We Are, We Can, We Will: The 1992 World Champion Toronto Blue Jays

By Society for American Baseball Research

The 1992 Toronto Blue Jays will always be remembered as the first World Series-winning club based outside the United States and the first from Canada. Before that memorable season, the Blue Jays were respected as consistent contenders, the team never seemed able to win a championship. After winning the division in 1991, the 1992 club confidently

• Language: English
• Publisher: Society for American Baseball Research
• Release date: Aug 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781970159837

Book preview

THE PLAYERS

ROBERTO ALOMAR

By Chris Jones

The son of a longtime major leaguer and the younger brother of another, Roberto Alomar was immersed in the world of baseball from an early age.

Roberto’s father, Sandy Alomar, spent 15 years as a major-league infielder, and Roberto and his brother, also Sandy, spent most summers in major-league locker rooms. It was during these times that the brothers learned the intricacies of the game from the best players in the world – Nolan Ryan taught 4-year-old Roberto how to pitch while Ryan was a teammate of Sandy, Sr.’s on the Angels.¹ Perhaps just as important, they also learned how to handle themselves like major-league ballplayers. The offseason brought with it the Puerto Rican Winter League (in which his father and three of his uncles all starred) and the annual Caribbean World Series.² Roberto frequently made the trek to games with his father, sometimes completing his homework in the dugout.³

Roberto Alomar was born on February 5, 1968, in Ponce, on Puerto Rico’s south coast, to Santos (Sandy) and Maria (Velasquez) Alomar. He had an older brother, Santos Jr. (Sandy), and a sister, Sandia. They grew up in Salinas, 20 miles from Ponce. Roberto’s baseball ability and instincts were evident even as a boy. When he was 6 a scout reportedly saw him playing pepper and inquired of his father (presumably tongue in cheek) if he could sign him.⁴ By the age of 7, Roberto was selected as an all-star for the Salinas little league, but was declared ineligible when it was discovered that he was too young to play in the league.⁵ The time for Roberto to sign his first professional contract came soon enough. When he was 16 he signed with Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he was managed by Felipe Alou.⁶ Alou later said that Roberto was the best I had ever seen. He was a natural and definitely had the instincts that you just don’t teach.⁷

On February 16, 1985, shortly after he turned 17, Roberto signed with the San Diego Padres – the same club for which his father was a coach and with which Sandy Jr. had signed two years earlier. While other teams (most notably Toronto) had expressed interest in the middle infielder and made higher offers than the approximately $50,000 Roberto received, Sandy Sr. had given his word to family friend and Padres scout Luis Rosa that Roberto would sign with the Padres.⁸

Unlike many newly signed minor leaguers, Roberto did not have to adjust to living on his own for the first time. He was assigned to the same team, Class-A Charleston in the South Atlantic League, for which his father was a coach and to which Sandy Jr. was also assigned. His mother also made the trip and the family lived together and provided a stable foundation as Roberto’s professional career began to flourish.⁹ Roberto hit .293 and stole 36 bases for Charleston, and his manager Jim Skaalen recalled that He was tearing up the league against older college players.¹⁰

Skaalen moved up along with Roberto the next season to Reno in the Class-A California League.¹¹ His brother and father, however, did not. Sandy Jr. was ticketed for Double-A Wichita (Texas League) and Sandy Sr. was promoted to coach with the Padres. Roberto later recounted the challenges of his time in Reno: "In the minor leagues everything is different.

I was making $700 a month. I had to pay for rent, utilities, food, clubhouse dues. All I had in the house I rented was a mattress on the floor, not even a table. I had no car and had to walk everywhere."¹²

Skaalen, though, saw him maturing on and off the field: He seemed more relaxed away from his dad and brother. He got stronger and seemed to be enjoying every day. He was far ahead of the rest of the talent at that level, and I began to see the good, solid major-league player he was going to become.¹³ Whatever the challenges off the field, Alomar’s play certainly did not suffer. He led the league after 90 games with a .346 average and 123 hits, earning him a promotion to Double-A Wichita (and a reunion with Sandy Jr.).¹⁴ Sharing a one-bedroom apartment with his brother, Roberto continued his torrid pace and finished the season hitting .319 with 12 home runs and 43 stolen bases.¹⁵

Roberto’s minor-league success provided real hope going into the spring of 1988 that he could break camp with the Padres. His performance did nothing to dampen that enthusiasm, as he hit .360 and put together a 10-game hitting streak.¹⁶ Padres manager Larry Bowa noted that this kid is a finished product. All he has to do is go out there and play. He has all the tools; just turn him loose.¹⁷ The Padres, though, had been burned each of the prior two seasons when they tried to promote second basemen (Bip Roberts and Joey Cora) from Double A to the big leagues, and Bowa was directed to give Roberto the bad news that his season would begin at Triple-A Las Vegas, not San Diego.¹⁸ The 20-year-old Roberto took the news hard, tearfully retreating to the training room, where he was consoled by his father along with several teammates.

For his part, Bowa had no explanation for the sentence he was ordered to deliver: I told him he did everything I asked, said Bowa. I just told him to keep his head up, that it’s a long season. The chances of Robbie coming to the big leagues in 1988 are pretty good.¹⁹ They were pretty good indeed, as Roberto made quick work of the Pacific Coast League and was leading the league with 14 runs batted in when he was called up to San Diego 2½ weeks into the season.²⁰

On April 22, 1988, Roberto stepped into the batter’s box as a major leaguer for the first time. On the mound was none other than Nolan Ryan – the same Nolan Ryan who had helped teach him to pitch as a toddler. Unfazed, he beat out an infield single in his first major league at-bat.²¹ Roberto finished the season with 145 hits, a .266 batting average, and 24 stolen bases, finishing fifth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. He was even stronger the next season, his first full year in the big leagues, batting .295 with 42 stolen bases in 158 games.

