Buddy Bell

Full Name: David Gus Bell	Primary Position: 3B
Height/Weight: 6' 1"/180	First Game: April 15, 1972
Birthdate: August 27, 1951	Final Game: June 17, 1989
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	MLB Experience: 18 years
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

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3.26

(53 votes)

1 Biography
2 Statistics
- 2.1 Batting Stats
- 2.2 Fielding Stats
3 Transactions
4 Trivia
5 Video Gallery
6 Picture Gallery
7 See Also
8 Categories

[edit] Biography

David Gus "Buddy" Bell (born August 27, 1951 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a former third baseman and current manager in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Royals. Bell is the son of former player Gus Bell and the father of players David and Mike. He is well-liked by former teammates and fans and continues to be remembered by the organizations he played for.

Bell was born while his father was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was drafted in 1969 by the Cleveland Indians and was regarded as a promising prospect from the beginning. He first appeared in the major leagues with the Indians in 1972, appearing mostly in the outfield as a rookie, but afterwards becoming a fixture at third base. Bell was a solid, but not overpowering, right handed hitter on a mostly lackluster Indians team. He was named to the All-Star team in 1973.

After the 1978 season Bell was traded to the Texas Rangers, in exchange for Toby Harrah - a player who seemed similar in many ways, a good hitting infielder in the middle of his career.

Bell enjoyed his best season with the Rangers in 1979, collecting 200 hits, 101 RBI, and his first Gold Glove Award. He followed with solid seasons through 1984, including several All-Star selections.

In the middle of the 1985 season, Bell was sent to the Cincinnati Reds, where his father also had been a popular player in the late 1950s. This was a very popular addition with Reds fans, and Buddy responded with two more solid years. In the 1988 season he began to fade, and was traded to the Houston Astros. Bell was released in December and returned with the Rangers before the 1989 season, in which he appeared sparingly.

In an 18-year career, Bell posted a .279 batting average with 201 home runs and 1106 RBI in 2405 games. He also won six Gold Gloves, and made 5 All-Star Game appearances.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	IBB	GDP
1972	CLE	A	132	466	49	119	9	36	.255	.310	.363	21	1	34	29	3	1	5	8	5
1973	CLE	A	156	631	86	169	14	59	.268	.325	.393	23	7	49	47	6	0	7	2	13
1974	CLE	A	116	423	51	111	7	46	.262	.322	.352	15	1	35	29	3	8	1	1	14
1975	CLE	A	153	553	66	150	10	59	.271	.332	.376	20	4	51	72	1	10	6	6	11
1976	CLE	A	159	604	75	170	7	60	.281	.329	.366	26	2	44	49	2	5	3	3	12
1977	CLE	A	129	479	64	140	11	64	.292	.351	.426	23	4	45	63	1	8	1	5	14
1978	CLE	A	142	556	71	157	6	62	.282	.328	.392	27	8	39	43	0	9	1	1	24
1979	TEX	A	162	670	89	200	18	101	.299	.327	.451	42	3	30	45	3	7	5	4	16
1980	TEX	A	129	490	76	161	17	83	.329	.379	.498	24	4	40	39	0	4	3	11	16
1981	TEX	A	97	360	44	106	10	64	.294	.364	.428	16	1	42	30	3	0	3	10	6
1982	TEX	A	148	537	62	159	13	67	.296	.376	.426	27	2	70	50	2	0	5	8	13
1983	TEX	A	156	618	75	171	14	66	.277	.332	.411	35	3	50	48	4	0	3	5	24
1984	TEX	A	148	553	88	174	11	83	.315	.382	.458	36	5	63	54	3	2	2	8	21
1985	TEX	A	84	313	33	74	4	32	.236	.308	.335	13	3	33	21	1	0	3	1	14
1985	CIN	N	67	247	28	54	6	36	.219	.311	.368	15	2	34	27	0	1	0	2	10
1985	Total		151	560	61	128	10	68	.229	.309	.350	28	5	67	48	1	1	3	3	24
1986	CIN	N	155	568	89	158	20	75	.278	.362	.445	29	3	73	49	5	3	2	4	14
1987	CIN	N	143	522	74	148	17	70	.284	.369	.425	19	2	71	39	1	1	4	3	14
1988	HOU	N	74	269	24	68	7	37	.253	.301	.375	10	1	19	29	0	0	1	1	8
1988	CIN	N	21	54	3	10	0	3	.185	.270	.185	0	0	7	3	0	0	0	1	2
1988	TOT	N	95	323	27	78	7	40	.241	.295	.344	10	1	26	32	0	0	1	2	10
1989	TEX	A	34	82	4	15	0	3	.183	.247	.232	4	0	7	10	0	1	0	0	4
Total	NL		460	1660	218	438	50	221	.264	.344	.408	73	8	204	147	6	5	7	11	48
Total	AL		1945	7335	933	2076	151	885	.283	.340	.406	352	48	632	629	32	55	48	73	207
Total			2405	8995	1151	2514	201	1106	.279	.341	.406	425	56	836	776	38	60	55	84	255

