“Cool Papa was so fast, he hit a line drive up the middle and the ball hit him in the head when he slid into second base.”
You will never read or hear a better line about any baseball player ever.
(Note: I meant to post this yesterday but as is typical of late, I got sidetracked by real life responsibilities.)
Baseball Hall of Famer and legend James “Cool Papa” Bell passed away 33 years ago yesterday. As I recently finished re-reading Lonnie Wheeler’s phenomenal biography on Bell – “The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell” – I was going to post a mini-review anyway, so even though it’s day late, here goes it…
Generally, I’m not big on biographies, but I really enjoyed this one. One of the best aspects of a biography on any Negro League player is that you don’t learn only about the player – you learn a lot (and I mean a lot) about the Negro Leagues in comparison to the AL and NL, and therefore, a lot about American history. And at the risk of being officious, we all – me included – still have much to learn about all the above.
As far as Bell the player is concerned, I came away thinking of him as a better version of peak Willie Wilson: An elite baserunner*, a great defender at a prime position, who was a better than average hitter, and a switch hitter at that.
(*Only Rickey Henderson generated more runs from baserunning in his career than Willie Wilson, according to Baseball Reference.)
For those of you who may not realize, Wilson went a four season stretch in which he averaged 7.4 bWAR per 162 games (adjusted due to the strike shortened ’81 season), won two Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove, and a batting title. Bell was likely better than that, and for a much longer period of time. And according to Wheeler, folks who had seen the players involved agreed that Bell was both faster and a better baserunner than Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby.
In fact, from age 40 through 43 and even with clearly diminished speed, Bell averaged 3.6 bWAR per 162 games before calling it quits. For perspective, only one player since integration – Luke Appling – produced more than 13 bWAR from their age 40-43 seasons. Rickey Henderson, who somehow managed to post a .384 OBP in his age 40-43 seasons, averaged 1.3 bWAR over that span.
Again, we all know he was clearly an all-time great as a player. Yet it was his time with other all-time Negro League greats – Satchell Paige, Josh Gibson, and Willie wells, among many others – and his on and off field interactions with AL and NL players, that really make this book a quick and entertaining, yet very important education for us.
Check it out here and let me know what you think.
Did I miss something? Let me know. Leave a comment below or yell at me @mybaseballpage1 on Twitter and/or the “My Baseball Page” on Facebook.
Buy me a coffee?
If you like the blog and would like to see more of it, feel free to buy me a coffee – I prefer the bougee stuff, but I’ll take a Wawa if you’re buying. It may not seem like much, but every little bit helps keep the blog rolling – thanks in advance!
$1.98
mybaseballpage.com 