If his only claim to fame had been giving a young pitching prospect named James Bell his nickname, “Cool Papa,” he would have perhaps been the answer to a baseball history trivia question. Baseball Player Born in Mississippi #4. Bell began as a pitcher for the St. Louis Stars in the Negro National League at the age of 19 and earned the nickname “Cool” when he struck out legendary Oscar Charleston; Bell’s manager added “Papa.”In 1924 he was moved to centre field. A month later Bell himself was hospitalized after a heart attack, and he died in St. Louis on 7 March 1991. We’re coming up on the 100th anniversary of Bell’s first pro game in 1922. But he did remark that major league owners were lying when they used to say " 'If we find a good black player, we'll sign him.' Negro league players Satche… He was the fifth Negro league player inducted into the Hall of Fame. James (Cool Papa) Bell, the sharp-eyed batter and blazing base runner who was widely regarded as the fastest man ever to play baseball, died Thursday night in … Mr. Claire, a resident of Gaithersburg, was born in Northampton, Mass. Paige used to regale audiences about the time Bell made an out at second by running into his own line drive, or about Bell's ability to flip the light switch at his bedroom door and be under the covers across the room before the light went out. James "Cool Papa" Bell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on February 13, 1974 by the Special Committee on the Negro Leagues. In his autobiography, "Maybe I'll Pitch Forever," Paige wrote: "If Cool Papa had known about colleges or if colleges had known about Cool Papa, Jesse Owens would have looked like he was walking. Thomas A. Claire, 60, a retired assistant postmaster for the U.S. House of Representatives, died of cancer March 6 at Suburban Hospital. His Hall of Fame plaque says that he "combined speed, daring and batting skill to rank among best players in Negro Leagues. Statistics Pieced Together. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Hall of Fame Negro League Baseball Player. He had served on the surgical staff of Fauquier Hospital. So he moved to the outfield. Instead, he worked as a janitor and then a watchman at City Hall in St. Louis until retiring again in 1973. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Contemporaries rated him fastest man on basepaths.". 80 The couple was survived by their only daughter, Connie Brooks. James "Cool Papa" Bell, 87, one of the greatest baseball players ever to take the field though his 29 years in the game never included a season in either major league, died … "Talking about fast." You Die Young!" How did Cool Papa Bell die? Survivors include his wife, May R. Leisinger, whom he married in 1937, of Washington; two sons, Albert M. Leisinger of Newtonville, Mass., and Robert W. Leisinger of Washington; a sister, Selma Hanslick of Bryn Mawr, Pa.; and three grandchildren. The record of Bell's career is based on a reconstruction of statistics covering his 20 Negro leagues seasons and omitting his five full Latin American seasons and extensive winter league play. The man they called Cool Papa earned his nickname almost 70 years ago. They swept the tournament in seven games to win the $5,000 prize, with Paige winning three of them. His Hall of Fame plaque highlights the fact that Bell's contemporaries regarded him as the fastest runner on the base paths. (Voted by Negro League Committee) View Cool Papa Bell's Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos). He held that post for eight years, and during that time he conducted seminars on archives in Africa, Latin America, Malaysia and Thailand. In 1982 a 200-seat auditorium named for him was built as an addition to Arlington Hospital. He spent his career in the Negro Leagues and in leagues in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. He was 87 years old and after his retirement as a player in 1946 spent 21 years as custodian and nightwatchman at St. Louis City Hall. Neat Nicknames: Tom Callahan writes in the Washington Post that former Negro League baseball star James (Cool Papa) Bell, who died last week … John Tilghman Hazel, 86, a Northern Virginia physician for 53 years who had served as president of the Arlington and Fauquier medical societies and as the first chairman of Arlington Hospital's board of trustees, died of heart ailments March 8 at his home in Broad Run. After Army service in Europe in the 1950s, he worked for Monsanto in Chicago and the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. in New Jersey. Except for a period in World War II, during which he was an analyst for the Foreign Economic Administration, he remained at the archives until he retired in 1981. When Bill Veeck was the owner of the St. Louis Browns, he once remarked Mr. Bell was the defensive equal of Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio and Willie Mays. A centerfielder, he was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1974. In 1941, he moved to Washington and joined the staff of the National Archives. He was a graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania law school. Bell suffered a heart attack shortly thereafter, on February 27, and died at St. Louis University Hospital on March 7. Circling the Bases. Full Name: James Thomas Bell Nicknames: Cool Papa From 1968 to 1972, he was an attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was survived by their only child, Connie Bell Brooks, and was buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in St. Louis. Cool Papa Bell retired from the game to an in an old redbrick apartment in St. Louis Thomas Bell died on March 7, 1991, at the Saint Louis University Hospital after suffering a B/T: Switch, Left. He said his legs "were gone" and that he had no wish to tarnish the memory of his fans. With daring speed, cunning game awareness, coupled with finesse at the bat, Cool Papa Bell epitomized the game of "tricky" baseball. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. James "Cool Papa Bell" Thomas died of an heart attack. Dr. Hazel, who had practiced in Arlington and Fauquier counties, had helped establish Arlington Hospital in the 1940s and was the hospital's chief of surgery from 1949 to 1960. It also was said he could circle the bases in 13 seconds and that in 1933 he stole 175 bases in the 180 to 200 games he played. There are 10 players honored with a statue outside of Busch Stadium: Eight Cardinals, plus Cool Papa Bell of the St. Louis Stars and George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns.. In truth, he did it one night, but only because there was a short in the wires. “I got my name in 1922 when I started playing baseball at age 16. As a 19-year-old Mississippi-born rookie outfielder wise beyond his baseball years, he proved to his older teammates that he was no more intimidated by big crowds than he was by a pitcher's fastball or pickoff throw to first. In 1966, he relocated his practice to Fauquier County. That, he said, "was when they opened the door in the majors to black players. The International Council on Archives appointed Mr. Leisinger chairman of its committee on micrographics. He returned here in 1976 to begin his career on Capitol Hill. [Illustrations by … In the title game against an overmatched semi-pro team from Borger, Texas, Paige pitched a 7–0 shutout, striking out 18. He broke in as a knuckleball pitcher. Hall of Fame Induction: 1974. He hit and threw left-handed, fielded with the best of them, but mostly ran like the wind. “Cool Papa Bell” is the 10th track of Paul Simon’s Stranger to Stranger. It was widely reported that he was the highest-paid player in the Negro Leagues, making the princely sum of $90 a month. He never played in the major leagues because of baseball's ban on black players, but he became one of the most adored and acclaimed legends of the game after his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. There’s a widely circulated tale that Cool Papa Bell once stole 175 bases in a 200 game season. A native of Chicago, Dr. Hazel moved to Washington as a child and graduated from Western High School. A month later Bell was hospitalized after a heart attack, and he died in St. Louis on 7 March 1991. Although he was offered large sums in the 1950s to return to baseball and play in the major leagues, he refused. He specialized in abdominal surgery. James (Cool Papa) Bell, 87, Dies; Legendary Star of Negro Leagues, https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/09/obituaries/james-cool-papa-bell-87-dies-legendary-star-of-negro-leagues.html. “I remember one time I got five hits and stole five bases, but none of it was written down because they forgot Cool Papa Bell Fans Also Viewed . I didn't intend to play that long; it just happened.". Rounding second without drawing a throw, Bell, noticing that the third baseman had failed to return to the base after charging the bunt, kept on going. James (Cool Papa) Bell, the sharp-eyed batter and blazing base runner who was widely regarded as the fastest man ever to play baseball, died Thursday night in St. Louis University Hospital, where he had been treated after suffering a heart attack last Saturday. Mr. Bell, who had glaucoma, had been in failing health since a stroke last year. His other teams in the Negro leagues were the Detroit Wolves, the Kansas City Monarchs, the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Chicago American Giants. Born: 1903 in Starkville, MS. Died: 1991 in St. Louis, MO. The team included Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Leroy Matlock, Buck Leonard, Felton Snow, Bill Wright and Sammy Hughes. Height: 5' 11". TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Mr. Leisinger, a resident of Washington, was born in New York City. He spent 29 summers (and 21 winters) playing baseball before retiring in 1946. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Stories demonstrating Bell's speed are still widely circulated. Cool Papa Bell Popularity . Known for his calm, focused state on the playing field, Cool Papa Bell is recognized as having been one of the finest all-around players in the history of baseball.Bell played in the Negro leagues, because at the time African American players were not allowed to play for major league teams. The Negro League players occasionally played against the Major League teams and Cool Papa Bell hit .392 versus big league pitchers like Dizzy Dean and Bob Lemon. Died: March 7, 1991 in St. Louis, MO. He graduated from Western New England College in Springfield, Mass. Born in 1903 #17. Mr. Opper, who lived in Chevy Chase, was born in Fayetteville, Ark. Actually, he was born just outside Starkville in the Sessums Township, the fourth of seven children, all raised by his mother, Mary Nichols, a widow. In his honor, the city renamed the street as "James 'Cool Papa' Bell Avenue." Baseball in his day, in his league, did not keep the seemingly endless records that baseball boasts today. He was a member of the Society of American Archivists and a member of the American Historical Association and the National Micrographics Association. However, more often than not, he would simply remark that if he could not play in the "big" leagues, he was happy for the great black stars who came after him. He proved forgiving after his election to the Hall of Fame in 1974, graciously appearing at the annual induction ceremonies year after year and allowing the fans to make up for lost time by giving him the most thunderous applause of the day. His Hall of Fame plaque reads in part, “… James Thomas Bell, popularly known as "Cool Papa" Bell (1903-1991), was born in Starkville. Later, he was special assistant to the archivist for the United States for academic relations, deputy to the assistant archivist and director of the Scientific and Technological Division. He lived in what was inevitably reported as a St. Louis neighborhood of dilapidated homes and vacant lots. 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