Cool Papa Bell

HandednessBats Switch · Throws Left

Listed at6 ft 0 in · 155 lb

BornMay 17, 1903 · Starkville, MS, USA

Final gameNovember 7, 1948

Seasons21 (1922–1946)

St. Louis Stars 1922–1928; Chicago American Giants 1929; St. Louis Stars 1929–1931; Detroit Wolves 1932; Homestead Grays 1932; Kansas City Monarchs 1932; Pittsburgh Crawfords 1932–1937; Chicago American Giants 1942; Homestead Grays 1943–1946

Percentile snapshot

1945 season — qualified batters

217

23.4

179

17.1

24.3

16.2

13.5

6.3

17.1

RBI

15.3

39.6

76.6

79.3

35.1

.279

51.4

OBP

.400

88.3

SLG

.341

24.3

OPS

.741

48.6

wRC+

115.2

57.7

OPS+

108.6

46.8

wOBA

.369

67.6

sWAR

1.0

33.3

of 112 qualified 1945 batters (min 142 PA)

1923 season — qualified pitchers

37.1

34.8

53.8

59.1

41.7

SHO

180

54.5

71.2

59.8

31.8

153.7

37.9

ERA

4.51

18.9

WHIP

1.393

44.7

K/9

3.87

FIP

3.99

45.5

FIP-

90.8

ERA+

97.5

33.3

sWAR

1.5

39.4

of 133 qualified 1923 pitchers (min 72 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

wRC+

124.8

85.7

OPS+

127.1

87.9

sWAR

40.7

wRC+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; OPS+ measured against qualified careers (3,000+ PA), 2,078 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1922	18	43	40	6	15	3	1	1	5	0	1	0	0	.375	.405	.575	.980	149.3	160.8	.440	1.2
1923	49	121	108	24	26	5	1	2	17	7	0	1	0	.241	.287	.361	.648	69.7	68.1	.299	1.5
1924	65	276	242	52	73	12	3	1	33	20	1	12	0	.302	.355	.388	.743	102.7	103.6	.352	1.6
1925	87	418	380	94	132	33	6	10	58	30	0	30	0	.347	.395	.545	.940	140.9	149.9	.419	3.8
1926	91	448	386	107	129	27	7	12	58	48	4	36	0	.334	.413	.534	.947	137.0	142.3	.428	3.8
1927	97	465	419	89	131	23	5	5	36	33	0	25	0	.313	.364	.427	.791	111.8	112.5	.365	2.4
1928	79	378	338	81	112	21	6	6	41	32	1	19	0	.331	.391	.482	.873	133.7	137.0	.399	3.1
1929	97	447	392	98	125	24	5	3	39	45	1	48	1	.319	.392	.429	.820	114.2	114.0	.379	2.6
1930	80	386	345	107	123	20	8	9	54	36	3	15	0	.357	.420	.539	.959	146.7	153.6	.433	3.9
1931	33	157	132	46	38	7	2	1	18	24	0	16	0	.288	.397	.394	.791	121.7	120.7	.386	1.0
1932	57	255	224	61	79	14	9	0	31	24	2	15	0	.353	.422	.496	.918	142.2	147.9	.429	2.5
1933	74	335	300	64	91	12	4	2	28	28	0	16	0	.303	.365	.390	.755	107.4	106.6	.348	1.6
1934	69	313	272	52	89	10	3	1	28	34	3	14	0	.327	.404	.397	.801	125.0	125.0	.385	2.3
1935	49	234	197	68	68	14	6	2	30	31	2	12	0	.345	.434	.508	.942	133.3	136.8	.428	1.8
1936	41	186	165	39	48	4	2	1	20	17	0	6	0	.291	.357	.358	.715	86.8	83.0	.338	0.3
1937	8	39	36	9	13	2	0	2	7	3	0	1	0	.361	.410	.583	.994	143.6	152.8	.438	0.4
1942	39	171	141	24	44	7	3	0	11	27	1	4	0	.312	.420	.404	.824	144.8	146.0	.396	1.4
1943	65	307	263	63	92	12	5	0	29	39	1	12	0	.350	.434	.433	.867	129.1	131.9	.419	2.0
1944	52	250	213	43	66	9	3	1	27	30	0	4	0	.310	.398	.394	.792	113.9	112.6	.379	1.1
1945	48	217	179	38	50	6	1	1	20	35	1	10	0	.279	.400	.341	.741	115.2	108.6	.369	1.0
1946	39	139	121	23	48	5	2	0	16	16	0	6	0	.397	.467	.471	.938	156.5	162.2	.450	1.3

Pitching

Season	G	GS	W	L	CG	SHO	H	ER	BB	SO	HR	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	FIP	FIP-	ERA+	sWAR
1922	16	12	7	7	9	1	118	63	40	63	6	113.0	5.02	1.398	5.02	4.68	100.0	93.3	1.2
1923	25	14	11	7	9	0	180	77	34	66	9	153.7	4.51	1.393	3.87	3.99	90.8	97.5	1.5
1924	6	4	2	1	3	0	37	17	19	17	2	40.0	3.83	1.400	3.83	4.96	115.8	111.9	1.6
1929	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	2.0	9.00	2.000	0.00	5.06	112.0	50.2	2.6

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

1,237

5,585

4,893

1,188

197th-most career R

1,592

270

264th-most career 3B

RBI

606

559

302

171st-most career SB

.3254

51st-highest career batting average

OBP

.3966

82nd-highest career on-base percentage

SLG

.4508

475th-highest career slugging percentage

OPS

.8474

207th-highest career OPS

Pitching

G (P)

SHO

309

SO (P)

146

BB allowed

ERA

4.636

WHIP

1.3996

K/9

4.26

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.