Knackered and bent

The diminishing skills of age and poor health are bringing David Bell one step closer to the dreaded four-letter word: Done.

One wonders if David Bell’s back has finally cracked under all the weight put on his shoulders.

On Wednesday, the 33-year-old embattled veteran reinjured his back and could miss the start of the regular season. This isn't the first time. He missed the first month of spring training last year, and since signing with the Phillies, he’s missed considerable time with this injury.

If the rest of what I’m about to write sounds like an obituary, don’t worry. It should.

Ed Wade believed he had the right ingredients with Bell when he signed him late in 2002. He was advertised as a man we would surely want in a fight.

The love affair might have happened if the two sides were properly introduced. Just when the team had us buttered up with drippy professionalism, his back gave out just days into the season. He limped through half the season and hit .196. Pleasantries over.

Through no fault of his own, Bell brought all the effervescence of cement. He was set up for failure. He was an older veteran free agent when he signed before 2003, coming off what would turn out to be his best years. He was replacing a star in Scott Rolen. He’s not flashy. He’s on a team that never wins. He doesn’t really have power at a position where you can get it. All the areas he seems to excel are invisible to the average fan: arm strength, accuracy, range, maybe leadership. In the field and at the plate, his shoulders devour his neck. His batting stance can best be described as a cringe. He’s pale. He’s slow. He's 5-10, 175-pound David Bell.

The 2004 season will likely become his best with the Phils, elevated by two solid months at the end of the season, mostly garbage time games. As for 2005, he produced as expected for a pull hitter with a bad back and diminishing bat speed.

If his back hadn’t already been broken, the Phillies strapped him to a rack and pulled tight. They signed not one, but two, free agent third baseman with clean bills of health.

It’s Bell's job to lose, they say.

How could he not?

Comments

[RickSchuBlues]

I was nonplused at the signing of Bell, and my opinion of him certainly hasn't improved from there. Even at his best, he strikes me as the very picture of mediocrity. If the Phillies were trying to make us appreciate just how good Rolen was, they couldn't have done a better job of choosing someone so average to 'replace' him. Never mind the fact that his personality makes Rolen look like Tug McGraw. I'm not exactly looking forward to the Abraham Nunez era, but I am looking forward to the merciful end of David Bell's ill-advised contract.

[That Dude]

Ryan "Black Thunder" Howard

[Tom Goodman]

Bell is such a grim-faced determined guy I found myself rooting for him more out of pity than adulation. The thing that bothered me most about him wasn't his failure to hit in the clutch; rather, it was the notion that he was a better than average fielder. Having grown up with Brooks Robinson and then watched Mike Schmidt for most of his career, I can be excused for having a high standard. But what bothered me about Bell was how often balls hit right at him handcuffed him. By June his chest must resemble that of Robert Esche.

[gr]

AQUALUNG!!!

[IUP Phillies Fan]

there was a great thing that the inky did on christmas day. they did a few top three lists as it relates to philly sports. one of the topics was "smallest thing in philly sports". number 1 was john chaney's patience, i forget number 2, but number 3 was david bell's personallity. and i couldn't agree more. does that guy ever smile? he is so damn boring. even when he gets a big hit he looks like his best friend was crushed by a truck.

[George S]

Whenever I'm critical of a ballplayer's performance, I ask myself two sets of questions.
1) What were the expectations? Was I expecting more than the player was capable of providing? Was I critical because he was doing what he was acquired to do, rather than what I wanted him to do?
2) Was he properly utilized by the team/manager? Did the manager use him where his strenghts were maximized and his weaknesses hidden?

For David Bell, particularly last season, the answer to #2 is NO. He should have been platooned at 3B and used against LHP most of the time. His spot in the batting order was open to question in my mind as well. If he had been properly used, we would be looking at his contributions a lot differently. We would see him as a potentially valuable asset.
As for question #1, I'm not sure he didn't do what the Phillies thought he could do when they signed him. (Overpaying him in a longterm contract is a different issue)

So I can't really fault DB for being DB. And I can appreciate that he always gave 100% and played the right way. He was just not the right fit for this team and the Phillies kept trying to make it work.

I hope he recovers physically, but I don't know that he can help the Phillies much any more. They need to find an answer at 3B.

[Joe E.]

Damm you David Bell for staying healthy last year. We all knew the real you and only if you had of went down and stayed down last year,Polanco would have stayed a Phillie and the Phils would have made the playoffs and who knows what would have happened.Stay down Dave Stay down.

[Tom Goodman]

For the millionth time, there was no bigger fan of Placido Polanco than yours truly, but he was on record as saying he did not want to play third base. Therefore, Placido simply was not the Phils long-term answer for THAT position. When he filled in there during Bell's first injury as a Phillie it was out of a sense of duty and obligation, both admirable. But Placido did not see himself as a third baseman.

[Billy Mac]

Polanco was the everyday third baseman for the Cardinals for two years. 2nd base is his best position, but he could have been a 3rd base option for the Phils. He just wanted to play everyday.

[Michael Carboni]

Bell does not get 4 letter from me. He is D-U-N done.

[John Salmon]

Bell is a perfect example of old-school thinking gone awry. as it always does. They got him on Bowa's opinion of Bell as a nose to the grindstone kinda guy. I prefer people who can actually play.