William Bell (baseball)
| William W. Bell, Sr. | |||
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| File:William Bell 1924.jpg
Bell at the 1924 Colored World Series.
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| Pitcher / Manager | |||
| Born: August 31, 1897 Galveston, Texas |
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| Died: March 16, 1969 El Campo, Texas |
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| debut | |||
| 1923, for the Kansas City Monarchs | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| 1948, for the Newark Eagles | |||
| Career statistics | |||
| Win–Loss record | 124-48 | ||
| Winning percentage | .721 | ||
| Teams | |||
As player
As manager |
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
| .721 career winning percentage, highest in Negro League history | |||
William W. Bell, Sr. (August 31, 1897 – March 16, 1969) was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in baseball's Negro Leagues.
Born in Galveston, Texas, Bell played for the Kansas City Monarchs for the first eight seasons of his career.[2] Often overshadowed by star teammates such as "Bullet" Joe Rogan and José Méndez, Bell was described as quiet and well-liked, known for pitching complete games. (Bell completed 74 percent of the games he started.) [2] Bell had a 10-2 record for the 1924 Kansas City Monarchs, compiling a 2.63 ERA. The following year, Bell went 9-3 in the regular season, pitching 2 games in the World Series to a 1.13 ERA.[3] Bell recorded a 16-3 record the next year, followed by a 13-6 record in 1927 and a 10-7 record in 1928. Bell spent the 1928-1929 winter with Havana in the Cuban League, where he was tied for the league lead in wins with nine. Bell then returned to the United States and pitched to a 14-4 record with the Monarchs, followed by a 9-3 record the next year.[3] Bell joined the Detroit Wolves in 1932 after the demise of the Negro National League. He then signed with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, where he compiled a 16-4 record for the 1932 season.[3] Bell then moved to the Newark Dodgers, and when the Dodgers were merged with the Brooklyn Eagles to form the Newark Eagles, he became the Eagles' manager in 1936-1937. Bell's last season in baseball was as Eagles manager in 1948.[3]
Baseball historian Dick Clark estimated that Bell would have averaged an 18-7 record had he played the 154-game schedule that was used in the Major Leagues at the time.[2] He died at age 71 in El Campo, Texas.
References
External links
- Negro league baseball statistics and player information from Seamheads.com, or Baseball-Reference (Negro leagues)
- Baseball Hall of Fame candidate biography at the Wayback Machine (archived February 7, 2006)
- Negro Leagues Museum biography
