Buddy Bell Marquee

b. August 27, 1951 · Cleveland Indians 1972–1978, Texas Rangers 1979–1985, 1989, Cincinnati Reds 1985–1988, Houston Astros 1988

His father Gus Bell played fifteen seasons and made four All-Star teams; his sons David and Mike both reached the major leagues, and David has managed there. Buddy is the best of them: 2,514 hits, 425 doubles, 201 home runs, 1,106 runs batted in and a .279 average across eighteen seasons.

He won the Gold Glove at third base six years running from 1979 and was chosen for five All-Star teams. His best season was 1979, his first in Texas: 200 hits, 101 runs batted in and 162 games at the position. He hit .329 in 1980 and .315 in 1984 and never led the league in anything.

Cleveland had his first seven years and traded him to Texas for Toby Harrah. He managed Detroit, Colorado and Kansas City afterward, without much to show for it, and has run player development since. The 1995 ballot gave him eight votes of 460.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	5	1973, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984
Gold Glove	6	1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
Player of the Week	4	1977, 1979, 1980, 1986
The Sporting News All-Star	2	1981, 1984
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award	1	1988
Silver Slugger	1	1984

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1972	CLE	132	466	49	119	21	1	9	36	34	29	5	.255
1973	CLE	156	631	86	169	23	7	14	59	49	47	7	.268
1974	CLE	116	423	51	111	15	1	7	46	35	29	1	.262
1975	CLE	153	553	66	150	20	4	10	59	51	72	6	.271
1976	CLE	159	604	75	170	26	2	7	60	44	49	3	.281
1977	CLE	129	479	64	140	23	4	11	64	45	63	1	.292
1978	CLE	142	556	71	157	27	8	6	62	39	43	1	.282
1979	TEX	162	670	89	200	42	3	18	101	30	45	5	.299
1980	TEX	129	490	76	161	24	4	17	83	40	39	3	.329
1981	TEX	97	360	44	106	16	1	10	64	42	30	3	.294
1982	TEX	148	537	62	159	27	2	13	67	70	50	5	.296
1983	TEX	156	618	75	171	35	3	14	66	50	48	3	.277
1984	TEX	148	553	88	174	36	5	11	83	63	54	2	.315
1985	CIN/TEX	151	560	61	128	28	5	10	68	67	48	3	.229
1986	CIN	155	568	89	158	29	3	20	75	73	49	2	.278
1987	CIN	143	522	74	148	19	2	17	70	71	39	4	.284
1988	CIN/HOU	95	323	27	78	10	1	7	40	26	32	1	.241
1989	TEX	34	82	4	15	4	0	0	3	7	10	0	.183
Career	—	2405	8995	1151	2514	425	56	201	1106	836	776	55	.279

On this day & linked events

1951

Born August 27, 1951

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

1972

Major-league debut: Buddy Bell

Buddy Bell made a major-league debut on April 15, 1972.

1989

Final major-league game: Buddy Bell

Buddy Bell played a final major-league game on June 17, 1989.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain