Les Bell Stats

Les Bell was born on Saturday, December 14, 1901, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Bell was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 17, 1923, with the St. Louis Cardinals. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Les Bell baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I can see him yet, walking in from the leftfield bullpen through the gray mist. The Yankee fans recognized him right off, and you didn't hear a sound from anywhere in Yankee Stadium as they sat still and watched him. And he took his time. Grover Cleveland Alexander was never in a hurry, and especially not this day. It was the seventh inning of the seventh game of the (1926) World Series and we were leading 3-2. Alec had won two games for us already and he was coming in now to face a tough young hitter with two out and the bases loaded. I can still see him walking that long distance. He just came straggling along, a lean old Nebraskan, his face wrinkled, wearing a Cardinal sweater, his cap sitting on the top of his head and tilted to one side—that's the way he wore it." - Les Bell (Honig, Donald. Sports Illustrated. 9 October 1978.)

Les Bell

Les Bell Autograph on a 1979 Diamond Greats Baseball Card (#151)

Les Bell Autograph on a 1979 Diamond Greats Baseball Card (#151)

CareerCollegeAll-StarWild CardDivisionLCSWorld SeriesManagerTradesAwardsVideosCardsmlb   espn
Birth Name:   Lester Rowland Bell
Nickname:   Les
Born On:   12-14-1901  (Sagittarius)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Year of Death Data Died On:   12-26-1985 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Hershey, Pennsylvania
Cemetery:   East Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
High School:   Undetermined
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   5-11   Player Weight Chart Weight:   165
First Game:   09-17-1923 (Age 21)
Last Game:   09-27-1931
Draft:   Not Applicable

Les Bell

Les Bell Pitching Stats

- - Did Not Pitch - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Les Bell

Les Bell Hitting Stats

1923 22 Cardinals 15 51 5 19 2 1 0 0 9 9 0 7 0 0 0 4 .373 .467 .451
1924 23 Cardinals 17 57 5 14 3 2 1 0 5 3 0 7 1 0 1 3 .246 .295 .421
1925 24 Cardinals 153 586 80 167 29 9 11 0 88 43 0 47 10 0 0 9 .285 .334 .422
1926 25 Cardinals 155 581 85 189 33 14 17 0 100 54 1 62 31 0 0 6 .325 .383 .518
1927 26 Cardinals 115 390 48 101 26 6 9 1 65 34 2 63 13 0 1 29 .259 .320 .426
1928 27 Braves 153 591 58 164 36 7 10 1 91 40 1 45 25 0 0 13 .277 .323 .413
1929 28 Braves 139 483 58 144 23 5 9 1 72 50 1 42 20 0 0 7 .298 .364 .422
1930 29 Cubs 74 248 35 69 15 4 5 1 47 24 1 27 9 0 0 11 .278 .342 .431
1931 30 Cubs 75 252 30 71 17 1 4 0 32 19 1 22 1 0 0 9 .282 .332 .405
9 Years 896 3,239 404 938 184 49 66 4 509 276 7 322 110 0 2 91 .290 .346 .438

Les Bell

Les Bell Fielding Stats

1923 Cardinals SS 15 15 402 96 6.4 88 35 53 8 9 n/a n/a n/a .917 5.91
1924 Cardinals SS 17 15 390 95 5.6 86 44 42 9 8 n/a n/a n/a .905 5.95
1925 Cardinals 3B 153 153 3,974 471 3.1 435 151 284 36 39 n/a n/a n/a .924 2.96
1925 Cardinals SS 1 0 0 1 1.0 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1926 Cardinals 3B 155 155 4,166 441 2.8 419 165 254 22 25 n/a n/a n/a .950 2.72
1927 Cardinals 3B 100 93 2,431 251 2.5 227 85 142 24 13 n/a n/a n/a .904 2.52
1927 Cardinals SS 10 9 252 63 6.3 57 16 41 6 8 n/a n/a n/a .905 6.11
1928 Braves 3B 153 153 4,078 518 3.4 491 177 314 27 37 n/a n/a n/a .948 3.25
1929 Braves 2B 1 0 0 2 2.0 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1929 Braves 3B 127 127 3,282 320 2.5 305 107 198 15 15 n/a n/a n/a .953 2.51
1929 Braves SS 1 1 27 7 7.0 5 4 1 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .714 5.00
1930 Cubs 1B 2 2 54 21 10.5 21 18 3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 10.50
1930 Cubs 3B 70 59 1,571 174 2.5 165 63 102 9 14 n/a n/a n/a .948 2.84
1931 Cubs 3B 70 62 1,579 195 2.8 184 66 118 11 18 n/a n/a n/a .944 3.15
3B Totals 828 802 21,081 2,370 2.9 2,226 814 1,412 144 161 n/a n/a n/a .939 2.85
SS Totals 44 40 1,071 262 6.0 237 99 138 25 25 n/a n/a n/a .905 5.97
1B Totals 2 2 54 21 10.5 21 18 3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 10.50
2B Totals 1 0 0 2 2.0 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
9 Years 875 844 22,206 2,655 3.0 2,486 931 1,555 169 187 n/a n/a n/a .936 3.02

