I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 62- David Bell

There have been many Bells in baseball.  There was Gus Bell, who primarily played on the Reds and Pirates in the 1950s and 1960s.  That was David Bell's grandfather.  There was also Buddy Bell, who spent most of his career with the Indians and Rangers.....

but also played a few years with the Reds at the end of his career.  All Bells end up in Cincinnati at some point.  Buddy had two sons who played in the Majors.  David, who is the subject of the post, and Mike, who bounced around as a Minor Leaguer most of his career.  Mike did briefly appear in the Majors, as a (say it with me)....

Red.  You knew that was coming hopefully. 

That brings us back to David Bell who started his career with the Cleveland Indians after being drafted out of high school in 1990.  Bell made it all the way to Triple A before the Indians traded him to the Cardinals in exchange for Ken Hill.  The Indians were a contender for the World Series and Hill had gone from leading the National League in wins with the Expos, to mediocre with the Cardinals.  A change of scenery helped Hill down the stretch, he even pitched well in the first two rounds of the Playoffs. 

Ken Hill ran into Ryan Klesko in the World Series. 

The Indians lost.  Meanwhile, David Bell got a chance to win the third base job at the end of the 1995 season.  The Cardinals had traded for Scott Cooper before the 1995 season, but he did not play well.  Bell did not play that well, but at just 22 the Cardinals got a stop gap third baseman with Gary Gaetti to start during the 1996 season.  

Bell still got playing time in 1996.  It did not go well.  Bell got playing time in 1997.  It did not go well.  In 1998, Bell did not play well.  The Cardinals released Bell and Gary Gaetti, and traded away Royce Clayton and Todd Stottlemyre for several players including third base prospect Fernando Tatis.  

Fernando Tatis did manage to hit.  David Bell ended up in Cleveland where he got some at bats playing second base.  More on Bell's time away from the Cardinals in a bit.  Let's look at some cards.  Bell was not a good player for the team, but always managed to end up with some decent cards.  

Let's start out in 1995.  

We got Bell sliding into second base.  Nice look at the astroturf and blue walls look of the 1980s and early 1990s Busch Stadium.  Cardinals went to a grass field in 1996 with green walls.  Nice action shot.  

On to 1996.  The first card is from the Topps set.  

Not a great year for the Topps base set, and a really weird looking card.  Bell looks like he is playing in game, but he is wearing a batting practice jersey.  The Cardinals either wore white or grey jerseys, no third alternate jerseys.  It could be the picture was taken during infield practice, but something about this card has always look off to me.  At one point, I was pretty sure they just clipped a picture of Bell in front of a Busch Stadium background.  Not sure that's the case though.  

Next.  

This is from the 1996 Fleer set.  This is the Tiffany copy, which came two per pack, or something like that.  Glossy finish.  I like cards that have photos from Wrigley Field.  That brick wall always makes a nice background.  

Regular version.  

Which brings us to the last 1996 David Bell card.  It's autographed, it's from 1996.  You know what it is going to be......

Not the best looking signature, but I believe this is his only autographed card.  

1997 was light on David Bell cards, and we've already seen a Topps base card, so I am going to make this Pacific Invincible card the final Cardinals card for this post.  Nice action shot of Bell hitting.  While Bell played for a contending team for much of 1998, no card company included him in any of their sets as a member of the Indians.  I like this card.  

After leaving the Cardinals, Bell played a few different places over the remainder of his career, which lasted until 2006.  He played on the Indians, Mariners, Giants, Phillies, and Brewers.  His best career moment was probably his 2002 Postseason with the Giants.  He hit over .400 in the National League Championship Series against the Cardinals, and over .300 with several key hits in the World Series against the Angels.  

After retiring Bell worked in the Minor Leagues as a coach and manager.  The last year or two, he returned to St. Louis and work with the Cardinals as a coach.    

However, like all the Bells, David eventually ended up in Cincinnati with the Reds.  He is the only Bell family member to not appear in a game with the Reds as a player, but the first member to manage the team.....