Continuing his ascent onto the national radar, Roberto was selected for his first All-Star Game in 1990. What made the honor even more special was that Sandy Jr. (who had been traded to Cleveland), was also selected. The two became the first pair of brothers to be selected for an All-Star Game since Jim and Gaylord Perry in 1970.²² Sandy Sr. reflected on the accomplishments of his two sons: People have to realize I’m very proud of my kids for the way they act as persons. And they have talent and know how to display that talent.²³

While it appeared that Roberto had established himself as a core piece of the Padres’ future, the Padres had other ideas. After the 1990 season the Padres and Blue Jays struck a blockbuster deal that sent Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter to Toronto in exchange for Fred McGriff and Gold Glove shortstop Tony Fernandez.²⁴ Along with Alomar and Carter, Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick had also added center fielder Devon White days earlier as Toronto worked to position itself in the competitive American League East.²⁵ Padres’ general manager Joe McIlvaine said, We just felt it was something we wanted to give a shot to. It was kind of a gutsy trade on both ends.²⁶ Roberto was shocked: I didn’t expect it; I didn’t understand it, he later recalled.²⁷

Surprised or not, Roberto joined a collection of talented players in Toronto and paid immediate dividends north of the border, putting together an early six-game hitting streak as the Blue Jays streaked to the top of the American League East.²⁸ In May, however, Roberto once again ran into the task of facing Nolan Ryan – now pitching for the Texas Rangers. With two outs in the top of the ninth, the 44-year-old Ryan was one out away from his seventh no-hitter when Roberto strode to the plate. As the Fort Worth Star Telegram put it 25 years later, [T]he kid he’d once coached stood between Ryan and history.²⁹ Ryan had the last laugh; he struck out Alomar on a 2-and-2 fastball to end the game.³⁰

Later in the season, Roberto was once again elected to the All-Star Game, this time as an American League teammate of Sandy Jr. The long ovation he received from the Toronto crowd served as confirmation of how the city had taken to him: When I was introduced they gave me such a long, loud ovation, I never expected it, Roberto said.³¹

As the season wore on, Alomar kept hitting and the Blue Jays kept winning, clinching the American League East. In his first postseason, Alomar’s.474 batting average could not keep Toronto from being eliminated in five games by the Minnesota Twins. Alomar won his first Gold Glove, and it was clear that the Blue Jays were set to contend in the years to come. The off-season brought with it new riches as well: a three-year, $14 million contract that was the highest at the time on three fronts – for a second baseman, for a player 24 or younger, and for a player with four years or less in the major leagues.³² The average annual value of $4,666,667 made Alomar the ninth-highest paid player in the game.³³

Bolstered by the acquisition of Dave Winfield in the offseason and David Cone in August, the Blue Jays again clinched the American League East in 1992. At midseason Alomar returned to San Diego for the first time since being traded and participated in the All-Star Game – once again with Sandy Jr. as a teammate.³⁴

Alomar was named the most valuable player in the ALCS, with the most memorable moment being his game-tying two run home run off A’s closer Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning of Game Four. He relished the opportunity to be part of the first Blue Jays team to reach the World Series: "I wasn’t here when they didn’t win in the past. … I just want to be here in the present when we win the big one, so we won’t have to hear anymore about the past.³⁵ Alomar continued his clutch hitting and superb defense in the World Series, and helped the Blue Jays defeat Atlanta for their first championship. Alomar’s contributions led Dave Winfield to comment that You’re one of the best players I’ve ever seen.³⁶ Manager Cito Gaston agreed: I could talk about Robbie for an hour, he said.³⁷

After a slow start in 1993, the Blue Jays took off yet again and Alomar had career highs in numerous categories, including 55 stolen bases and 17 home runs. In the ALCS against the Chicago White Sox, he stole four bases as the Blue Jays won, four games to two. In the World Series, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Alomar hit .480 and drove in six runs as the Blue Jays, on Joe Carter’s game-winning home run in Game Six, won the World Series for the second year in a row.³⁸

With two World Series titles in his back pocket, it was hard to imagine things ever going wrong for Alomar in Toronto. But go wrong they did. After a strike-shortened 1994 season, the Blue Jays began to take a step back in 1995 and look toward the future. This included trading veteran David Cone in July – a move that Alomar protested by sitting out the next game.³⁹ Alomar was also removed from a game in early July when a fan, Tricia Miller, walked into the Skydome hotel where he lived and told employees that she planned to kill him.⁴⁰ Alomar said, I wasn’t shaken by it. I never knew that person. I never really knew what was happening. Cito told me in the dugout. They took me out of the game, but they had caught her by then, so I don’t know why.⁴¹

By the end of the season, with rumors swirling about his future, Alomar was unhappy with what he felt was unfair treatment by the Toronto front office and local media:

I never said that I want to be traded. … They made it sound like I said, ‘Trade me now, I want out of here.’ And the fans believed what they read in the papers. When I stood out on the field in Toronto and heard them booing me, I knew they didn’t understand or know what the truth was. I hadn’t said anything like what the writers wrote. But I could do nothing about it, and I learned how the media is.⁴²

With no offer from the Blue Jays, Alomar was ready to hit free agency: If [the Blue Jays] had offered me something before the All-Star break, then maybe I would’ve thought about it and gone for it. Now you’re in the last week of the season. … Now maybe it’s time for me to try the market.⁴³

Alomar was a 12-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger.

Alomar won 10 Gold Gloves - the most ever for a second baseman, including all five seasons when he played in Toronto.

At 27 years old and already a six-time All-Star, Alomar inked a three-year, $18 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles in December 1995.⁴⁴ He was thrilled to team up with fellow All-Star Cal Ripken Jr.: I never expected to play alongside one of the legends of baseball. … It’s going to be like a dream come true for me.⁴⁵

Alomar carried his winter-ball success (he led the league in hitting) over to Baltimore, going on a tear to begin the season, hitting .410 in the beginning part of June.⁴⁶ Former teammate Tony Gwynn heaped praise on the player Alomar had become, saying, He has the ability to hit a home run, or work the count and hit a double down the opposite line and do whatever he wants to do. He’s probably the best all-around player in the game.⁴⁷ Alomar went on to make his seventh consecutive All-Star Game, collect his sixth consecutive Gold Glove and set numerous career highs as the Orioles clinched the American League wild-card playoff spot.⁴⁸

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the season, however, occurred during a late-September game in Toronto. After being called out on strikes in the top of the first, Alomar argued with home-plate umpire John Hirschbeck on his way back to the dugout. When Hirschbeck threw him out of the game, Alomar returned to the field. During the course of the argument, Alomar took offense to being called a derogatory name, and spit in Hirschbeck’s face.⁴⁹

Alomar apologized and donated $50,000 toward research into Lou Gehrig’s disease, which Hirschbeck’s son had.⁵⁰ This did nothing to prevent his being relentlessly booed for the remainder of the season and the playoffs, or from receiving a five-game suspension to be served at the start of the 1997 season.⁵¹

Alomar delivered a game-tying two-out single in the deciding Game Four of the Division Series against Cleveland, and then hit the game-winning home run in the 12th inning.⁵² Brother and Indians catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. said, He’s my brother and with all the things that happened with this incident, I felt kind of sorry for him.⁵³ Roberto was ready to turn the page on the incident: I’ve been going through a tough time. … Human beings make mistakes. I apologized to the umpire, his family, and all of baseball. It’s time to move on.⁵⁴ The Orioles did move on to the ALCS, but were eliminated in five games by the New York Yankees on their way to the World Series title.

The fact that Alomar was even allowed to play in the playoffs did not sit well with many, including major-league umpires. When it was announced that his suspension would be delayed until the next season, the umpires voted to not work the playoffs unless the suspension was changed to apply to the first round.⁵⁵ The boycott was abandoned, however, when an agreement was worked out in a Philadelphia federal court.⁵⁶

After he served his five-game suspension to start the 1997 season, Alomar helped the Orioles to 98 wins and the American League East crown. He also took the first step toward putting the spitting incident behind him, publicly shaking hands with Hirschbeck near first base in April before the first Orioles game Hirschbeck called since the incident.⁵⁷ Several nagging injuries pestered Alomar throughout the season, including a nagging groin injury in late July that made him miss close to a month of playing time. Alomar said the injury made me grow up. I now knew what it was like to be hurt and what you had to do to come back.⁵⁸ After defeating the Mariners in the Division Series, the Orioles came up short of the World Series yet again, this time losing to Sandy and the Cleveland Indians in six games.

The Orioles were nowhere near contention in 1998. The season was not without its highlights though, as Roberto collected three hits (one of them a home run) and the All-Star Game MVP award in Denver, making the Alomar brothers back-to-back winners of the award since Sandy had won the year before. As his three-year contract with the Orioles came to a close, Roberto once again found himself on the free-agent market.

It did not take long for Roberto to find a new home. He signed a four-year contract with the Indians, reuniting with Sandy.⁵⁹ It means a lot to be beside my brother, not only to me but to my family, Roberto said.⁶⁰ Indians general manager John Hart stated the obvious: We are elated to have the Alomar brothers in the Indians family.⁶¹ In addition to Sandy, the move to Cleveland also allowed Roberto to team with shortstop Omar Vizquel, who along with Roberto had also won six Gold Gloves. It would be worth the price of a ticket just to watch Omar and Robbie turn a double play, said Hart.⁶²

Free from the injuries that plagued him in 1998, Alomar made an immediate impact on the Indians. Robbie is one of the few players in the game that can make everybody around him better, Indians manager Mike Hargrove said.⁶³ The Indians had compiled an enviable offense that exploded out of the gates, and Alomar ended the year with what proved to be a career high 24 home runs. He finished third in the MVP voting (the highest he would ever finish). His hot hitting continued in the playoffs; he went 5-for-8 while the Indians surged to a 2-0 series lead over the Red Sox in the ALDS.⁶⁴ The Tribe would not win again, however, and fell in five games.⁶⁵

Although things did not turn out as hoped in October, a late-season meeting helped Alomar to finally turn the page on the spitting incident, which had continued to follow him through the jeers of fans around the country. On September 5, during a rain delay at Camden Yards, John Hirschbeck and family came knocking on the visitor’s clubhouse door, asking for Roberto. Hirschbeck’s 13-year-old son was a fan, and wanted to meet Roberto. The moment together allowed both families to heal. I don’t see why he should be booed, Hirschbeck said afterward. If he and I can forgive and forget, why not everyone else?⁶⁶

The next two seasons also ended in disappointment for the Indians. In 2000 they missed the playoffs altogether despite winning 90 games. They charged back to the playoffs in 2001, but fell in five games in the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners. Alomar won Gold Gloves and was an All-Star in both seasons, and stole a combined 69 bases. He still looked to be in his prime with one year left on his contract. But another change of scenery was in store.

On December 11, 2001, the Indians traded Alomar, pitcher Mike Bacsik, and first baseman Danny Peoples to the New York Mets in exchange for outfielders Matt Lawton and Alex Escobar, relief pitcher Jerrod Riggan, and two players to be named later.⁶⁷ While the move was designed to clear payroll and acquire younger talent, Indians general manager Mark Shapiro knew that the deal would not sit well with all fans. I think I’ll need a flak jacket when I get off the plane [from the winter meetings], probably, he said.⁶⁸ Alomar said he was kind of disappointed … I was real happy in Cleveland and thought I did a great job.⁶⁹ Mets General Manager Steve Phillips was elated: We sit up in that room and all we do is dream all day about different scenarios, he said, adding that I have to admit that I thought this was a long shot.⁷⁰

But what had seemed like a dream scenario for Phillips at the Winter Meetings would soon turn into a nightmare. The Mets came nowhere near meeting expectations, finishing in last place in the National League East, 26½ games out of first place. Alomar also began to show the first sign of decline, hitting .266 and snapping his 12-year streak of appearances in the All-Star Game. The 2003 season began much the same way, with Alomar hitting.262 on July 1 when the Mets shipped him to the White Sox for three prospects.⁷¹

All told, Alomar played only 222 games for the Mets, and for his part understood that he did not perform at the high level that the Mets, and he himself, had expected. Sometimes, you put too much pressure on yourself in New York, and maybe I did that, he said.⁷² Along with providing a change of scenery, joining the White Sox allowed him to reunite again with Sandy.⁷³ But Roberto hit only .253 down the stretch and the White Sox finished in second place in the American League Central, missing the playoffs.

A free agent once again, Alomar signed a one-year deal in the offseason with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the hopes of rejuvenating his career. If I can get in good shape, I think I can play the way I used to play, he said.⁷⁴ Despite missing 56 games with a broken right hand suffered when he was hit by a pitch in late April, he did indeed experience a resurgence of sorts in his limited time on the field with Arizona, carrying a .309 batting average into early August.⁷⁵ With the Diamondbacks hopelessly out of contention, Alomar was once again an attractive commodity for teams looking to add a veteran presence for the stretch run. So it was that the White Sox acquired him for the second consecutive season. Alomar struggled mightily in sporadic action, though, batting only .180 in 65 plate appearances as the White Sox once again missed the playoffs.

