Cool Papa Bell
1924–1948 · bats B / throws L · ASE, ASW, BCG, Birmingham Black Barons, Chicago American Giants, DTW, Homestead Grays, Kansas City Monarchs
428G
.334AVG
.405OBP
.419SLG
More career statistics
544H
12HR
89RBI
82SB
7Rare feats
Recorded totals from Retrosheet, including regular-season tiebreakers. These are sums of available game records, not a claim to a complete official MLB career. Historical Negro League coverage can include games outside MLB’s recognized 1920–1948 window. Sources and coverage.
Career batting
| G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | HBP | SF | TB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 428 | 1,838 | 1,629 | 385 | 544 | 65 | 19 | 12 | 89 | 191 | 21 | 82 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 683 | .334 | .405 | .419 | .824 |
Streaks
21longest hitting streak · 1924-04-27 to 1933-06-07
24longest on-base streak
The three rarest things in this career
| Rarity | What | Date | Rate | Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | Six-Hit Game | 1935-08-24 | 1 in 1,644 games | box score ↗ |
| 64 | Four-Steal Game | 1945-07-12 | 1 in 894 games | box score ↗ |
| 61 | Five Runs Scored | 1935-07-21 | 1 in 688 games | box score ↗ |
Splits
Regular season only.
Home and away
| G | PA | H | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 246 | 1036 | 327 | 9 | 65 | 114 | 14 | .359 | .426 | .459 |
| Away | 182 | 802 | 217 | 3 | 24 | 77 | 7 | .302 | .367 | .369 |
By month
| G | PA | H | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 4 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .353 | .333 |
| May | 97 | 423 | 122 | 5 | 20 | 36 | 8 | .317 | .374 | .436 |
| June | 95 | 399 | 107 | 0 | 17 | 57 | 3 | .317 | .411 | .379 |
| July | 119 | 508 | 141 | 4 | 24 | 58 | 4 | .317 | .392 | .393 |
| August | 74 | 315 | 111 | 0 | 21 | 18 | 6 | .379 | .410 | .451 |
| September | 30 | 134 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 0 | .350 | .425 | .427 |
| October | 8 | 37 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .484 | .541 | .645 |
| 12 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .400 | .400 | 1.000 |
Most-faced opponents
| G | PA | H | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| philadelphia-stars | 83 | 370 | 104 | 0 | 13 | 31 | 5 | .307 | .365 | .345 |
| chicago-american-giants | 47 | 223 | 68 | 2 | 8 | 17 | 5 | .333 | .381 | .471 |
| new-york-cubans | 43 | 171 | 46 | 1 | 9 | 21 | 5 | .315 | .392 | .370 |
| newark-eagles | 42 | 147 | 50 | 2 | 11 | 25 | 0 | .417 | .510 | .533 |
| baltimore-elite-giants | 42 | 189 | 57 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 3 | .337 | .381 | .444 |
| homestead-grays | 22 | 102 | 31 | 3 | 9 | 14 | 1 | .352 | .441 | .500 |
| WEG | 22 | 84 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | .312 | .333 | .375 |
| NSH | 18 | 78 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | .319 | .346 | .391 |
Season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | H | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | IP | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | SSN | 1 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 1 | .500 | – | – |
| 1925 | SSN | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | .250 | – | – |
| 1927 | SSN | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | – | .333 | – | – |
| 1928 | SSN | 1 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 2 | .200 | – | – |
| 1929 | SSN | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1933 | PRG, Pittsburgh Crawfords | 70 | 283 | 93 | 4 | 11 | 18 | .329 | – | – |
| 1934 | PCPittsburgh Crawfords | 57 | 237 | 78 | 1 | 6 | 11 | .329 | – | – |
| 1935 | NAS, Pittsburgh Crawfords | 53 | 219 | 69 | 2 | 14 | 15 | .315 | – | – |
| 1936 | NNS, Pittsburgh Crawfords | 50 | 200 | 60 | 1 | 4 | 9 | .300 | – | – |
| 1937 | PCPittsburgh Crawfords | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | .429 | – | – |
| 1942 | CGChicago American Giants | 26 | 84 | 26 | – | 1 | 3 | .310 | – | – |
| 1943 |  Homestead Grays | 41 | 159 | 59 | – | 15 | 9 | .371 | – | – |
| 1944 | Birmingham Black Barons, Homestead Grays | 51 | 195 | 70 | 1 | 20 | 1 | .359 | – | – |
| 1945 | Homestead Grays | 37 | 127 | 40 | 2 | 8 | 8 | .315 | – | – |
| 1946 | Homestead Grays | 35 | 102 | 41 | – | 7 | 5 | .402 | – | – |