Third in a series
During a recent home stand, Minnesota and Cincinnati led the majors with five U.S.-born Black players each on their respective rosters. A distinction that has received little, if any, attention.
One of those Twins is Josh Bell, the 6-foot-4 first baseman and switch-hitting designated hitter who is now with his seventh club in 10 major league seasons. A second-round pick by Pittsburgh in the 2011 MLB Draft, Bell has also suited up for Cleveland, San Diego, Washington (twice), Miami and now Minnesota, signing a one-year contract last December.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Bell said when asked about sharing a clubhouse with fellow Black teammates Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Simeon Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley. “Just being able to play with these guys, get to meet some new guys, and finally just playing with Buck (Buxton) and Royce.”
The Irving, Texas native traces his love of baseball to his backyard and his father. His dad steered him away from football early, and the two spent countless hours playing catch.
“I started playing before I even knew about professional sports, just hanging out in the backyard with my dad for the most part,” Bell recalled. “Had a lot of fun with it. And then you look up and you’re 12, 13, thinking maybe I got a chance at cracking into the big leagues one day. But when it started, it was just an idea for my dad.”
Bell spent six years in the minors before reaching Pittsburgh in July 2016. His debut was memorable, a pinch-hit appearance in his first at-bat followed by a grand slam in his second. He stuck with the parent club in 2017 and broke the National League record for most home runs by a rookie switch hitter, finishing third in the league’s Rookie of the Year voting.
Last season with Washington, Bell became just the second player in Nationals franchise history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game.
This season, he ranks 11th in both slugging percentage (.559) and OPS (.954). During a seven-game stretch in April, he hit .318 with two doubles, two home runs, five walks, seven RBI, seven runs scored, a .444 on-base percentage and a 1.126 OPS.
Bell credits much of his success, including becoming a switch hitter, directly to his father.
“I think he saw somebody on TV and he was like, ‘My son could do that,'” Bell said. “We went into the backyard that day and he turned me around, changed my hands. The rest is history.”
That relationship inspired Bell to write a children’s book, “What Color is the Sky?,” a tribute to his father and the question he asked whenever Bell had a rough day or a bad game.
“Whenever I had a bad day growing up or a bad game, he asked me, ‘What color is the sky?'” Bell said. His father’s message was always the same: keep your head up.
“Obviously I’ve had my ups and downs, but I belong here,” Bell concluded. “I can play this game.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.