Jay Bell
Jay Bell | |
---|---|
Shortstop / Second baseman | |
Born: Pensacola, Florida, U.S. | December 11, 1965|
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
MLB debut | |
September 29, 1986, for the Cleveland Indians | |
Last MLB appearance | |
September 28, 2003, for the New York Mets | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .265 |
Home runs | 195 |
Runs batted in | 860 |
Teams | |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Jay Stuart Bell (born December 11, 1965) is an American former
Career
Bell played his high school baseball at
Bell maintained his reputation as one of the best shortstops in the 1990s.[citation needed] His range was only average but he had a great knowledge of the hitters and positioned himself well. He won a Gold Glove Award in 1993, breaking a string of thirteen straight National League Gold Gloves at shortstop by Ozzie Smith. It was also the first Gold Glove by a Pirate shortstop since Gene Alley's back-to-back honors in 1966 and 1967. Though mostly a singles and doubles hitter at first, Bell was also an expert at bunting. Bell did show early signs of his power potential hitting 21 home runs in 1997 and 20 in 1998. A trial switch to second base at end of the '98 season became a permanent move the next spring. Bell belted 36 of his 38 homers from his new position, a total exceeded only by Rogers Hornsby, Davey Johnson and Ryne Sandberg among second basemen. One of those round-trippers was a sixth-inning grand slam off the Oakland Athletics pitcher Jimmy Haynes on the final game before the All-Star break, which won $1 million for an Arizona fan, Gylene Hoyle, who had correctly predicted the batter and the inning for a bases-loaded blast.[3] Bell won the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001, serving as the winning run in Game 7 when he reached base on a ninth-inning bunt before Luis Gonzalez singled to deliver a walk-off series victory over the New York Yankees.
In his career, Bell batted .265, with 195 home runs, 868 runs batted in, 1,123
Coaching career
After the
Bell serves as a member of the advisory board of the
On August 29, 2017, Bell became the manager of the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. On January 25, 2018, Bell was named the manager of the Trenton Thunder, the New York Yankees AA affiliate and in 2019 he was promoted to manager of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees AAA affiliate.[6] On January 6, 2020, Bell was announced as the manager of the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, for their inaugural season.[7] Rocket City took the place of the relocated Mobile BayBears. He left following the 2021 season.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat
References
- ^ a b Biertempfel, Rod (October 31, 2012). "Pirates hire Jay Bell as hitting coach". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
- ^ Gammons, Peter (1986-10-13). "Between The Lines". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ "Bell Makes Fan a Millionaire". Fox Sports. June 29, 2009. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
- ^ a b "Update: Yankees announce 2019 minor league coaching staffs". 4 March 2019.
- ^ "2017 Coaching Staff Tampa Yankees". milb.com. January 13, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
- ^ "Jay Bell named new BayBears hitting coach". Press-Register. November 24, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
- ^ "Trash Pandas announce new team manager, coaching staff". 8 January 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- The 100 Greatest Royals of All-Time- #100 Jay Bell
- How A Career Ends: Jay Bell Homered Off A Hall Of Famer In His First At-Bat, Flied Out In His Last