Bell Family Faces Common Battle On And Off Field

Ordinarily you would think it couldn’t get much better than this for a father and a son.

For Buddy Bell - manager of the moribund Detroit Tigers, losers of 109 ballgames last year - it is, on the surface, a new spring with hope (in the form of some bright prospects and an infusion of some promising new players from the Astros). For David Bell, it is likewise a time for rededication and opportunity. His team, the St. Louis Cardinals, wants him to win the job of utility infielder, enough so they are not judging him on his 1996 season (.214, nine RBIs in 62 games), which was almost as dismal as his dad’s.

And on Thursday, the sun gods of spring, (with a little help from Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa, who sent 38-year-old Gary Gaetti to the split-squad game in Sarasota so David could play third base) brought them together, competing against one another for the first time in their professional careers.

Spring training is a special enough time for ballplayers past and present. This was extra special for Buddy and David Bell, whose shared anguish this spring has nothing to do with the 1996 seasons they have put behind them.

Back home in Cincinnati, Gloria Bell, Buddy’s wife of 26 years and David’s mom, is battling tonsil cancer, which was diagnosed last month. On Thursday, she was to undergo the 17th of her 35 chemotherapy treatments, and the doctors are giving her an 85 percent chance of recovery. It is a consoling prognosis, but it does not at all ease the burden her husband and son are bearing hundreds of miles away.

“It’s been very hard for me to focus down here,” said Buddy Bell, who planned to fly home to Cincinnati for a couple of days right after Thursday’s game. “Right now, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping everything comes out all right.

“I just don’t understand how these things happen. She never smoked or drank.”

Buddy and Gloria were married right out of high school. She was 17, he was 18. Together they have raised five children, two of them - David and Mike - have followed their dad and grandfather, Gus, into professional baseball. Theirs is a love story that transcends any three-generation baseball story.

“I had no idea how tough she was,” said Buddy. “We’ve been married 26 years and she gave birth to five children. But I have no idea how I’d ever handle this. She’s really beaten up right now.”

Watching his father standing behind the batting cage, staring out at the field as the Tigers were going through their pregame stretching exercises, David Bell shook his head.

“It’s tough because I know how my dad is and how important his family is to him,” he said. “He’s got a job to do, but his heart and mind are with my mom. I know the last two weeks before we came down here, I spent every day at home, getting in all the time I could with her.

“The thing is, she knows how important this spring is to me and my dad, and every time I call home, all she wants to talk about is what I’m doing.”

Mike Bell, an infielder like David, is training 50 miles farther south in Port Charlotte with the Texas Rangers, and that, Buddy says, has made it easier.

“We all talk every night and it’s nice knowing they’re close by.”

In all probability, Buddy Bell’s Tigers will show some significant improvement this year. Most baseball people think they fleeced the Astros by getting promising young center fielder Brian Hunter, shortstop Orlando Miller and reliever Todd Jones in that 10-player deal last winter. And their pitching can’t possibly be as bad as last year’s staff, which set American League records for highest ERA and most homers allowed. In addition, their most impressive spring hitter so far has been rookie left fielder Bubba Trammell, who they didn’t think would be ready until midseason.

Meanwhile, there is a good chance that David, who is out of options, will win that utility job for the Cardinals - especially if he shows he can play shortstop. He hit a single and drew a couple of walks on Thursday after getting plunked on the leg by one of his father’s pitchers in his first at-bat.

Mike Bell is probably a year away from making the Rangers, but the projections for him are high. In the days to come before they all break camp, they will talk about the good things that are happening for them this spring, because baseball people are accustomed to being upbeat this time of year.

So, too, is Gloria Bell.

“She told me the other night she’s gonna fight this thing and not to worry,” said David.

“All I know is, when you say the word ‘mom,’ that’s her.”