After multiple seasons of declining performance, Alomar made one last run at extending his career, this time with Tampa Bay, signing a one-year, $600,000 contract in January.⁷⁶ When he committed multiple errors in one inning of a spring training game, however, he decided it was time to walk away. I played a lot of games and I said I would never embarrass myself on the field, he said, adding, I had a long career, but I can’t play at the level I want to play, so it’s time to retire. I just can’t go anymore. My back, legs and eyes aren’t the same.⁷⁷ Alomar concluded his 17-year career with a .300 batting average, 2,724 hits, 210 home runs, and 474 stolen bases to go along with 12 All-Star Game selections and 10 Gold Glove awards.

There was no question that Cooperstown would be the final stop of Alomar’s career. With some Hall voters still holding the Hirschbeck incident against him, though, he came up eight votes short of admission in his first year of eligibility, in 2010. I feel disappointed, but next year hopefully I make it in, he said, adding that at least I was close.⁷⁸ Some sports-writers were not as gracious in their assessment of the snub. The Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers wrote, If anybody didn’t vote for Robbie because of the spitting incident, then shame on them.⁷⁹

Whatever the concerns some Hall voters had in Alomar’s first year of eligibility, resistance to his election was all but nonexistent the next year. He was named on 90 percent of the ballots, far over the 75 percent needed for induction into the Hall of Fame.⁸⁰ Even Alomar was surprised by the drastic increase in support from the previous year. I didn’t expect to get that many votes, he said.⁸¹

Alomar, who went into the Hall wearing a Blue Jays cap, opened his induction speech in Spanish and spoke fondly of his father’s and brother’s impact on his life and career.⁸² Sandy Jr. recounted the brothers’ year-long wager as teammates/roommates for Class-A Charleston: We said whoever had the best game, would get the bed. I slept on the couch the whole year.⁸³ He added, We didn’t win a championship together but we won this together. And this is a big one. In my heart, you are a Hall of Famer.⁸⁴

Statistics aside, it is the way Alomar’s former teammates describe him that truly tells the story of the player that he was. Toronto teammate Pat Hentgen, asked how he described Alomar to present-day players, said, I tell them Robbie was a career .300 hitter, a clutch hitter, a guy who could hit for power, a great baserunner and basestealer … and (pause) his best asset of all was his glove.⁸⁵ The Orioles’ B.J. Surhoff perhaps best summed up Alomar’s baseball career: Robbie could beat you with the bunt, with the extra base, with the homer. He could beat you with a stolen base. He could beat you by going from first to third, a baserunning move. He could beat you by making plays in the field. Robbie’s a baseball player. And a damn good one at that.⁸⁶

Alomar continued to be involved in baseball after his retirement. In January of 2016, he and his wife, Kim, launched Foundation 12, a Canadian charitable organization serving youth baseball players, though the organization does not appear to be currently active as of 2022. In 2021, Alomar was placed on the ineligible list by Major League Baseball following an investigation into a 2014 sexual assault allegation.⁸⁷ Alomar stated that he was disappointed, surprised, and upset with the decision, and that he would continue to spend my time helping kids pursue their baseball dreams.⁸⁸

NOTES

1 25 Years Later, Nolan Ryan Remembers His Seventh No-Hitter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 30, 2016, star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article74925477.html.

2 Norman L. Macht, Roberto Alomar (Childs, Maryland: Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc., 1999), 9-11.

3 Macht, 3.

4 Macht, 10.

5 Like Father Like Son?: Padres Think Roberto Alomar Is a Bit More Than a Chip Off the Old Block, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1988, articles.latimes.com/1988-04-22/sports/sp-2096_1_roberto-alomar.

6 Macht, 15.

7 Macht, 15.

8 Macht, 16.

9 Macht, 16.

10 Macht, 17.

11 Macht, 18.

12 Macht, 18.

13 Macht, 19.

14 Macht, 19

15 Macht, 21.

16 Padre Notebook: Few Except Feeney Appear Satisfied as Roberto Alomar Is Sent Down, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1988, articles.latimes.com/1988-03-26/sports/sp-354_1_roberto-alomar.

17 Macht, 23.

18 Padre Notebook.

19 Padre Notebook.

20 Like Father Like Son?

21 Macht, 25-26.

22 Alomars an All-Star Family: Padres: Roberto Alomar, Along With Teammate Tony Gywnn, Is Named an NL Reserve. Brother Sandy Had Already Been Selected as The Starting AL Catcher for Tuesday’s Game, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1990, articles.latimes.com/1990-07-06/sports/sp-113_1_sandy-alomar-jr.

23 Alomars an All-Star Family.

24 Blue Jays Land Carter, Alomar From Padres San Diego Gets Fernandez and McGriff in Deal, Baltimore Sun, December 5, 1990, articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-12-06/sports/1990340005_1_blue-jays-fred-mcgriff-tony-fernandez.

25 Blue Jays Land Carter, Alomar From Padres San Diego Gets Fernandez and McGriff in Deal.

26 Blue Jays Land Carter, Alomar From Padres San Diego Gets Fernandez and McGriff in Deal.

27 Macht, 31.

28 Padres Winning December Deal Looks Like Tie With Blue Jays in April, Baltimore Sun, April 21, 1991, articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-04-21/sports/1991111135_1_blue-jays-roberto-alomar-deal.

29 25 Years Later.

30 25 Years Later.

31 Macht, 33.

32 Cadaret and 8 Others Settle Contract, New York Times, February 8, 1992, nytimes.com/1992/02/08/sports/baseball-cadaret-and-8-others-settle-contracts.html.

33 Cadaret and 8 Others Settle Contract,

34 Macht, 35.

35 Blue Jays Eck Out a 7-6 Victory in 11: AL Game 4: Alomar’s Two-Run Homer Off Eckersley Ties It in Ninth as A’s Blow 6-1 Lead, Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1992, articles.latimes.com/1992-10-12/sports/sp-138_1_blue-jays.

36 Macht, 37.

37 Alomar’s MVP Play Points to New Star, Baltimore Sun, October 15, 1992, articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-10-15/sports/1992289072_1_alomar-blue-jays-toronto.

38 Macht, 42.

39 Macht, 43-44.

40 Orioles’ Multitalented Alomar Is Second to None, Washington Post, March 31, 1996, washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1996/03/31/orioles-multitalented-alomar-is-second-to-none/b8cd697d-9630-464e-bcd9-84d6ba8db8cf/?utm_term=.9d34bd1c1107.

