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Wilbur Gary Bell
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher
Born: November 17, 1936, San Antonio, TX
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1955 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1958-1967; Boston Red Sox 1967-1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Chicago White Sox 1969
Pitching as a starter, a reliever and an occasional closer, Gary Bell was a four-time All-Star over 12 major league seasons. Arm problems hampered him early in his career, but Bell was a 16-game winner in 1959 and made his first two All-Star teams in 1960. Serving as the Indians' closer in 1965, he converted a career-high 16 saves. His best season came in 1966 when he was 14-15 with a 3.22 ERA for the Indians in 40 games, including 37 starts. He pitched a career best 254 1/3 innings that season and made his third All-Star team. After a decade in Cleveland, Bell was dealt to the Red Sox in June 1967 to help with their pennant hopes. When the Impossible Dream team improbably clinched the American League pennant, Bell appeared in three World Series games, starting Game 3 against the Cardinals' Nelson Briles (#431). The Cardinals would prevail in seven games.
Bell made his final All-Star team in 1968 with the Red Sox and was selected by the Pilots following the season in the expansion draft. He'd play one last season in 1969 with the Pilots and White Sox. Bell earned a career record of 121-117 over 519 games, with a 3.68 ERA and 50 saves.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #438
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
The Card / Indians Team Set
Given his status as a veteran pitcher, there isn't much room on the back of his card for anything other than statistics. At first glance, I thought the shirt worn by the cartoon version of Bell said "Muscle," but I quickly realized it actually said "Mobile," the team Bell pitched for in 1957.
1965 Season
No Indians pitcher appeared in more games than Bell, who entered 60 games, all in relief, and threw 103 2/3 innings. Bell saved 16 games as the team's closer, and he was 6-5 overall with a 3.04 ERA. He hit his first and last career home run on May 23rd off the Red Sox' Jim Lonborg (#573).
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #327
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1959-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #213
62 - Bell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #438
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Bell card which was a little less than $4 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
In the middle of all of this, Doug won one of the day's door prizes, which turned out to be an Eagles Super Bowl canvas print. He was thrilled to win, but slightly disappointed the prize wasn't baseball related as neither of us are big football fans.
The Card / Indians Team Set
Given his status as a veteran pitcher, there isn't much room on the back of his card for anything other than statistics. At first glance, I thought the shirt worn by the cartoon version of Bell said "Muscle," but I quickly realized it actually said "Mobile," the team Bell pitched for in 1957.
1965 Season
No Indians pitcher appeared in more games than Bell, who entered 60 games, all in relief, and threw 103 2/3 innings. Bell saved 16 games as the team's closer, and he was 6-5 overall with a 3.04 ERA. He hit his first and last career home run on May 23rd off the Red Sox' Jim Lonborg (#573).
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First Mainstream Card: 1959 Topps #327
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1959-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1989 Pacific Legends II #213
62 - Bell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #423 Jesse Gonder - New York Mets
Previous Card: #423 Jesse Gonder - New York Mets
Next Card: #425 Wayne Causey - Kansas City Athletics
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