WHY I THINK BUDDY BELL SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Buddy Bell was one of the greatest defensive third basemen of all time. He played far off the third base line, often robbing the opposing team of several hits in a game. Bell was a Gold Glove award winner for six consecutive seasons at the hot corner and a three time fielding champion. Bell was not just known for his fine defense, however, as he collected over 2,500 career hits and showed off some power in various seasons of his career. Buddy Bell started his career with the Indians in 1972 at the age of 20, and batted .255 as a rookie in 132 games, 123 of them in the outfield. He earned his first all-star selection as a regular third baseman in 1973. From 1974 through 1978, Bell batted a combined .278 (with exactly 1,000 total bases) and the Indians decided to trade him to the Rangers in exchange for Toby Harrah. The trade proved costly for the Indians, as Bell blossomed out in Texas, grabbing 200 hits (including 18 home runs) in 1979 and recording a .329 batting average in 1980. With Brooks Robinson’s retirement after the 1977 season, Bell became the best defensive third baseman in all of baseball, and won his first of six consecutive Gold Gloves in 1979. He was an all-star for three straight seasons from 1980 through 1982 but slumped a bit in 1983 to a .277 mark. Bell came back swinging in 1984, batting .315 and earning both his last Gold Glove and his final all-star selection. He slumped severely in 1985, the season in which he played both for the Rangers and the Reds, and at 33 many thought that his career was through. Bell came back to hit .278 with 20 home runs in 1986, coming back into consideration as one of the league’s best players as mysteriously as he had slipped the year before. He had one last fine season with the Reds in 1987, batting .284, and in 1988, he was only good for 95 games between two clubs and a .241 average. The Rangers got him back in 1989 and played him in 34 games before he retired as a player. He later had a mostly unsuccessful managerial career and called it quits after the 2007 season. Buddy Bell was one of the great defensive third basemen of all time, a consistent hitter, and an occasional source of power. He was so skilled on both offense and defense that he is certainly a Hall of Famer to me and to many others.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 2,405 season high: 162 in 1979 led AL: 162 in 1979
At Bats career: 8,995 season high: 670 in 1979 led AL: 670 in 1979
Hits career: 2,514 season high: 200 in 1979
Doubles career: 425 season high: 42 in 1979
Triples career: 56 season high: 8 in 1978
Home Runs career: 201 season high: 20 in 1986
Runs career: 1,151 season high: 89 in 1979 and 1986
Runs Batted In career: 1,106 season high: 101 in 1979
Stolen Bases career: 55 season high: 7 in 1973
Walks career: 836 season high: 73 in 1986
Strikeouts career: 776 season high: 72 in 1975
Batting Average career: .279 season high: .329 in 1980
On Base Percentage career: .341 season high: .382 in 1983
Slugging Percentage career: .406 season high: .498 in 1980
Total Bases career: 3,654 season high: 302 in 1979
Sacrifice Hits career: 60 season high: 10 in 1975
Fielding Percentage career: .965 season high: .990 in 1972 led AL 3B: .981 in 1980, .976 in 1982 led NL 3B: .979 in 1987
Double Plays career: 448 season high: 44 in 1973 led AL 3B: 44 in 1973, 30 in 1978
Putouts career: 2,196 season high: 284 in 1972 led AL 3B: 144 in 1973, 146 in 1975, 131 in 1982
Assists career: 5,009 season high: 396 in 1982 led AL 3B: 355 in 1978, 281 in 1981, 383 in 1983
Games Managed career: 1,243 season high: 162 in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2006, and 2007
Wins career: 519 season high: 82 in 2000
Losses career: 724 season high: 109 in 1996
Ties career: 0
Winning Percentage career: .418 season high: .506 in 2000
Ejections career: 42 season hgh: 8 in 2000 ad 2001
Pennants N/A
World Series N/A
DID YOU KNOW?
-son of Gus Bell and father of both Mike and David Bell
-won the 1988 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
-finished tenth in the AL MVP Award voting in 1979, 17th in 1981, 18th in 1980, 22nd in 1984, and 30th in 1982
-won the AL Silver Slugger award in 1984
-led the MLB with ten sacrifice flies in 1981
-had a career fielding percentage eleven points above the league average
-led the AL in at bats per strikeout (16.1) in 1972
-among MLB third basemen, ranks seventh in career games, 43rd in fielding percentage, sixth in double plays, 20th in putouts, and fifth in assists
-hit three home runs off of Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, two off of both Catfish Hunter and Jack Morris, and one each off of Tom Glavine, Ron Guidry, Bert Blyleven, and Nolan Ryan
-was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2004
I would not oppose Buddy Bell for the hall. But it would seem kind of weird, because he just seems like a hall-of-very-gooder. (HOVG) He was a good enough player, but it seems like it will be a while because he was just never regarded as a hall of fame player. The highest he finished in MVP voting was an underwhelming 10th. So I'm not expecting to see him inducted any time soon.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! You have just submitted The Cooperstown Advocate's 100th comment! In all seriousness, I don't expect any of these players to be inducted anytime soon, if at all. Buddy Bell is almost a kind of poor man's Brooks Robinson, and Brooks was undoubtedly Hall of Fame worthy, so I thought that a player like Bell would get more voter support. Oh well.
DeleteThe voters need something that really draws their attention. Brooks was "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", the hero of the 1970 World Series, a billion-time Gold Glove winner. There was no way they could ignore that. Though Buddy Bell was a good enough fielder to warrant his induction, regular people don't really think about defense much unless it's really extreme, like Ozzie, Brooks, Belanger, and others.
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