41 Orioles’ Multitalented Alomar Is Second to None.

42 Macht, 44.

43 Jays’ Alomar in No Rush to Decide ’96 Destination He, Molitor Express Interest in Joining Ripken, Baltimore Sun, September 27, 1995, articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-09-27/sports/1995270116_1_alomar-blue-jays-second-baseman.

44 O’s Wave Money Wand Building Winner: Signing Six-Time All-Star Roberto Alomar Adds Exclamation Mark to New General Manager’s Swift Revamping of Orioles, Baltimore Sun, December 22, 1995, articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-12-22/news/1995356066_1_gillick-orioles-rober-to-alomar. New manager Davey Johnson was informed of the signing in the dentist’s chair when he answered a call from General Manager Pat Gillick who said, Well, you’ve got yourself an All-Star second baseman. Johnson claimed to not feel any pain for the remainder of the day. Alomar finds O’s 2nd to none Six-time All-Star signs, three-year, $18 million deal, Baltimore Sun, December 22, 1995, articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-12-22/sports/1995356093_1_roberto-alomar-cone-orioles.

45 Macht, 47.

46 Macht, 46, 51-52.

47 Alomar Hitting His Prime at Plate, Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-05-28/sports/sp-9201_1_alomar-hitting.

48 Macht, 51-52.

49 Macht, 52-53.

50 Macht, 54.

51 Macht, 54.

52 Alomar Shows Some Spit and Polish, Los Angeles Times, October 6, 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-10-06/sports/sp-51279_1_sandy-alomar.

53 Alomar Shows Some Spit and Polish.

54 Alomar Shows Some Spit and Polish.

55 Umpires Vote to Boycott Over Alomar, New York Times, October 1, 1996, nytimes.com/1996/10/01/sports/umpires-vote-to-boycott-over-alomar.html.

56 Umpires Abandon Boycott, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1996, articles.latimes.com/1996-10-02/sports/sp-49681_1_umpires-working-game.

57 Macht, 57.

58 Macht, 59.

59 Macht, 62.

60 Cleveland Lures Roberto Alomar, CBS News, November 23, 1998, cbsnews.com/news/cleveland-lures-roberto-alomar/.

61 Cleveland Lures Roberto Alomar.

62 Cleveland Lures Roberto Alomar.

63 Alomar: Villain Turned Hero in Cleveland, Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1999, articles.latimes.com/1999/jun/27/sports/sp-50609.

64 Baines Goes Deep as Indians Move One Game From Sweep, Baltimore Sun, October 8, 1999, articles.baltimoresun.com/199910-08/sports/9910080129_1_roberto-alomar-baines-cleveland.

65 Red Sox Ace Out Indians, Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1999, articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/12/sports/sp-22770/2.

66 Score One for Friendship, Baltimore Sun, October 27, 1999, articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-10-27/news/9910270108_1_roberto-alomar-john-hirschbeck-holy-water/3.

67 Indians Trade Alomar to Mets, Southeast Missourian (Cape Girardeau, Missouri), December 12, 2001, semissourian.com/story/54375.html.

68 Indians Trade Alomar to Mets, CBC Sports, December 11, 2001, cbc.ca/sports/baseball/indians-trade-alomar-to-mets-1.257404.

69 Indians Trade Alomar to Mets, CBC Sports.

70 Indians trade Alomar to Mets, Southeast Missourian, December 12, 2001, www.semissourian.com/story/54375.html.

71 Mets Trade Roberto Alomar to White Sox, New York Times, July 1, 2003, nytimes.com/2003/07/01/sports/baseball/mets-trade-roberto-alomar-to-white-sox.html.

72 Mets Trade Roberto Alomar to White Sox.

73 Sandy Alomar signed with Chicago prior to the 2003 season.

74 "Alomar Jr. Joins Diamondbacks, CBC Sports, January 7, 2004, cbc.ca/sports/baseball/alomar-jr-joins-diamondbacks-1.516620.

75 Diamondbacks Trade Alomar to White Sox, Orlando Sentinel, August 6, 2004, articles.orlandosentinel.com/2004-08-06/sports/0408060185_1_dominican-republic-clemens-white-sox.

76 Notebook: Roberto Alomar: It’s Time to Retire," Seattle Times, March 20, 2005, seattletimes.com/sports/notebook-roberto-alomar-its-time-to-retire/.

77 Notebook: Roberto Alomar: It’s Time to Retire."

78 Hall Passes: Alomar 8 Short, Baltimore Sun, January 7, 2010, articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-01-07/sports/1001060140_1_hall-s-veterans-committee-john-hirschbeck-roberto-alomar.

79 Hall Passes: Alomar 8 Short.

80 Alomar, Blyleven Elected to Hall of Fame, Baltimore Sun, January 5, 2011, articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01-05/sports/bs-sp-hallofame-01-20110105_1_sandy-alomar-sr-pitcher-bert-blyleven-induction.

81 Alomar, Blyleven Elected to Hall of Fame.

82 Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick Enter Baseball Hall of Fame, USA Today, July 24, 2011, usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/hallfame/2011-07-24-hall-of-fame-alomar-blyleven_n.htm.

83 Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick Enter Baseball Hall of Fame.

84 Alomar, Blyleven and Gillick Enter Baseball Hall of Fame.

85 Robbie Was Best of the Best, Toronto Sun, July 16, 2011, torontosun.com/2011/07/16/robbie-was-best-of-the-best.

86 Alomar Falls Just Short in First Bid for Hall of Fame, Baltimore Sun, January 7, 2010, articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-01-07/sports/bal-sp.alomar07jan07_1_roberto-alomar-greatest-second-basemen-ballot/2.

