Cool Papa Bell, baseball player, Final season: 1948

Cool Papa Bell

⭐ Hall of Fame 1974

Born: 5/17/1903 in Starkville, MS, USA

Died: 3/7/1991 in St. Louis, MO, USA

Bats: B | Throws: L | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 155 lbs

Full name: James Thomas Bell

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Biography

Cool Papa Bell, born in 1903, was a legendary figure in the annals of baseball history, renowned for his remarkable speed and exceptional talent as a position player. Bell's career spanned from 1922 to 1946, during which he became a pivotal player in the Negro Leagues. Although his official Major League Baseball statistics reflect no recorded games, hits, or RBIs, his influence on the game extended far beyond the numbers. He was often celebrated for his incredible base running ability and was widely regarded as one of the fastest players of his time, earning the nickname "Cool Papa" for both his cool demeanor and swift performance on the field. Bell played for several teams, including the St. Louis Stars and the Homestead Grays, showcasing his versatility and skill across various positions. His playing style was emblematic of the Negro Leagues' vibrant era, which was marked by exceptional athleticism and the struggle for integration in baseball. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, a testament to his lasting impact on the sport and his status as a pioneer who broke barriers and inspired future generations of players. Cool Papa Bell's legacy endures as a symbol of excellence and resilience in baseball history.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1920.0 1683.0 367.0 561.0 72.0 24.0 10.0 124.0 213.0 26.0 72.0 0.333 0.408 0.422 0.830

Pitching

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1924 4.0 4.0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 0.500 0.500 0.500 1.000
1925 34.0 33.0 7.0 9.0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 0.273 0.294 0.273 0.567
1927 4.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0.333 0.500 0.333 0.833
1928 37.0 32.0 8.0 12.0 0 1.0 0 4.0 5.0 0 3.0 0.375 0.459 0.438 0.897
1929 23.0 22.0 5.0 6.0 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 3.0 0.273 0.304 0.273 0.577
1930 69.0 60.0 14.0 14.0 5.0 0 1.0 0 7.0 0 2.0 0.233 0.313 0.367 0.680
1931 19.0 15.0 8.0 5.0 2.0 0 0 0 4.0 0 0 0.333 0.474 0.467 0.941
1933 46.0 40.0 14.0 12.0 1.0 0 1.0 1.0 5.0 1.0 5.0 0.300 0.378 0.400 0.778
1934 52.0 45.0 10.0 11.0 1.0 3.0 0 4.0 7.0 3.0 5.0 0.244 0.346 0.400 0.746
1935 80.0 69.0 11.0 17.0 2.0 1.0 0 1.0 10.0 1.0 1.0 0.246 0.342 0.304 0.646
1936 251.0 227.0 55.0 74.0 9.0 2.0 1.0 10.0 20.0 4.0 11.0 0.326 0.381 0.396 0.777
1937 68.0 60.0 16.0 22.0 2.0 2.0 4.0 7.0 8.0 2.0 1.0 0.367 0.441 0.667 1.108
1942 157.0 134.0 25.0 44.0 8.0 3.0 0 7.0 23.0 3.0 3.0 0.328 0.427 0.433 0.860
1943 381.0 335.0 69.0 119.0 16.0 6.0 0 29.0 40.0 3.0 13.0 0.355 0.424 0.439 0.863
1944 308.0 269.0 54.0 93.0 13.0 4.0 1.0 29.0 36.0 5.0 6.0 0.346 0.425 0.435 0.860
1945 230.0 197.0 44.0 62.0 6.0 1.0 2.0 14.0 27.0 2.0 8.0 0.315 0.396 0.386 0.782
1946 142.0 126.0 23.0 53.0 6.0 1.0 0 15.0 15.0 0 6.0 0.421 0.482 0.484 0.966
1948 15.0 12.0 3.0 5.0 1.0 0 0 1.0 3.0 0 2.0 0.417 0.533 0.500 1.033

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Pitching

Season W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
1944 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
20 15 49 30 21 1 0 308.7 338 159 17 94 146 4.64 0

