | 100 | .383 | 5th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| KC | 2007 | 162 | 69 | 93 | .426 | 5th in AL Central | – | – | – | – |
| KC total | 436 | 174 | 262 | .399 | – | – | – | |||
| Total[5] | 1,243 | 519 | 724 | .418 | – | – | – | |||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Cleveland Indians infield coach 1994–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cleveland Indians bench coach 2003–2005 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
