Cool Papa Bell

Hall of Fame

Center Field

1922—1946

cool-papa-bell
Player LeveL
Legend
Top 100 Rank
NR
Center Field RANK
#21

Player Detail

James Thomas
GIVEN NAME
Bell
SURNAME
May 17, 1903, in Starkville, MS
BORN
March 7, 1991, in St. Louis, MO, USA
DIED
1922—1946
Playing Career
Played from 19-43
PLAYING AGE
St. Louis Stars
Chicago American Giants
Detroit Wolves
Homestead Grays
Pittsburgh Crawfords
Teams Played For
Center Field
PRIMARY POSITION
Pittsburgh Crawfords
PRIMARY TEAM
NONE
World Series titles
Cool
NICKNAME
NA
UNIFORM NUMBER
#1 IN LINEUP
BATTING ORDER
6-0 / 155
HEIGHT / WEIGHT
Both / Left
BATTED / THREW
1922
Major League Debut
1946
FINAL GAME

WHO IS Cool Papa Bell?

Cool Papa Bell was so fast, according to roommate Satchel Paige, that he could turn out the light and be in bed before the room got dark. Bell hit a reported .338 for his career and claimed he once stole 175 bases in a year when he played 200 games.

70

HITTING

50

POWER

80

RUNNING

70

FIELDING

50

THROWING
20 = NOT MLB CALIBER
30 = WELL BELOW AVG
40 = Below Average
50 = MLB AVERAGE
60 = ABOVE AVG
70 = EXCELLENT
80 = RARE, ELITE
In 1947 the Browns offered Cool Papa Bell a contract to play when he was 47 years old, but the former outfielder declined.

Career Stats

GAMES HITS HR RBI AVG
1199
1546
57
595
.331
8 ALL-STAR SELECTIONS

Teammate Team

CATCHER:
First Base:
Second Base:
Shortstop:
Third Base:
Left Field:
Center Field:
Right Field:
Pitcher:
pitcher:
manager:

BEST SEASON

1926 St. Louis Stars

23 Years Old

..334
AVG
12
HR
58
RBI
107
RUNS
..413
OBP
129
HITS
27
2B
7
3B
..534
SLG
48
BB
36
SB
3.0
WAR
Had several seasons of similar value: Bell was a consistent performer.

SLASH LINE

AVG OBP SLG
.331
.401
.461

FOR THE TRADITIONALISTS.

VERSUS HIS PEERS

OPS LG OPS COMP
.862
NA
UNK

PLAYER OPS COMPARED TO AVERAGE PLAYER AT HIS POSITION IN HIS LEAGUE AND ERA. OPS = ON-BASE + SLUGGING.

Hall of Fame Worthy?

JAWS JAWS BY HOFER
NR
60.2

PLAYER JAWS COMPARED TO HOF PLAYER AT HIS POSITION. JAWS = AVERAGE OF CAREER WAR & WAR7.

One Degree Of Separation

“Jimmy” Bell was originally a pitcher, and after he struck out Oscar Charleston (then the most feared batter in the negro leagues), he was called “Cool” for his feat. Bell added “Papa” to the nickname and no one called him Jimmy much after that.

Cool Papa Bell Per Season

PER 600 PLATE APPEARANCES COMPARED TO Contemporaries AT HIS POSITION

AB H R 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB TB TRB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Bell
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
.331
.401
.461
862
AVG CF

Cool Papa Bell Rankings

AT Center Field BY THESE SOURCES

BASEBALL EGG HALL OF STATS BASEBALL SCHOLAR JAWS BILL JAMES
21
NR
NR
NR
NR
Updated THRU 2021
Updated THRU 2021
UPDATED THRU 2021
Updated THRU 2021
UPDATED THRU 2020

AT Center Field BY VALUE

CAREER LONG PEAK PRIME SHORT PEAK
NR
NR
NR
NR
CAREER WAR
WAR7
WAR 5 CONSECUTIVE
WAR3

Cool Papa Bell PLAYER VALUE

WAR COMPARED TO AVERAGE HALL OF FAMER AT HIS POSITION

CAREER WAR7 WAR5C WAR3 WAR PER SN
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
74.6
45.7
33.5
22.8
5.28
BLUE = Cool Papa Bell
GRAY = AVERAGE HALL OF FAME CF

WIN SHARES COMPARED TO AVERAGE HALL OF FAMER AT HIS POSITION

CAREER WIN SHARES 7 WIN SHARES 5C WIN SHARES 3 WS PER SN
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
UNK
373.6
214.5
156.7
102.8
28.1
BLUE = Cool Papa Bell
GRAY = AVERAGE HALL OF FAME CF

— Explanation of Advanced Statistics —

Wins Above Replacement is a non-standardized sabermetric statistic developed to sum up a player’s total contributions to his team. A player’s WAR value is claimed to be the number of additional wins his team has achieved above the number of expected team wins if that player were substituted with a replacement-level player:

A player’s best seven seasons according to his Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Also called LONG PEAK.

A player’s best five consecutive seasons according to his Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Also called PLAYER PRIME.

A player’s best three seasons according to his Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Also called SHORT PEAK.

A player’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) per season (calculated for 162 games).

Advanced statistical method devised by Bill James. A Win Share represents one-third of a team win, by definition, and takes into account defense, offense, baserunning, park effects, and level of competition, era, and many other factors.

A player’s best seven seasons according to his Win Shares. A measure of LONG PEAK.

A player’s best five consecutive seasons according to his Win Shares. A measure of a player’s PRIME.

A player’s best three seasons according to his Win Shares. A measure of a player’s SHORT PEAK.

A player’s Win Shares per season (calculated for 162 games).

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x