David Michael Bell (born September 14, 1972) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern profession ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

, who is currently the manager for the Cincinnati Reds of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Over the course of his 12-year MLB playing career, Bell appeared at all four

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, usually grass-c ...

positions while playing for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion t ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

. He made his MLB debut for the Indians in 1995. After his retirement as an active player, Bell served as manager of the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the winged mammal and baseball ...

and (former) Double-A

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...

, both in the Reds organization, prior to his promotion to Reds skipper, late in 2018. The grandson of

Gus Bell David Russell "Gus" Bell Jr. (November 15, 1928 – May 7, 1995) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1950 through 1964, who played with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Milwaukee Braves. He batted lef ...

, son of Buddy Bell, and brother of Mike Bell, David Bell is a member of one of five families to have three generations play in the Major Leagues. In addition, David and Buddy are the fifth father-son pair to serve as major league managers, joining Connie and

Earle Mack Earle Thaddeus Mack (born Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy; February 1, 1890 – February 4, 1967), was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, ...

, George and Dick Sisler, Bob and Joel Skinner, and Bob and Aaron Boone.

Amateur career

Bell attended

Moeller High School Moeller High School ( ), known as Moeller, is a private, all-male, college-preparatory high school in the suburbs of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is currently one of four all-male Catholic high schools in the Cincinnati area. Hist ...

in Cincinnati,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Playing for the school's varsity

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team for three years, where he ranks in the Top Ten in five career categories including doubles and

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s. He ranks among the top in Single Season Doubles and Most Doubles in one game. He also played Mickey Mantle and Connie Mack Baseball National Championship teams in 1988 and 1989 respectively as well as leading Moeller to a state championship in 1989. Bell was also a member of the Moeller boys' basketball team. Bell committed to play baseball at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state' ...

as a junior.

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

After the

selected Bell with their pick in the seventh round (190th overall), Bell decided to forgo his commitment to Kentucky.

Major League career

Cleveland Indians

Bell made his Major League debut on May 3, as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Americ ...

for

Jim Thome James Howard Thome (; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball corner infielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 22 seasons (1991–2012). He played for six different teams during the ...

and stayed in the game in a defensive replacement. He was optioned to the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fie ...

on May 8, 1995. He hit .272 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs in 70 games.

St. Louis Cardinals

On July 27, 1995, Bell was traded to the

along with Pepe McNeal and Rick Heiserman for Ken Hill.

Return to Cleveland

On April 14, , Bell was claimed off waivers by the Indians. On April 15, he hit the first

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score a ...

Jacobs Field {{Infobox stadium , name = Progressive Field , nickname = ''"The Jake"'' , logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg , logo_caption = , image = , caption = Progressive Fiel ...

history, and the first for the Indians since .

Seattle Mariners

On August 31, 1998, Bell was traded to the

for Joey Cora. Bell was re-signed on December 19, 2001.

San Francisco Giants

On January 25, 2002, Bell was traded to the

for Desi Relaford so he could have a chance to play every day. Bell scored the 2002 NLCS winning run for the

from second on

Kenny Lofton Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. Lofton was a six-time All-Star (1994–1999), four-time Gold Glove Award winner (1993–1996), and at retirement, was ranked 15th amon ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. Bell was the runner bearing down on

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

in Game 5 of the

2002 World Series The 2002 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s 2002 season. The 98th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Anaheim Angels and the National Lea ...

when J. T. Snow lifted 3 year old batboy Darren Baker out of harm's way. Near the end of the season, he won the

Willie Mac Award The Willie Mac Award is named in honor of Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch", "Mac" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Basebal ...

for his spirit and leadership – as voted on by his teammates and coaching staff.

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 2, 2002, Bell signed a four-year $17 million deal with the

. He made Major League history on June 28, , by joining his grandfather, Gus Bell, as the first grandfather-grandson combination to

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League ...

Milwaukee Brewers

Bell was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the

on July 28, , in a deal that swapped him for minor league pitcher Wilfrido Laureano. The Brewers chose not to re-sign Bell after the 2006 season, and he became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

Coaching career

On October 31, , the Cincinnati Reds named Bell the manager for their Double-A affiliate, the

. Bell spent three seasons as the Mudcats manager. In November 2011 he was named manager of the Reds' Triple-A affiliate

. On October 23, , the Chicago Cubs named Bell the third base coach for the Major League club. On December 17, 2013, the

announced hiring Bell as their new assistant hitting coach. From 2015 through 2017, Bell served as the Cardinals' bench coach. He left the team on October 20, 2017, to become the vice president of player development for the

Managing career

Cincinnati Reds

On October 21, 2018, the Cincinnati Reds announced Bell had been hired as the 63rd manager in franchise history. The contract spans three years with a club option for a fourth. In an April 7, 2019 game against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associat ...

, Bell was ejected after his role in a bench clearing incident involving Chris Archer,

Derek Dietrich Derek Richard Dietrich (born July 18, 1989) is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers ...

, Yasiel Puig,

Amir Garrett Amir Jamal Garrett (born May 3, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds. Garrett played college basketball for the St. John ...

Keone Kela Keone Cole Kela (born April 16, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and San ...

, and

Felipe Vázquez Felipe Javier Vázquez (né Rivero, born July 5, 1991), nicknamed "Nightmare", is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher and convicted sex offender who is currently on the restricted list for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He previously played for ...

. This was Bell’s first career managerial ejection. Bell received a one-game suspension following the incident on April 9. On July 30, 2019, another bench-clearing mash-up occurred between the Reds and Pirates, with Bell (who had been ejected from the game in the previous half-inning) involved in it. On August 1, 2019, Bell received a 6-game suspension without eligibility to appeal. On September 22, 2021, Bell agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Reds.

Managerial record

References

External links

David Bell
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
David Bell
at Baseball Almanac : {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, David 1972 births Living people Arkansas Travelers players Baseball coaches from Ohio Baseball players from Cincinnati Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burlington Indians players (1986–2006) Canton-Akron Indians players Charlotte Knights players Chicago Cubs coaches Cincinnati Reds managers Cleveland Indians players Columbus Indians players Gulf Coast Indians players Kinston Indians players Louisville Bats managers Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball third base coaches Major League Baseball third basemen Milwaukee Brewers players Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals coaches St. Louis Cardinals players San Francisco Giants players Seattle Mariners players

Amateur career

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

Major League career

Cleveland Indians

St. Louis Cardinals

Return to Cleveland

Seattle Mariners

San Francisco Giants

Philadelphia Phillies

Milwaukee Brewers

Coaching career

Managing career

Cincinnati Reds

Managerial record

See also

References

External links