87 Keegan Matheson, MLB Puts Roberto Alomar on Ineligible List, MLB.com, April 30, 2021. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-puts-roberto-alomar-on-ineligible-list

88 MLB puts Roberto Alomar on Ineligible List.

DEREK BELL

By Joseph Thompson

It doesn’t take long to make a lasting impression that sticks with someone throughout his professional baseball career. Some of the things Derek Bell said over the course of his career surprised many and outraged others. This did not seem to faze Bell in the slightest. What can I say? Bell would ask. I just have to go out there and be Derek, and Derek’s a pretty easygoing guy. I’m not going to let anybody intimidate me.¹ Bell’s childhood hero Dwight Gooden perhaps understood Derek the most. Derek wants to be liked by everybody. He’s an easygoing guy, easy to get along with, but he’s very sensitive. He needs to know the team is behind him all the way. He’s one of those guys that needs to hear it constantly, especially when he’s struggling.²

Derek Nathaniel Bell was born in Tampa, Florida, on December 11, 1968. He grew up with his mother, Chestine Bell, in Tampa and never really knew much about his biological father, Jimmie Lee Jackson. His father met Chestine while she was a freshman at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida. Jimmie had been a quarterback in high school and Derek’s mother once said that she had caught a pass from him. Derek was that pass, she said.³ She moved back to Tampa after her freshman year to live with her parents.

On April 24, 1976, Jackson was found dead in his Manhattan apartment with two gunshot wounds to the head. Chestine found out about Jimmie’s death seven months after his funeral when she contacted the family to inquire why Jimmie had not sent toys for Derek’s Christmas. She kept the news of Jimmie’s death from Derek until he was 14, when Jimmie’s sister, Lillie Golden, told him what happened. He was in college so I didn’t get a chance to see him, Bell said. Being that young, I know I had (a father) and I knew he was in college. Then they said ‘No, he passed away’ and then I was without a dad.⁴ Bell never looked for anyone to take the place of the father he never really knew. My mom’s my mom and my dad; she’s two people in one.⁵ It would be his mother, who worked as a medical records technician, as much as anyone, who gave Bell the support he needed once he started playing baseball.

Bell’s interest in baseball started in a section of Tampa that produced over 35 African American major leaguers. The Belmont Heights Little League was where Chestine wanted Derek to play. Chestine used her mother’s address in the College Hill Projects to make sure that Derek qualified to play in the league. We never lived in Belmont Heights, Chestine said in response to reports that Bell had lived there, but his grandmother did, and she was my sole babysitter.⁶ Bell joined the league when he was 9. It was there that he met his best friend, Gary Sheffield. Bell grew to a height of 5-feet-9 over the next three years and into what the boys in the league called a monster because that is what boys call boys who look like grownups.

Bell’s coach had to carry his birth certificate around to prove that he was a kid.⁷

Sixty-four boys who have played in the Little League World Series have gone on to play in the major leagues. Bell is one of 14 to play in both the Little League World Series and the major-league World Series.⁸ Bell and Sheffield were teammates on the 1980 Little League World Series team that lost to Taiwan’s Hualien County in the championship game, 4-3. A year later, Bell became the first two-time Little League World Series player who would become a major leaguer when he played on the 1981 Little League World Series team from Tampa. Bell struck out nine in five innings, but his Tampa team lost 4-2 to Taichung, Taiwan.⁹ Bell commented after being drafted by the Blue Jays in 1987 how important his time in Little League was in making him good enough to be a professional player. My time playing for Belmont Heights was very important, said Bell. That’s where I started when I was 9, and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I’m at now.¹⁰

A few years after Bell’s Little League career ended, University of Miami baseball coach Ron Fraser showed up at baseball tryouts at C. Leon King High School in Tampa to watch Bell take batting practice. Bell took two swings and then Fraser introduced himself to Bell, and told Bell’s coach, Jim Macaluso, that he would give four guys off his roster for this one guy. Macaluso later said that Fraser told him [h]e had only seen one other high school player with a better swing and that was Dave Winfield. He told me back then that this kid would make the big leagues.¹¹ Bell played center field his senior season at King, and he led the team in hitting with a .440 average and set a school record with 30 RBIs.¹²

The June 1987 amateur draft started with the Seattle Mariners picking Ken Griffey Jr. In the second round the Toronto Blue Jays selected Bell, by now a 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior center fielder at King High School. Bell signed a contract and was assigned to St. Catharines of the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League. It feels great, said Bell. I just want to play baseball, be successful, and get to pro ball.¹³ He batted .264 for St. Catharines with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs his first season. Bobby Mattick, coordinator of Blue Jays minor-league development, when asked about Bell’s progress as a hitter after his first season in the minors said, He was hitting .240 for a while there, but (manager Joe) Lonett was saying it was the hardest .240 he’s ever seen. This kid’s right out of high school and he was hitting breaking balls in that league – the better of the two rookie leagues we’re in. It’s really something. The boy’s got a chance to be an outstanding hitter.¹⁴ Baseball America ranked Bell the seventh-best major-league prospect in the league.¹⁵ Bell continued to impress over the next few years, winning the Most Valuable Player Award in 1988 while playing for Myrtle Beach of the South Atlantic League, and the International League MVP Award in 1991 while with the Syracuse Chiefs. He was named the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year in 1991, when he hit .346 in 119 games for the Chiefs.¹⁶ (He also played in 18 games in two short stints with the Blue Jays and batted .143.)

During his first trip to the majors (June 28 to July 14), Bell went 1-for-17, a .059 average, reflecting that he was used only sparingly and that most of his atbats were against Randy Johnson and David West. To Bell, he was not given a fair chance to prove himself. When the Blue Jays sent him back to the minors, Bell did not mince words when he told the press that he was not happy about being sent down. I was shocked and upset when Cito Gaston called me into his office to tell me I was going down again, he said. I didn’t think I’d be sent down anymore. I thought it was too soon to give up on me. They’ve given a lot of other guys a lot more chance to prove themselves.¹⁷ During his second call-up, at the end of the season, Bell went 3-for-11 with no extra-base hits. His first season in the majors was one from which Bell wanted to move on.

