Ralph Albert "Lefty" Bell (November 16, 1890 – October 18, 1959) was a professional

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from 1909 to 1916."Ralph Bell Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2011. He appeared in three

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

games for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

in 1912. Bell was 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighed 170 pounds."Ralph Bell Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2011.

Career

Bell was born in

Argyle, Iowa Argyle is an unincorporated community in southwestern Lee County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 91. It lies along the concurrent Iowa Highways 27 and 394 southwest of the city of Fort Madison, the county sea ...

, in 1890. With his family, he moved to nearby Kahoka, in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, in his childhood. He started his professional baseball career in 1909. That season, he pitched for two minor league teams and won nine games for each. He was then purchased by the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and went to spring training with them in early 1910, but he was unable to make the team for the regular season. Instead, Bell spent the 1910 season with the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

's Joplin Miners. In 33 games for Joplin, he went 21-7 and led the league in wins. The Miners finished the season in first place with a record of 90-34 and is considered one of the greatest minor league teams of all time. The following season, Bell pitched for the

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. The Central Association began play in 1908, evolving from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association played continuously through 1917 before folding. The league reforme ...

's Burlington Pathfinders and won 21 games again. After starting 1912 with a record of 12–8, he was purchased by the Chicago White Sox of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. He made three relief appearances for the White Sox in July and allowed six earned runs in six innings. He then returned to the minors. In 1913, while playing for the Northern League's Winona Pirates, Bell set a career-high in wins, with 28. No other pitcher in the league had more than 20. He played for Winona again in 1914 and won 15. He then joined the Northern League's Fargo-Moorhead Graingrowers, and in 1915 he went 22–13 to lead his league in wins for the third and final time."1915 Northern League Pitching Leaders"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2011. Bell's professional baseball career ended after the 1916 season. Overall, he went 156–90 in the minor leagues for a career .634

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

. Bell died in

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Burlington ...

, in 1959.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ralph 1890 births 1959 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago White Sox players Springfield Senators players Pittsburg Pirates players Joplin Miners players Burlington Pathfinders players St. Joseph Drummers players Winona Pirates players Fargo-Moorhead Graingrowers players Baseball players from Iowa Baseball players from Missouri Sportspeople from Lee County, Iowa People from Kahoka, Missouri 20th-century American sportsmen