Career ERA 4.64 vs. league average 4.23 across their career seasons — 9.5% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1922 SLS NNL 7 7 16 12 9 1 0 113.0 118 63 40 63 5.02 4.18 (-20%) 697.5
1923 SLS NNL 11 7 25 14 9 0 0 153.7 180 77 34 66 4.51 4.03 (-12%) 1175.2
1924 SLS NNL 2 1 6 4 3 0 0 40.0 37 17 19 17 3.83 4.13 (+7%) -457.9
1929 SLS NNL 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2.0 3 2 1 0 9.00 — 0.0

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1237 4893 1188 1592 270 82 60 606 302 559 21 0.325 0.397 0.451 0.847 14484.2

Career AVG .325 vs. league average .276 across their career seasons — +17.7% above league average.

Career OBP .397 vs. league average .340 across their career seasons — +16.6% above league average.

Career SLG .451 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — +16.3% above league average.

Career OPS 0.847 vs. league average 0.728 across their career seasons — +16.4% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1922 SLS NNL 18 40 6 15 3 1 1 5 0 0 1 0.375 — — — — 0.0
1923 SLS NNL 49 108 24 26 5 1 2 17 1 7 0 0.241 .282 (-15%) .344 (-17%) .390 (-7%) .734 (-12%) -250.3
1924 SLS NNL 65 242 52 73 12 3 1 33 12 20 1 0.302 .283 (+6%) .345 (+3%) .389 (avg) .734 (+1%) 51.4
1925 SLS NNL 87 380 94 132 33 6 10 58 30 30 0 0.347 .288 (+21%) .349 (+13%) .407 (+34%) .756 (+24%) 1688.4
1926 SLS NNL 91 386 107 129 27 7 12 58 36 48 4 0.334 .279 (+20%) .345 (+20%) .390 (+37%) .735 (+29%) 2151.2
1927 SLS NNL 97 419 89 131 23 5 5 36 25 33 0 0.313 .282 (+11%) .344 (+6%) .392 (+9%) .736 (+7%) 578.4
1928 SLS NNL 79 338 81 112 21 6 6 41 19 32 1 0.331 .280 (+18%) .342 (+14%) .395 (+22%) .737 (+18%) 1156.0
1929 SLS NNL 93 375 95 122 24 5 3 38 48 44 1 0.325 .289 (+12%) .353 (+13%) .415 (+6%) .769 (+9%) 771.9
1929 CAG NNL 4 17 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.176 — — — — 771.9
1930 SLS NNL 80 345 107 123 20 8 9 54 15 36 3 0.357 .293 (+21%) .354 (+19%) .429 (+25%) .784 (+22%) 1564.0
1931 SLS NNL 33 132 46 38 7 2 1 18 16 24 0 0.288 .276 (+4%) .338 (+18%) .388 (+1%) .726 (+9%) 280.8
1932 DW EWL 29 120 28 38 6 2 0 14 8 11 0 0.317 .275 (+15%) .335 (+13%) .391 (+2%) .726 (+7%) 167.8
1932 HG EWL 10 40 12 16 3 1 0 5 1 3 0 0.400 — — — — 167.8
1932 PC IND 2 7 4 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0.429 — — — — 167.8
1932 KCM IND 16 57 17 22 4 5 0 11 6 9 2 0.386 .275 (+40%) .335 (+45%) .391 (+61%) .726 (+54%) 167.8
1933 PC NN2 74 300 64 91 12 4 2 28 16 28 0 0.303 .270 (+12%) .329 (+11%) .377 (+3%) .707 (+7%) 410.1
1934 PC NN2 69 272 52 89 10 3 1 28 14 34 3 0.327 .278 (+18%) .340 (+19%) .392 (+1%) .733 (+9%) 590.3
1935 PC NN2 49 197 68 68 14 6 2 30 12 31 2 0.345 .279 (+23%) .342 (+27%) .399 (+27%) .742 (+27%) 1012.4
1936 PC NN2 41 165 39 48 4 2 1 20 6 17 0 0.291 .283 (+2%) .349 (+2%) .404 (-12%) .753 (-5%) -122.8
1937 PC NN2 8 36 9 13 2 0 2 7 1 3 0 0.361 — — — — 0.0
1942 CAG NAL 39 141 24 44 7 3 0 11 4 27 1 0.312 .253 (+23%) .323 (+30%) .349 (+16%) .672 (+23%) 610.3
1943 HG NN2 65 263 63 92 12 5 0 29 12 39 1 0.350 .255 (+37%) .324 (+33%) .346 (+25%) .671 (+29%) 1429.9
1944 HG NN2 52 213 43 66 9 3 1 27 4 30 0 0.310 .261 (+19%) .325 (+22%) .357 (+10%) .683 (+16%) 666.4
1945 HG NN2 48 179 38 50 6 1 1 20 10 35 1 0.279 .260 (+7%) .328 (+22%) .354 (-4%) .683 (+8%) 417.9
1946 HG NN2 39 121 23 48 5 2 0 16 6 16 0 0.397 .256 (+54%) .328 (+42%) .358 (+31%) .687 (+36%) 786.1

