GaryMrMets
06-30-2004, 03:04 PM
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/sports/s062904b.html
Bell's offense just what Phillies need
PHILADELPHIA - So there was David Bell Monday, standing at third, waiting to see if one of the biggest individual accomplishments of his career might be taken away.
He'd hit a triple in the seventh, sliding into third easily ahead of the throw. It gave him a cycle on the night, a rare and special accomplishment for a hitter. But no one offered congratulations, and no announcement was made on the scoreboard, because Expos manager Frank Robinson was out there arguing that it shouldn't count.
Bell simply stood and waited it out. Phillies manager Larry Bowa watched with a slightly different eye, because if the umpires had taken the triple away, Bowa was prepared to go out and throw a pretty respectable fit.
"Oh, I'd have had to argue," Bowa said. "The way David runs? He's not going to have that chance too often."
But he did Monday, and Bell made it count. And in a 14-6 pounding of Montreal Monday that started off this Phillies homestand with a flourish, Bell wound up the biggest star on a big offensive night. He hit for the cycle, becoming just the seventh Phillie in history to do it. The Phillies have seen more no-hitters (nine) than cycles (eight).
"I didn't even realize what happened until I got to third," Bell said. "If I'd hit the triple earlier in the game, maybe I would have known. You're just trying to get hits and help the team win a game. But I'm happy about it; it's something that doesn't happen very often."
Or maybe it's not that rare; Bell's cycle is only the second in his own family. His grandfather, Gus, hit for the cycle in 1951 (his father, Buddy, never made it in an 18-year career). Both cycles by the Bell family came in Philadelphia - Gus did it for the Pirates, against the Phillies.
Bell doubled in the second inning, walked in the third and hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning. He added an RBI single in the sixth.
That left only the triple, and those have never quite been Bell's forte. He has just 13 career triples, and hadn't hit one since 2002.
But Bell hit a long drive to left-center, off the tricky angle the architects had the good sense to build into the confines of the Park, and went to third easy.
Except it hung in the balance for a few minutes while Robinson argued that a fan had interfered with the ball, making it a ground-rule double.
"I was just waiting to see what happened," Bell said. "I didn't know at first what they were talking about, but then I figured it out. I knew what he was doing. And I wanted them to get the call right.
"But obviously I wanted to stay at third."
Mostly, he just wanted to be on the field. Phillies fans simply never got to see this guy last year, when a back injury hobbled him and Bell limped to a .195 average in 297 at-bats.
This year, he's been relatively healthy (despite a few nagging bits here and there) and he's returned to being David Bell.
He's having a weirdly bad season defensively. Bell has always been a player with mediocre range at third base, but he's always caught everything (a career .960 fielding percentage at a position where .951 is the average). This season Bell leads the league in errors.
But most of those were early, and lately he's been his usual steady self. And with his bat coming around - Bell is hitting .308 since May 5 - Phillies fans are finally getting to see the guy this team had been hoping for.
"I'm glad I'm playing," Bell said. "I just want to be out there, playing."
The Phillies Monday began a 14-game homestand Monday, during which they'll need to make a move in the NL East race, a race they've been sharing inch-by-inch with the Marlins. And this was a nice start; the Phillies' pitching staff has struggled lately - even Kevin Millwood's second straight win was kind of ugly - and this team might need the offense to win a bunch of games in a slugfest.
"That's what we haven't done in a while," Bowa said. "The key is going to be the next three days. We've scored a lot of runs here and there, but we're not scoring consistently, and that's important - especially while our starters are struggling. Early on, they did a good job. That's how this game is - we've got to pick each other up."
The Phillies hopefully won't need to make history every night to score enough to put some distance on the Marlins. But they got it Monday.
Bell's offense just what Phillies need
PHILADELPHIA - So there was David Bell Monday, standing at third, waiting to see if one of the biggest individual accomplishments of his career might be taken away.
He'd hit a triple in the seventh, sliding into third easily ahead of the throw. It gave him a cycle on the night, a rare and special accomplishment for a hitter. But no one offered congratulations, and no announcement was made on the scoreboard, because Expos manager Frank Robinson was out there arguing that it shouldn't count.
Bell simply stood and waited it out. Phillies manager Larry Bowa watched with a slightly different eye, because if the umpires had taken the triple away, Bowa was prepared to go out and throw a pretty respectable fit.
"Oh, I'd have had to argue," Bowa said. "The way David runs? He's not going to have that chance too often."
But he did Monday, and Bell made it count. And in a 14-6 pounding of Montreal Monday that started off this Phillies homestand with a flourish, Bell wound up the biggest star on a big offensive night. He hit for the cycle, becoming just the seventh Phillie in history to do it. The Phillies have seen more no-hitters (nine) than cycles (eight).
"I didn't even realize what happened until I got to third," Bell said. "If I'd hit the triple earlier in the game, maybe I would have known. You're just trying to get hits and help the team win a game. But I'm happy about it; it's something that doesn't happen very often."
Or maybe it's not that rare; Bell's cycle is only the second in his own family. His grandfather, Gus, hit for the cycle in 1951 (his father, Buddy, never made it in an 18-year career). Both cycles by the Bell family came in Philadelphia - Gus did it for the Pirates, against the Phillies.
Bell doubled in the second inning, walked in the third and hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning. He added an RBI single in the sixth.
That left only the triple, and those have never quite been Bell's forte. He has just 13 career triples, and hadn't hit one since 2002.
But Bell hit a long drive to left-center, off the tricky angle the architects had the good sense to build into the confines of the Park, and went to third easy.
Except it hung in the balance for a few minutes while Robinson argued that a fan had interfered with the ball, making it a ground-rule double.
"I was just waiting to see what happened," Bell said. "I didn't know at first what they were talking about, but then I figured it out. I knew what he was doing. And I wanted them to get the call right.
"But obviously I wanted to stay at third."
Mostly, he just wanted to be on the field. Phillies fans simply never got to see this guy last year, when a back injury hobbled him and Bell limped to a .195 average in 297 at-bats.
This year, he's been relatively healthy (despite a few nagging bits here and there) and he's returned to being David Bell.
He's having a weirdly bad season defensively. Bell has always been a player with mediocre range at third base, but he's always caught everything (a career .960 fielding percentage at a position where .951 is the average). This season Bell leads the league in errors.
But most of those were early, and lately he's been his usual steady self. And with his bat coming around - Bell is hitting .308 since May 5 - Phillies fans are finally getting to see the guy this team had been hoping for.
"I'm glad I'm playing," Bell said. "I just want to be out there, playing."
The Phillies Monday began a 14-game homestand Monday, during which they'll need to make a move in the NL East race, a race they've been sharing inch-by-inch with the Marlins. And this was a nice start; the Phillies' pitching staff has struggled lately - even Kevin Millwood's second straight win was kind of ugly - and this team might need the offense to win a bunch of games in a slugfest.
"That's what we haven't done in a while," Bowa said. "The key is going to be the next three days. We've scored a lot of runs here and there, but we're not scoring consistently, and that's important - especially while our starters are struggling. Early on, they did a good job. That's how this game is - we've got to pick each other up."
The Phillies hopefully won't need to make history every night to score enough to put some distance on the Marlins. But they got it Monday.