Bell arrived at Blue Jays spring training in Dunedin, Florida, in 1992 and made quite the impression. He sported a clean-shaven head and spent time talking trash with his teammates. He gave the impression, by one reporter’s account, of being the most merry fellow at the Toronto Blue Jay camp.¹⁸ The reporter, Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star, went on to say that Bell did not act like some rookies who come to camp all shy and reticent, minding their manners and keeping their distance. Bell is in your face, in everyone’s face, and yapping up a garrulous storm.¹⁹

Bell won the left field job out of spring training in ’92 but his first season in the majors almost ended as soon as it began. In the second inning of the second game of the season, Bell fractured his hamate bone when he fouled off a pitch from Tigers starter Frank Tanana. He returned to the club from the disabled list on May 9 where he started in left field and went 1-for-4 with an infield single against the California Angels in Anaheim.²⁰ He struggled a bit when he returned but he hit .310 in his final 71 at-bats at the end of the season. General manager Pat Gillick praised Bell for his maturity during the playoffs in key moments that helped the Blue Jays win the World Series.²¹

Bell was on the receiving end of one of the major leagues’ most famous practical jokes. On October 4, 1992, during Fan Appreciation Day, Joe Carter and Dave Winfield drove Bell’s Jeep out onto the field and it was announced that the car was to be given away to a fan in the stands. In Toronto, they gave us cars. Honda was a sponsor, so everyone had the same car. But Derek decided to drive his car. And he loved his Jeep. And he talked about his sound system – the sound system cost more than the car itself! Carter said.²² Bell got his car back, but the prank became one of the funniest moments in baseball history.

Bell did play a role in helping the Blue Jays win the World Series. He drew critical walks that led to the winning run scored in Game Four of the American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics and the tying run in Game Two of the World Series against the Atlanta Braves. Those moments and his batting average of .310 after the All-Star break did not prevent his time with the club soon coming to an end. Bell’s over-the-top demeanor in 1992 and into 1993 became somewhat tiresome for management and some of his teammates. Bell did not see the problem. I’ve always been this way, smiling and talking trash. Sliding into home plate, gee, I used to do that when we won games in Little League. Why should I change? Everybody around here likes my enthusiasm. Isn’t that better than if I were mean all the time and never smiled at anybody?²³

GM Gillick told the press that Bell needed to learn how to control his enthusiasm a bit, saying: He’s a good kid. And I don’t want to stifle his enthusiasm. But I think he’s starting to learn that there are situations where you have to control yourself, where you have to concentrate on the job you’re supposed to be doing. It’s just a matter of channeling that enthusiasm.²⁴

The final straw may have come during a 1993 spring-training game against the Tigers when manager Gaston publicly criticized Bell for letting a lazy fly ball fall in front of him for a hit and getting doubled off second base on a routine popup. Maybe you can get away with that kind of play in Triple A somewhere, Gaston said. That’s just being careless. Everybody likes the kid, and I know he wants to do well, but I think he gets caught up in trying to look good rather than play good.²⁵ Bell was traded to the San Diego Padres less than 48 hours later.

Bell had two solid seasons with the Padres, coming into his own offensively. In 1993 he hit .262 with 21 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, in 108 games he hit .311 with 14 home runs and 54 RBIs, with 24 steals. Despite the offensive outburst, he was traded at the end of 1994 to the Houston Astros in a cost-cutting move by the Astros. Houston manager Terry Collins liked the idea of adding Bell’s bat to his potent lineup. He dismissed the label that Bell was a good player who came with a lot of baggage. Players can get tags put on them. People say, ‘This guy is going to be a good player’ or ‘He has a chance to be a good player.’ I think Derek Bell has proven he’s a good player. He’s a complete player, Collins said.²⁶

Bell also dismissed the baggage label. I’m living for today and the future, he said. I don’t even have a clue (how the label) got started. I’ve never heard any of my past teammates or managers say I didn’t run the ball out, didn’t hustle or give 100 percent all the time. I guess when you get rid of a guy, you have to have some excuse.²⁷ While in Houston, Bell met Tom McCraw, the Astros hitting coach, whom Bell described as the closest thing to a father-figure he ever had. McCraw acknowledged that he treated Bell just like my son. I told him ‘I’m going to tell you what’s going wrong. I’m going to tell you how to do it.’ He’d huff and he’d puff, then he’d do it. Bell once made a baserunning mistake and McCraw reprimanded him in the dugout. Bell cringed. He said, ‘Don’t holler at me, I’m sensitive,’ McCraw recalled. I realized I went past the line and backed it up.²⁸

While with the Astros, Bell became one of the most lethal of the Astros Killer B’s alongside Jeff Bagwell, Sean Berry, and Craig Biggio. He was an MVP candidate his first year with the team in 1995, and in 1998 he had arguably his best season as a major leaguer when he hit .314 with 22 homers, 108 RBIs, and 111 runs scored. Despite his successes on the field, Bell could not help but get himself in trouble. On July 15, 1999, the day Astros manager Larry Dierker returned to managerial duties after brain surgery, Bell complained because he was batting sixth, not second. This soured Bell’s relationship with the club and the fans and was a contributing factor in his eventual trade to the New York Mets at the end of the season. Bell claimed the whole situation was misunderstood. I’m a team player, and I felt that I couldn’t hit-and-run and do the things I’m capable of doing from the six slot, he said. That’s the only thing I was upset about. Is that selfish? I want to win so badly. The only way I thought we could do that was with me batting second, making things go.²⁹

Bell’s salary jumped dramatically in Houston. He made $385,000 while with the Padres in 1994. His salary climbed to $1.45 million his first year with the Astros. By the time he left for the Mets in 2000, his salary was $4.5 million annually. This helped feed Bell’s desire to live a flashy lifestyle.

Bell had a pretty good season in his one campaign with the Mets and it was the second and final time he made it to the World Series as a player, but it was his lifestyle that all the media in New York wanted to hear about. Bell purchased a yacht named Bell 14 (for his number when he played with the Astros) and took it with him when he moved to New York. He lived in it while playing for the Mets because the cost of living was high in the city. Bell said he had more important things to spend his money on like his auto detailing business in Tampa called DB 14.³⁰ Sports Illustrated, in a piece about Bell’s lifestyle, wrote that he had over 2,000 hip-hop CDs, 100 DVDs, games for his Sony PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast, and over 100 pairs of alligator shoes. He also owned a gold-and-diamond baseball pendant and sparkling diamond studs, one for each ear. Also included was a six-bedroom house in Tampa, a four-bedroom house in a Tampa suburb for his mother, a 2000 Mercedes-Benz S500, a 1999 Ford Expedition, and a $50,000 diamond ring. Bell also gave his 22-year-old half-brother Marlon a ‘99 Mercedes, the magazine wrote. Finally, a 2000 Bentley Azure. The Rolls is fresh, said Bell. Florida State maroon, with a sweet interior, yo.³¹

Todd Zeile was a teammate of Bell’s with the Mets during the 2000 season. Zeile said that Bell would have custom suits made for him on road trips. The suits were orange, green, purple, white and black and they all had matching belts and shoes to go with them. The key to this was that he would only wear them once. Every time he wore a suit, that would be it. He would discard it. He would give it away.³²

