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Cool Papa Bell


2004 National Baseball Hall of Fame Postcard (butchered by my stupid scanner - Grrr!).
Continuing with my National Baseball Hall of Fame collection...

A great quote from the National Baseball Hall of Fame website regarding James "Cool Papa" Bell: “One time he hit a line drive right past my ear. I turned around and saw the ball hit him sliding into second.” -Satchel Paige. Paige also said that Cool Papa was so fast he could flip the light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. I love these things about baseball.

Bell played in the Negro Leagues from 1922-46, and was elected to the National Baseball HOF in 1974. He is regarded as one of the best switch-hitters in history.

According to The Baseball Card Database, this is 1980-87 SSPC HOF Baseball Immortals Card # 141.

1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars #3. Love this photo.

1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars #90.

1987 Leaf Special Olympics #H12.

1993 Ted Williams #97.

1994 Upper Deck Ken Burns Baseball #49.

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game #64.

2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers #40.

2017 Kreindler Postcard #23, Set 1368 of 2020.

Susan Rini postcard, Series 1, card #7.
Like so many other Negro league players, there are very few statistics because the league was not well covered in the press. He was the fifth Negro league player inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Be well,

CinciCuse Bill
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Comments

  1. FujiMay 6, 2020 at 10:51 AM

    He's one of those guys whose career spanned four decades. Very cool. The 1987 Leaf Special Olympics card is my favorite. It'd be cool if there are any signed copies of this card out there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brett AlanMay 6, 2020 at 10:55 AM

    Buck O'Neil was frequently asked how fast Bell really was. He would invariably answer "faster than that." Which I've always taken to mean "whatever story you were thinking of, however fast you imagine him being...he was faster."

    ReplyDelete

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