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.
