Cool Papa Bell Marquee Hall of Fame 1974

He led his league in stolen bases in 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934 and again in 1945, when he was forty-two. Only Rickey Henderson, Max Carey and Luis Aparicio have more. He led in walks five times and in runs four, and scored 1,167 in 1,219 recorded games, which is close to a run a game.

Across twenty-one seasons from 1922 he had 1,567 hits and batted .324, and he pitched a little early on, going 20-15 over four seasons. He played 1,164 games in the outfield and was chosen for eight East-West All-Star games. The totals are partial for the reason all Negro Leagues totals are partial: the box scores that survive are the ones somebody troubled to keep.

The stories about his speed outran the record long ago and cannot be checked against it, which is what happens when a man is famous and unmeasured at the same time. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1974 through its Negro Leagues committee.