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
43 175 26 48 6 4 1 16 16 3 0.274

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1945 NWS HG 4 14 1 3 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.214
1944 NWS HG 5 24 1 6 0 1 0 3 0 1 0.250
1943 NWS HG 7 34 5 10 1 1 0 4 4 0 0.294
1935 NLC PC 7 23 2 3 0 1 0 1 3 0 0.130
1930 NNC SLS 6 24 5 7 3 0 1 3 3 0 0.292
1928 NNC SLS 7 27 7 11 0 1 0 5 4 1 0.407
1925 NNC SLS 7 29 5 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.276

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 33 21 224 7 8 8
2B 2 1 1 4 0 0
3B 1 1 1 2 0 1
OF 1164 1051 2080 117 65 12
P 49 30 14 138 5 5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1922 SLS OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1922 SLS P 16 12 1 56 1 3
1923 SLS 1B 2 1 6 0 1 1
1923 SLS 2B 1 1 1 4 0 0
1923 SLS OF 15 13 27 0 1 0
1923 SLS P 25 14 12 69 2 1
1924 SLS 1B 1 1 15 0 0 0
1924 SLS OF 61 58 131 6 2 0
1924 SLS P 6 4 1 11 2 0
1925 SLS 1B 2 0 0 0 0 0
1925 SLS OF 87 2 5 1 0 0
1926 SLS OF 91 91 206 15 5 1
1927 SLS 1B 5 2 38 1 0 2
1927 SLS OF 95 95 186 12 8 3
1928 SLS OF 79 79 201 14 8 3
1929 SLS 1B 2 0 6 0 0 0
1929 SLS OF 93 92 204 17 5 0
1929 SLS P 2 0 0 2 0 1
1929 CAG OF 4 4 4 0 0 0
1930 SLS OF 80 80 175 17 6 2
1931 SLS OF 33 32 54 3 1 0
1932 DW OF 29 29 57 7 1 0
1932 HG OF 10 10 24 0 0 0
1932 PC OF 2 2 2 0 0 0
1932 KCM OF 16 16 28 2 2 0
1933 PC OF 74 74 109 1 5 1
1934 PC 1B 2 1 15 0 1 2
1934 PC OF 67 67 120 2 4 0
1935 PC 1B 3 3 25 1 0 0
1935 PC 3B 1 1 1 2 0 1
1935 PC OF 44 44 111 6 5 1
1936 PC 1B 1 1 9 0 1 0
1936 PC OF 40 40 74 1 2 0
1937 PC OF 8 8 16 1 0 0
1942 CAG 1B 10 10 86 3 3 2
1942 CAG OF 28 28 64 0 2 0
1943 HG OF 64 63 96 4 1 1
1944 HG OF 57 51 74 2 0 0
1945 HG 2B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1945 HG OF 52 46 69 4 6 0
1946 HG 1B 5 2 24 2 2 1
1946 HG OF 34 27 43 2 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 49
First Base 33
Second Base 2
Third Base 1
Left Field 180
Center Field 979
Right Field 5