Any book on the Negro Leagues is bound to have very entertaining stories and this wonderful biography of James "Cool Papa" Bell is no exception. The only downfall of his story, and those of his teammates that are told as well, is that they did not get the chance to showcase their skills in the major leagues. Here is my review of this biography.
Title/Author:
“The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace and the Negro Leagues" by Lonnie Wheeler
Tags:
Baseball, professional, biography, history, Negro Leagues
Publish date:
February 9, 2021
Length:
352 pages
Rating: to
5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review:
Most baseball fans have heard of the story that James "Cool Papa" Bell was supposedly so fast that he could turn out the lights and be in bed before the room was dark. The actual story behind that myth is just one of the many wonderful passages about this Hall of Fame outfielder in this book by the late Lonnie Wheeler.
Baseball was Bell's ticket out of a working life in the slaughterhouses in St. Louis, where his family relocated from Mississippi when James was a boy. He started as a pitcher and was a good one, but his coaches wanted to utilize his speed more fully and, in the outfield, he became one of the most legendary figures in the Negro Leagues. Because of the nomadic nature of the Negro League teams and their usual travel to wherever they could find a decent paying audience to cover the bills and earn a little extra money, there are many teams for which Bell plied his trade.
On those teams, Bell became a teammate with some of the other great players in Negro League history such as Oscar Charleston, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Turkey Stearns. Whether it was the Pittsburgh Crawfords, the Homestead Grays or even playing in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, Bell always played hard and usually was one of the best players on the field. His legend only grew wherever he played.
"Legend" is a good word to use for much
of the information known on Bell and the Negro Leagues because, as noted in the
book, the recordkeeping was questionable at best. That would be whenever there were statistics
kept or recorded. The black newspaper in
Pittsburgh was the closest to anything official, but it could only publish what
it was provided. Therefore, as noted by
the author, much of the information on Bell was obtained through sources that
were anecdotal and were not able to be verified. One humorous example is one season when it
was decided to see just how many bases Bell had stolen. The official stats say 5, which seems awfully
low given his legend. However, if we are
to believe Cool Papa's own running tally, he amassed 312. This illustrates the
challenge one can face when trying to gather cumulative statistics on the Negro
Leagues.
Some of the best chapters are those in which Bell is playing outside the United States, as mentioned earlier. This is mainly due to Satchel Paige wandering to wherever he wanted to play, even when he was supposed to be part of another team. He also had the charm to convince other stars to join him, including Bell. How he was able to do that in the Dominican Republic and play for the campaign of a ruthless dictator was quite interesting, both in a chapter in this book and in more detail in a separate book on Paige's time in this country.
Through the stories of the players, it was also clear how they felt much more welcome and relaxed in foreign nations, especially Mexico, because of the segregation of not only the game but also the racism in the United States in general. What made this quite interesting is the interaction of the Negro League stars with their white Major League counterparts. Many of the latter felt that these men were just as good or better than their fellow MLB players. The eventual integration of baseball is covered in the book – sadly, too late for players like Bell to be able to play.
Even Bell's life after baseball is good reading, especially when he was giving baseball advice to up and coming players through the St. Louis Cardinals' system as Bell lived with his wife Clara in that city after his playing days were over. One of those players to whom he gave baserunning advice was a young Lou Brock.
Covering much more than just Cool Papa Bell's life, this book would be a wonderful addition to any reader who wants to learn more about the Negro Leagues and some of the legendary players who made the stories rich and entertaining.
I wish to thank Abrams Press for providing a
copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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