Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 23 of the 2008 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 5 week of May.
May 29
1959 Gus Bell goes 5-for-5, including three consecutive home runs, helping the Reds beat the Cubs, 10-4.
David Russell Bell, Jr., nicknamed “Gus,” was born November 15, 1928 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Bell’s parents so admired catcher Gus Mancuso they nicknamed their son Gus, but instead of a catcher, he became a power-hitting outfielder.
Bell was one of the most feared hitters throughout the 1950s and was a highly ranked outfielder as well. He provided a one-two punch along with Ralph Kiner for the Pirates.
Bell was hitting .400 at Indianapolis when he was called up to the Pirates in 1950, joining Kiner in the Bucs’ outfield.
After two strong seasons, he spent part of 1952 back in the minors because of a dispute with the Pirate front office; he had wanted his family to travel with him, including his son Buddy, who later became an outstanding Major League third baseman.
Traded in 1953 to Cincinnati, Bell hit a career-high 30 homers. He had his best years with the Reds from 1953 through 1961, four times topping 100 Runs Batted In.
Bell played nine of his 15 seasons with Cincinnati and was the oldest member of a rare three-generation major league family. His son, Buddy, is a former third baseman, coach and manager, and his grandsons, David and Mike, are a pair of infielders.
A four-time All-Star selection, Bell enjoyed his best seasons in 1953, when he hit .300 with 30 home runs and 105 Runs Batted In, and 1955, recording a .308 batting average, with 27 home runs, 104 Runs Batted In. Four times, he knocked in more than 100 runs in a season and hit 103 home runs.
On May 29, 1956 Bell hit three home runs in consecutive at-bats. Bell, Ted Kluszewski and Bob Thurman became the second trio of teammates with a 3-Home Run game in the same season, tying a major league single-season record with Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Tommy Brown of the 1950 Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1987 Cory Snyder, Joe Carter and Brook Jacoby of the Cleveland Indians matched the feat.
In the 1957 All-Star voting, Cincinnati fans sent in so many ballots they succeeded in having seven Reds named to the starting lineup. Commissioner Ford Frick removed Bell and Wally Post as starters, but Manager Walter Alston named Bell to the squad as a reserve while Post was taken off of the squad altogether. Bell and Post were replaced as starters by Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Bell entered the game as a pinch hitter for Robinson in the seventh and drove in both Mays and Bailey with a single against Early Wynn
Selected by the Mets in the expansion draft, Bell was the starting right fielder in the Mets’ inaugural game on April 11, 1962. He was also was their first base runner after hitting a single in the second inning of an 11-4 loss to St.Louis.
On June 4, 1951 Gus Bell hit for the cycle. Twenty three years later, on June 28, 2004, grandson David Bell hit for the cycle in a Phillies 14-6 win over the Expos. They are the only grandfather-grandson duo in major league history to accomplish that feat.
In a 15-year career, Bell was a .281 hitter with 206 home runs and 942 Runs Batted In in 1741 games.
Every year, a Celebrity Golf Tournament is held in Gus Bell’s honor. Proceeds benefit the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. Gus’ granddaughter Traci, to whom he was very close, has Down Syndrome.
Gus Bell died on May 7th 1995 at the age of 66 in Montgomery, Ohio,.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: L
launching pad
1. A ballpark from which many home runs emanate. After the Baltimore Orioles set a single-month home run hitting record in May 1987, coach Frank Robinson said of Memorial Stadium: “It’s a launching pad”. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium long enjoyed the nickname “The Launching Pad.” The term has also been applied to Wrigley Field in Chicago and Coors Field in Denver.
2. The pitcher’s mound.
And now for the ninth inning…
Continuing our trip around baseball cities…
This segment comes to you compliments of listener Ralph Carhart.
Thank you Ralph, and as promised “You get the credit.”
For those of you that want to stick around, here’s an
Extra Inning
If you would like to a part of Baseball History Podcast, submit your written contribution for the tour segment. I will only be doing the tour when one is sent in by a listener. You can do the segment on any stadium or team; past or present; Minor League, Major League, Negro League or any league outside of the US. Write about 1 page in a conversational tone, send it to me, I will record it, and you will get the credit.
You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com. You can leave a voice mail at: 206-888-6506. If you need more baseball, I invite you to check out Just Baseball at justbaseballpodcast.com. Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
TWIBH- Gus
Bell
Dictionary- Launching
Pad
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