James "Cool Papa" Bell, a switch-hitting left fielder, was described by his contemporaries as the fastest man on the base paths. The great Leroy "Satchel" Paige said of of the speedster, "If Cool Papa had known about colleges or if colleges had known about Cool Papa, Jesse Owens would have looked like he was walking." In his obituary, the New York Times described him as the "fastest man to ever play baseball." In the Pirates game against the Royals, lighting fast Nyjer Morgan reached first on a "sacrifice" bunt that moved Andrew McCutchen over to third. It was the speed of Bell that first turned sacrifice bunts into hits, rather than sacrifices. Three years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Bell had a chance to pay against some Major League players. The same obit recounts a Major League All-Star game Bell appeared in two years after his retirement in 1948. Reaching first base on a hit, Bell later took off on a steal after the pitch to Paige. Reaching second without a throw, Bell noticed the third baseman had not retreated after charging to cover the bunt, and he headed for third. When the catcher ran toward third with the ball, Bell turned toward home and adeptly sidestepped the tag, scoring on the play. The story is also recounted in Ken Burns documentary, "Baseball." Another story says he stole two bases on a single pitch. Believability certainly stretches the imagination, but he was clearly fast. He stole 137 bases in his career. Bell twice batted better than .400 in his career, his first and final seasons, and had a lifetime average of .337. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete