“Funny, but I don’t have any regrets about not playing in the majors,” he once said. Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues. He spent two decades as a night watchman at St. Louis City Hall. BR Register page Except for a radio broadcast of a Joe Louis boxing match, this game was considered the biggest sporting event in black America at the time. While not known as a power hitter, on January 2, 1929, while playing in Cuba, Bell became the first slugger to connect for three home runs in a single game during Cuban professional play. The music may or may not have words. I say the doors were opened too late.” After a resurgence of interest in the Negro Leagues began in the early 1970s with the publication of Only the Ball Was White and the induction of Satchel Paige into the Hall of Fame, Bell enjoyed reminiscing about playing with legends such as Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, and Turkey Stearnes. “James ‘Cool Papa’ Bell of the St. Louis Stars, the fastest man ever to play baseball. Watch the video for Cool Papa Bell from Paul Simon's Stranger To Stranger for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. From 1946 to 1950, he worked as a player-manager the Negro League’s farm teams. Cool Papa Bell. Cool Papa Bell Lyrics. Songwriter. Leaving the Dominican Republic, Thomas Bell moved to the Mexican League in 1939 to play for a team in Tampico, where his batting average stood at .356 and .354. In 1933, he was credited with 175 stolen bases in a 200-game season. Reared in the nearby Oktoc community, James had two sisters and four brothers. Published by The Society for American Baseball Research, 1994: 34-35. The Complete Albums Collection. In 1942, Cool Papa Bell returned to the United States to play for the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League. He started by making occasional appearances in the outfield, but as he improved his game and worked on his defensive skills, he earned more playing time, eventually making a permanent move to the centre field and stopped pitching in 1924. Select from premium Cool Papa Bell of the highest quality. Thomas Bell helped the St Louis Stars to win leagues titles in 1928, 1930, and 1931. You know, you know you. One of the best players in the game, his career was winding down by 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, becoming the first black man to play Major League Baseball. He began playing baseball as a professional at age 19. Up Next. With his prolific play, he became the first player in the Mexican League to win the Triple Crown with 12 home runs, 79 runs batted in and .437 batting average. In 1922, the slender speedster signed as a left-handed pitcher with the St. Louis Stars in the Negro Leagues, beginning a professional baseball career that would last nearly thirty years as a player and as a coach. He moved to St. Louis to be with family at age 17, and shortly thereafter began his baseball career with the Compton Hill (St. Louis) Cubs. Photograph by William “Brother” Rogers, Cool Papa Bell is considered to be the fastest man ever to play professional baseball. He also went from first to third on a bunt, and scored from second on a sacrifice fly. Negro league baseball lore is full of colorful tales, several of which revolve around the exploits of speedster James "Cool Papa" Bell.Teammate Satchel Paige once claimed that Bell was so fast that he could switch the light in their hotel room and jump into bed before the light went out. Cooperstown class of 1974, Bell signed his name at the bottom of the letter. Morgan: When you went to St. Louis, what was the immediate reason? A Fireside Book published by Simon & Schuster, 1996: 49-51, 147-148. He did, however, work in the creamery at The Agricultural and Mechanical College in Starkville (now Mississippi State University) and at its agricultural experiment station where he learned to grade cotton. Oxford University Press, 1970: 239-241. Photograph courtesy Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Cool Papa Bell’s locker at a 2007 exhibit on the Negro Leagues in San Francisco. The manager said that not enough name, we ad (sic) papa to it. His manager later added “Papa” and Bell became known as “Cool Papa”. I’ve found my man; his name is Cool Papa Bell.”, Former Negro Leagues player Buck O’Neil, the first African-American coach in major league history, wrote in his autobiography that Bell was fast, but “baserunning isn’t only about speed. Lester, Larry. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. 1903-1991. He helped the team to win the championship in his first two seasons. Cool Papa Bell « See All Songs Lyrics: It turns out to be A great thing for me I don’t worry And I don’t think Because it’s not my job to worry or to think Not me I’m more like Every day I’m here, I’m grateful And that’s the gist of it Now you may call that a bogus Bullshit, New Age point of view After the St. Louis Stars (1922-1931), Bell played with the Detroit Wolves (1932), Kansas City Monarchs (1932 and 1934), Homestead Grays (1932 and 1943-1946), Pittsburgh Crawfords (1933-1937), Memphis Red Sox (1942), Chicago American Giants (1942), Detroit Senators (1947), and Kansas City Stars (1948-1950). O’Neil, Buck. Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1994: 72-74. After Stars folded in 1931 and then was disbanded, Cool Papa Bell moved to Detroit Wolves of the East-West League until that league was also dissolved during the Great Depression. James Thomas Bell born as James Thomas Nichols. Two months later he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, which honors individuals from the St. Louis area who made major national contributions to America’s cultural heritage. To hear the music, just click on the image. Cool Papa Bell is considered one of professional baseball’s foremost base stealers. Ironically, today a statue of Cool Papa Bell, dedicated May 18, 2002, is located just outside Gate 4 at the new Busch Stadium. DEATH DATE. Despite several opportunities, Owens refused to race against Cool Papa Bell. “All I had in mind – we used to play ball around, and I just had baseball on my mind.”. Hall-of-Famer Cool Papa Bell has always fascinated me, despite the fact that he does not even rank him as one of the top-two outfielders in Negro League history. MLB Network. Bell also supplemented his income by playing in integrated winter baseball leagues in California. But later on I did go to school after I was grown. James Thomas Bell was born May 17, 1903 in Starkville, Mississippi. Wayne State University Press, 1994: 115, 154-155. Bell was posthumously inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1995. Bak, Richard. He was kind. Find the perfect Cool Papa Bell stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Cool Papa Bell joined the black semipro baseball team, the Compton Hill Cubs as a A great thing for me. Bell: Yes. Bell often hit two-hoppers to the infield and beat the throw to first base for a hit. Cool Papa Bell (Static Image Video) Facebook. James Thomas Bell was born on May 17, 1903, in Starkville, Mississippi. He learned to play baseball in Mississippi but never played in an organized league until he […] Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars: The Negro Leagues in Detroit, 1919-1933. – Satchel Paige. Thomas Bell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. It’s about technique, cutting the corners and keeping your balance. I'm more like. On a road trip, his teammates awakened him in a train berth to tell him that a newspaper story reported that the teenager unexpectedly would be the starting pitcher in the upcoming game. The most incredible story is that Bell hit a single up the middle and was called out when hit by his own batted ball as he slid into second base. Today in 1991, Cool Papa Bell passed away. Thomas Bell worked at the creamery at what is currently the Mississippi State University and at the agricultural experimental station of the school. Reared in the nearby Oktoc community, James had two sisters and four brothers. And Cool Papa, he was a master at all of that.”. Not me. The Biographical Encyclopedia of The Negro Baseball Leagues. And you're never gonna stop. Ivan R. Dee Publisher, 1978: 154-164. James Thomas Bell was born May 17, 1903, in Starkville, Mississippi, the son of Jonas Bell and Mary Nichols. 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro Leagues. — John Holway, The Complete Book of Baseball’s Negro Leagues One of the things that Negro League fans love most is its lore. He played for the team until its disbandment in 1921. A bronze sculpture of Bell can be found inside the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Bell said in a May 1974 interview for The Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi that since “school started before the sun went down, I didn’t go to school. In his 1967 autobiography, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, Paige wrote, “If Cool Papa had known about colleges, or if colleges had known about Cool Papa, [Olympic sprinter] Jesse Owens would have looked like he was walking.” Owens, track and field gold medalist at the Olympic Games of 1936, traveled one year with a team from Toledo and would race fans or horses before the game for entertainment. According to Robert Peterson in Only the Ball Was White, teammate Jimmie Crutchfield recalled that when “Bell hit one back to the pitcher, everybody would yell, ‘Hurry!’” He was reportedly clocked circling the bases in an astonishing 12 seconds. After watching Bell in 1937, the sports editor of the Denver Post wrote, “All these years I’ve been looking for a player who could steal first base. Bell began as a pitcher but center field was his position of note on the ball field where he could use his speed to chase down fly balls. Originally from Mississippi "Cool Papa" Bell's baseball career ranged from the 1920s into the 1940s with the bulk of those years spent with the St. Louis Stars and it was St. Louis that Bell called his home. His obituary in the New York Times noted that when told about his election, Bell said it was his biggest honor but not his biggest thrill. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Cool Papa Bell retired from the game to an in an old redbrick apartment in St. Louis Thomas Bell died on March 7, 1991, at the Saint Louis University Hospital after suffering a heart attack. Listen to interview. Bell got his mature sounding nickname, “Cool Papa,” as a 19-year-old rookie. Riley, James A. Mississippi Historical Society © 2000–2017. Taurus Baseball Player #38. He was honest. This song is a tropical ode to James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell (1903-1991) who was a center fielder in the Negro Leagues of American baseball from the 1920s through 1940s. Born in Starkville, MS #6. The fastest man on Earth did dwell as Cool Papa Bell. Bell started as a right-handed pitcher and threw with the left but later transformed to a switch hitter and coupled with his speed; he gained more edge on the field of play. He joined the St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League two … share-636081. So that how it started.”. I went to two years of high school in evening school …”, Here is an excerpt from the 1974 interview with Bell, which was conducted in Starkville by Chester Morgan. Once, he scored from first base on a bunt against the Bob Lemon All-Stars, which featured major league players. The left-handed Bell also demonstrated prowess as a switch-hitter at the plate. He spent two seasons in the league playing his last season in Monterrey. James Thomas Bell best known as Cool Papa Bell was an American centre fielder in the Negro league baseball. Bell had a reputation for being meticulous in his dress and work habits and was universally respected by his peers. Bell began as a pitcher for the St. Louis Stars in the Negro National League at the age of 19 and earned the nickname “Cool” when he struck out legendary Oscar Charleston; Bell’s manager added “Papa.”. In The Blue Light. Over The Bridge Of Time: A Paul Simon Retrospective (1964-2011) Graceland. Inducted to the Hall of Fame in: 1974. “They say that I was born too soon. He died March 7, 1991, at age 87 in St. Louis, just a few weeks after Clarabelle’s death. In 1974, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was ranked by The Sporting News as the 66th greatest baseball player in 1999. In the 1930s and 1940s, black all-star teams would play white all-star teams while barnstorming across the country. I turned around and saw the ball hit him sliding into second.”. The marker is located at the Little League baseball park to show that there was once a little boy from Starkville, Mississippi, who ran so fast he made it all the way to the Hall of Fame. Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues. Only The Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players and All-Black Professional Teams. He accomplished the feat to the amusement of both athletes. Primary team: St. Louis Stars. Contemporaries rated him fastest man on the base paths.”. By 1960, all major league teams had been integrated. He averaged one stolen base for every two games. You may imagine that environment and time for a part-Indian, mostly black child… Paige repeated the story many times: “Cool was so fast, he could turn out the light and jump in bed before it got dark.” The origin of this tale is an event that took place when Bell and Paige were roommates on a road trip. Most Popular #64663. Holding no grudges, Bell graciously appeared at the annual induction ceremonies year after year and received ovations from the fans. While playing for the team on Sundays, he also worked with a packing company on weekdays to earn enough money. He attended church every Sunday and had his name in the phone book. I was so cool in everything they ask me to do. Primary position: Center Fielder. Getty Images offers exclusive rights-ready and premium royalty-free analog, HD, and 4K video of the highest quality. His mother sharecropped with her brother on their father’s land, but the young James “never did have any intention of farming,” he later said. His name was James “Cool Papa” Bell. Clark, Dick and Lester, Larry, editors. Baseball was Bell’s main interest and he joined his brothers on an amateur St. Louis baseball team. Consistent with the habits of storytellers back in that era, a few embellishments about Bell's speed may have occurred. James "Cool Papa" Bell. Cancel. Tumblr. Playing for semipro teams for some years, Cool Papa Bell went professionally by joining the St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League (NNL) in 1922 as a pitcher. In the early 1950s, Bell returned to St. Louis where his career had begun, and where in 1920 he had met and married his wife Clarabelle. Black Baseball’s National Showcase: The East-West All-Star Game, 1933-1953. 1903. James “Cool Papa” Bell played with a St. Louis amateur team before signing with the St. Louis Stars. He was a clean liver. 17 May 1901 in Starkville, Mississippi; d. 7 March 1991 in St. Louis, Missouri), fabled Negro League outfielder widely considered the fastest man ever to play professional baseball. Cool Papa Bell. After that season, he joined the Homestead Grays of the Negro National League playing with the team until 1946. Cool Papa Bell joined the black semipro baseball team, the Compton Hill Cubs as a knuckleball pitcher. After the team broke up, he joined another semipro team, the East St Louis Cup in 1922;  he was paid $20 a week. Bell occasionally attended a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium where he usually sat unrecognized in the crowd. In fact, in all of the years I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him smoke, take a drink, or say even one cuss word.”. Are never gonna stop, … In Bell’s recollection to Holway, Earl Mack, son of the Hall of Famer and baseball manager Connie Mack, told Bell, “If the door was open, you’d be the first guy I’d hire.” Years later, Bill Veeck, legendary promoter and owner of the Cleveland Indians, ranked Cool Papa Bell alongside Willie Mays and Joe DiMaggio as the greatest centerfielders of all time. Major League Baseball was actually all set to honor the Negro Leagues in late June during the season, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Concert in Hyde Park. In this letter, Bell explains. During this period he played in the Mexican winter leagues. Never gonna stop, you never gonna stop. Brashler, William. Bell, who grew up poor in Starkville, said, “My mother always told me that it didn’t make any difference about the color of my skin, or how much money I had. All of the players call me cool. You're signed out. In 1974, Cool Papa Bell’s place in baseball history was sealed when he became the fifth player from the Negro Leagues inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The legendary switch-hitting centerfielder had started his career as a left-handed pitcher. University of Nebraska Press, 2001. James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903–1991) Pitching immortal Satchel Paige, noted for his tall tales as much as his pitching, claimed that James “Cool Papa” Bell could run so fast—in the outfield or on the base paths—that when he turned out the light at night, he was in bed before the room got dark. Born in 1903 #17. Born at least ten years too early to play in the major leagues, Bell was never bitter. Live In New York City. James “Cool Papa” Bell was by all accounts the fastest and one of the best baseball players in the Negro Leagues. Autoplay is paused. When Thomas Bell left Crawfords, he moved to the Dominican Republic where he played for a team formed by then-dictator Rafael Trujillo, who wanted to use baseball to cement his rule. And Cool Papa Bell. Considered as one of the fastest men ever to play baseball, his career in the Negro league spanned from 1922 to 1946. That, he said, “was when they opened the door in the majors to black players.”. In 1924 he was moved to centre field. Bell lived in an old, red-brick apartment in a St. Louis neighborhood with vacant lots and boarded up storefronts. The video may … Perhaps the best known and most humorous story involved Satchel Paige, a teammate with the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Tap to unmute. The Negro Leagues Book. Google+. Cool Papa Bell - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube. She was the same woman who had traveled with him through the years, who had kept his voluminous scrapbooks, and who had gently endured his itinerant life.”. Twitter. Born in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1903, Bell grew up on a farm not far from Mississippi State College. Bell played his last game a year before Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier in 1947. Cool Papa Bell was born on May 17, 1903, in Starkville, Mississippi to Mary Nicholas and Jonas Bell. The words may or may not be in English. Growing up as a hardworking chap, living with his widowed mother, Bell picked up some jobs during his teenage years to assist the family. • Bell was born in Starkville, Miss., on May 17,1903. Photoverio images of the WALL -2- WALL Gallery are accompanied by music videos handpicked by yours truly. While official records of his achievements are limited, he never hit below .300 any season, and finished his Negro Leagues career with a lifetime .341 batting average. Bell moved to live with his older brother in St. Louis when he was 17 years and received high school education during that time. A job, is that why you left here? In 1933, Cool Papa Bell played in the first East-West All-Star Game in Negro League history as a member of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Baseball Player Born in Mississippi #4. In 1920, the 17-year-old Bell left Starkville for St. Louis, Missouri, to live with his brothers and attend high school. Sure, many of its tales have been elaborated, exaggerated, and elongated. It was during this time that he earned the nickname “Cool” after striking out legendary Oscar Charleston. Pinterest. Mar 7, 1991 ( age 87 ) Popularity. Stranger to Stranger. “I got my name in 1922 when I started playing baseball at age 16. He often turned singles into doubles and doubles into triples with his blazing speed. Photograph courtesy Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Cool Papa Bell played with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1932 and 1934. The only thing that counted was to be an honest, clean livin’ man who cared about other people. I don't worry (and) I don't think (because) It's not my job to worry or to think. The legacy of 'Cool Papa' Bell. She said, “I just hope that you will go and live in a bigger city where you will have more opportunities to go to school.’‘ So we got large enough so we could go [away]. The baseball player called Cool Papa Bell is known as one of the fastest baserunners of all time. I’ve always tried to live up to those words.”, Teammate Ted Page remembered Bell as “an even better man off the field than he was on it. Bell, James Thomas (“Cool Papa”) ( b. With daring speed, cunning game awareness, coupled with finesse at the bat, Cool Papa Bell epitomized the game of "tricky" baseball. He completed the league with an average batting of .391. In my time, she said – I thought that she was an old mama, but she was around forty-two years old when I left – she said, “Well, I didn’t have a chance to go to school or to have much schooling.’‘ Sometimes they would go two months and a half or three months according to the weather. He planned to go to night school, but he lived near a park and instead of classes played baseball in the park with people in the neighborhood. In 1999, author Willie Morris and Buck O’Neil, representing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, dedicated a historical marker honoring Bell in Starkville. Bell is easily the most legendary Negro Leagues player to ever leave his mark on St. Louis. Years later, Bell recounted to Holway, “People told us if we didn’t win the title we would be executed … But we won.” Bell spent the next four years away from the Negro Leagues as a star in the Mexican League and playing winter ball in Cuba. His passion for baseball, however, was greater than education as he spent most of his time playing the game in his neighbourhood. In 1937, Rafael Trujillo, the brutal dictator of the Dominican Republic, hired Bell, Paige, and other Negro League players for his traveling all-star team. February 5, 2016 | 00:05:31. add-reel-636080. 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