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	AVG
1972	CLE	A	RF	65	55	511	114	3	0	1	1.000
1972	CLE	A	CF	63	60	523.2	160	7	3	3	.982
1972	CLE	A	OF	123	115	1034.2	274	10	3	4	.990
1972	CLE	A	3B	7	5	48.2	10	13	0	2	1.000
1973	CLE	A	CF	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1.000
1973	CLE	A	3B	154	153	1367.1	144	363	22	44	.958
1973	CLE	A	RF	1	1	9	1	0	0	0	1.000
1973	CLE	A	OF	2	1	10	2	0	0	0	1.000
1974	CLE	A	DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1974	CLE	A	3B	115	115	1011	112	274	15	31	.963
1975	CLE	A	3B	153	149	1328	146	330	25	29	.950
1976	CLE	A	1B	2	1	9	5	1	0	0	1.000
1976	CLE	A	3B	158	157	1391	104	330	20	23	.956
1977	CLE	A	OF	11	11	97.1	23	0	1	0	.958
1977	CLE	A	3B	118	115	1017.1	111	253	15	23	.960
1977	CLE	A	LF	11	11	97.1	23	0	1	0	.958
1978	CLE	A	3B	139	139	1210.2	125	355	15	30	.970
1978	CLE	A	DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1979	TEX	A	3B	147	144	1232	112	364	15	22	.969
1979	TEX	A	SS	33	17	184	35	65	2	9	.980
1980	TEX	A	SS	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	.000
1980	TEX	A	3B	120	120	1045.2	123	282	8	26	.981
1981	TEX	A	3B	96	96	835.2	66	281	14	18	.961
1981	TEX	A	SS	1	0	2	1	3	0	1	1.000
1982	TEX	A	3B	145	143	1228.1	131	396	13	35	.976
1982	TEX	A	SS	4	0	6.1	0	1	0	0	1.000
1983	TEX	A	3B	154	153	1374.2	123	383	17	29	.967
1984	TEX	A	3B	147	147	1277	129	323	20	28	.958
1985	TEX	A	3B	83	82	711	70	192	16	22	.942
1985	CIN	N	3B	67	67	585.1	54	105	9	13	.946
1985	Total		3B	150	149	1296.1	124	297	25	35	.944
1986	CIN	N	3B	151	150	1343.2	105	290	10	28	.975
1986	CIN	N	2B	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1.000
1987	CIN	N	3B	142	141	1228.1	93	241	7	17	.979
1988	HOU	N	1B	7	6	50	43	0	1	4	.977
1988	HOU	N	3B	66	65	565	31	114	12	8	.924
1988	CIN	N	3B	13	13	107.2	6	24	1	2	.968
1988	CIN	N	1B	2	2	8	8	2	1	0	.909
1988	TOT	N	3B	79	78	672.2	37	138	13	10	.931
1988	TOT	N	1B	9	8	58	51	2	2	4	.964
1989	TEX	A	3B	9	7	58	3	12	0	0	1.000
1989	TEX	A	1B	1	1	6	7	1	0	0	1.000
1989	TEX	A	DH	22	14	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Total			2B	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1.000
Total			DH	24	14	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Total			RF	66	56	520	115	3	0	1	1.000
Total			3B	2184	2161	18966.1	1798	4925	254	430	.964
Total			LF	11	11	97.1	23	0	1	0	.958
Total			SS	41	17	195.1	36	69	2	10	.981
Total			1B	12	10	73	63	4	2	4	.971
Total			CF	64	60	524.2	161	7	3	3	.982
Total			OF	136	127	1142	299	10	4	4	.987

[edit] Transactions

Selected by Cleveland Indians in the 16th round of the free-agent draft (June 5, 1969).
Traded by Cleveland Indians to Texas Rangers in exchange for Toby Harrah (December 8, 1978).
Traded by Texas Rangers to Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Duane Walker and a player to be named later (July 19, 1985); Texas Rangers received Jeff Russell (July 23, 1985).
Traded by Cincinnati Reds to Houston Astros in exchange for a player to be named later (June 19, 1988); Cincinnati Reds received Carl Grovom (October 20, 1988).
Released by Houston Astros (December 21, 1988).
Signed by Texas Rangers (January 9, 1989).