Les Bell

Les Bell Miscellaneous Stats

1923 Cardinals 1 0 1.000 0 0 n/a 0.0 7.3 5.7 - - -
1924 Cardinals 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 57.0 8.1 11.4 - - -
1925 Cardinals 4 5 .444 0 0 n/a 53.3 12.5 6.7 - - -
1926 Cardinals 9 10 .474 0 0 n/a 34.2 9.4 5.8 - - -
1927 Cardinals 5 6 .455 5 0 n/a 43.3 6.2 6.0 - - -
1928 Braves 1 7 .125 0 0 n/a 59.1 13.1 6.5 - - -
1929 Braves 4 4 .500 10 0 n/a 53.7 11.5 6.7 - - -
1930 Cubs 1 1 .500 2 0 n/a 49.6 9.2 5.3 - - -
1931 Cubs 0 2 .000 5 0 n/a 63.0 11.5 7.9 - - -
9 Years 25 35 .417 22 0 n/a 49.1 10.1 6.4 - - -

Les Bell

Les Bell Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1923 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $2,400.00 n/a -
1924 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $2,700.00 n/a -
1925 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $4,125.00 n/a -
1926 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $5,000.00 n/a Stats
1927 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $6,250.00 n/a -
1928 Boston Braves n/a $7,500.00 n/a -
1929 Boston Braves n/a $8,000.00 n/a -
1930 Chicago Cubs n/a $10,000.00 n/a -
1931 Chicago Cubs n/a $11,000.00 n/a -

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Lester Rowland Bell was a Major League Baseball player with the St. Louis Cardinals (1923-1927), Boston Braves (1928-1929), and Chicago Cubs (1930-1931). Les, his nickname, played in a National League leading 153 games during his first full season (1925)! Other senior circuit players who also took the field in 153 games that season were; Jim Bottomley, Eddie Brown, Kiki Cuyler, and Glenn Wright. A couple years earlier, Bottomley left a permanent impression on Bell:

"I'll never forget my first big league game. The club wasn't going anywhere, so they loaded the lineup with kids, me at short, another fellow at first, and so on. The first ball that was hit down to me I picked up cleanly and threw with everything I had. Listen, I had a strong arm. I sure did. I think I must have broken a seat ten or fifteen rows behind first base with that throw. A couple of innings later I had my second chance. This time that ball really flew, and I must have broken a seat twenty rows behind first base. When I came into the dugout after that inning, I was feeling pretty blue. Who sits down next to me but the regular first baseman, Jim Bottomley. All he did that year was hit .371. Jim put his arm around me and said, 'Now kid, Old Jim will be out there tomorrow playing first base. So when you throw the ball, just throw it in the direction of the base, and Old Jim will get it.' That made me feel better, but I got to laugh now when I think about it." Source: Golenbock, Peter. The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns. Harper Collins Publishers. 10 April 2001.

Les Bell hit sixty-six home runs, off forty-nine different pitchers, in eight different ballparks. Pat Crawford, on May 26, 1929, hit a pinch hit grand slam in the sixth inning. Why mention that here? Because Bell, in the seventh inning, also hit a pinch hit grand slam, off future hall of fame twirler Carl Hubbell, making this the first Major League Baseball game where two pinch hit grand slams were hit!

Did you know that Les Bell started at third base in all seven games of the 1926 World Series, collected seven hits, drove in six runs, and scored four times? The Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees 4-3, earning their first ever World Series championship (and first National League pennant)!