To me, Jay Bell will always be that shortstop for the Pirates who was pretty good. I had actually completely forgotten about his time in Arizona where he turned into a slugger somehow. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he's probably the only player in history who had 35+ sacrifice hits in a season and also another season with 35+ homers. Jay had some accomplishments to be sure. He was a two time All-Star, he won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in '93, he even won a title in Arizona. I mean, he had a good career and all... But I can't even begin to make an argument for Jay in the Hall of Fame and I'm not known for my exacting standards. Look at the stats:
Hits: 1963
Runs: 1123
RBIs: 860
Career Batting Average: .265
Career OPS+: 101
Sorry, I can't vote for that. Jay was a good shortstop, one of the better in the league during his era, but he's not one of the All-Timers. I'll bet Jay gets a vote or two from a friendly sportswriter in Pittsburgh or Arizona.
Prediction: At least one Pittsburgh beat writer owes him money. Jay gets a vote.
This card: 1995 Score Select Certified Mirror Gold
Rookie Cards: 1988 Donruss, Fleer and Topps.
4 comments:
If Jay Bell wants to get into the Hall of Fame, he should have to buy a ticket like the rest of us slobs.
Jay Bell is the only guy to pull off 35 SH/35 HR seasons (Bert Campaneris had 22 homers to go with his 35+ SH). If you're the only guy ever to do something in the history of the major leagues, that should merit inclusion in the Hall of Fame, right? :)
I had no idea Bell racked up 1900 hits. still short on HOF numbers. the 35/35 stat is an extreme oddity. two very disparite stats.
Jay Bell came through the Indians farm system. He is in the 1986 ProCards Waterbury Indians set and the 1987 Flower City Buffalo Bisons set.
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