A free agent after the 2000 season, Bell signed a two-year, $9.75 million deal with the Pirates. He played in only 46 games in an injury-plagued 2001, where he had 27 hits and a .173 batting average, and was demoted to Triple-A Nashville. During spring training in 2002, Pirates GM Dave Littlefield wanted Bell to compete for the starting right field position with Armando Rios, Craig Wilson, and Rob Mackowiak. Bell responded by making a comment to the press that essentially ended his professional career. Nobody told me I was in competition, he said. If there is competition, somebody better let me know. If there is competition, they better eliminate me out of the race and go ahead and do what they’re going to do with me. I ain’t never hit in spring training and I never will. Ask Littlefield and ask [manager Lloyd McClendon] if I’m in competition. If it ain’t settled with me out there, then they can trade me. I ain’t going out there to hurt myself in spring training battling for a job. If it is [a competition], then I’m going into ‘Operation Shutdown.’ Tell them exactly what I said. I haven’t competed for a job since 1991. If I don’t [start], then I guess I’ll be out of here.³³

Bell left the team on March 29 and was released two days later. The Associated Press reported that [w]hen a Pirates spokesman saw Bell leaving the clubhouse, he asked him if he had any message to pass on. Bell said only, ‘I got onto my yacht and rode off into the sunset.’³⁴ Bell’s yacht at the time was docked at the Twin Dolphin Marina on the Manatee River near Bradenton, Florida. The Pirates paid him over $4 million after he left the team. Mark Madden of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette commented, Derek Bell becomes the ultimate Pirate: lives on a boat and steals money.³⁵

In a 2020 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Bell contended that the Operation Shutdown quote was a hip-hop term and he wished that the reporter, Robert Dvorchak, had asked him to clarify what he meant. I worded it wrong, but I’ve always been that way, Bell said. I say what’s on my mind.³⁶ In the interview, Bell did apologize to Pittsburgh fans for not living up to the terms of his contract. I do want to apologize and let Pirates fans know that I’m very, very sorry that I didn’t live up to that contract. They expected me to do more, and I didn’t get a chance to do more. It haunts me to this day that I didn’t get a chance to show ’em because Pittsburgh is a great city. It’s a steel town. They love their sports. They love their players. They just want you to do well.³⁷

Bell largely avoided off-field issues throughout his career. When something went wrong either in his personal life or on the field, he often retreated to his home or his hotel room and played video games. It was his routine. Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield credited his mother for raising him that way. For a long time, he was an only child, and I kept him shielded, said Chestine Bell. Just go to school, play baseball, and come home. You’ve got to try and keep him on the straight and narrow.³⁸

The straight and narrow path seemed to abandon Bell a bit after his playing career. Bell sold the Bell 14 yacht because it became too much for him to handle. It got old.³⁹ Bell also fell victim to a few drug issues in 2006 and 2008. Things happen, he said. I was retired. Sometimes, when you retire, you want to have fun. I never got in trouble when I played ball. I never did drugs when I played ball. I ran into a little rut. You do the wrong thing, and things happen. I’ve moved past that. Lesson learned. I’m moving on way beyond that.⁴⁰

Bell’s health took a hit as well, but he didn’t stop engaging with fans. He regularly does autograph shows and is often asked to write Operation Shutdown on hats and balls. I’m a fan-friendly person.⁴¹ He had to quit helping his good friend, Ty Griffin, coach baseball at King High School and Tampa Catholic High School because of cataracts and the demands on his arms and legs. As of 2020, Bell’s fiancée had to help him get around because of his cataracts.

Bell never made an All-Star team but his play on the field is not something that people will remember him for. Brash, showy, and full of enthusiasm, Bell’s magnetism and energy in the clubhouse kept his teammates loose. In a YouTube video titled The MLB Player Who Lived on a Yacht During His Career, the narrator, Mike, describes Bell as possibly the most unique off-the-field presence in baseball history. The 9½-minute video details some of the stories that the narrator feels makes Bell’s career unique. He ends the video by saying that Bell’s story should inspire others because Bell came from nothing and had a prosperous and successful major-league baseball career. But that is not what he is gonna be remembered for, Mike says. In this story, talking about the players analytics isn’t the most important thing about them. The important thing is what made them unique as a human being and highlighting that. Sometimes baseball fans don’t do enough of that. They really don’t make them like Derek Bell anymore.⁴²

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Sports Illustrated.

NOTES

1 Rosie DiManno, Derek Bell Can Sure Talk a Good Game, Toronto Star, March 4, 1992: C1.

2 Tyler Kepner, Still Room to Grow: For Mets’ Bell, Numbers Haven’t Matched His Power, New York Times, March 12, 2000: SP7.

3 Thomas Hill, Bringing Up Derek: Bell Never Bothered by Life with No Father, New York Daily News, May 21, 2000.

4 Hill.

5 Hill.

6 Hill.

7 Kepner.

8 Three of the 14 (Ed Vosberg, Jason Varitek, and Michael Conforto) have played in the Little League World Series, the College World Series, and the Major League World Series. See Current and Former Major Leaguers Who Have Played in the Little League Baseball World Series, Little League, accessed April 27, 2022. https://www.littleleague.org/who-we-are/alumni/major-leaguers-played-llbws/.

9 Jane Gross, Tampa Team in Final of Little League Series, New York Times, August 28, 1981: A15. Taiwan Nine Retains Title, New York Times, August 30, 1981: 204.

10 Brian Landman, Put Me in, Coach // Life Lessons Are First on Baseball Diamond, St. Petersburg Times, June 14, 1987: 22.

11 Erik Erlendsson, Derek Bell Still Has That Swing, Tampa Tribune, October 10, 1999.

12 Brian Landman, Despite Disappointing Loss, King Had a Great Season, St. Petersburg Times, May 3, 1987: 9.

13 King’s Bell Signs Contract with Blue Jays, St. Petersburg Times, June 12, 1987: 5.

14 Allan Ryan, Blue Jays Stars of the Future, Toronto Star, September 13, 1987: E28.

15 Neil MacCarl, Blue Jays’ Other Bell Awaiting His Chance to Play in the Big Leagues, Toronto Star, February 28, 1988: G8.

16 Allan Ryan, Blue Jays Chase Seattle Reliever, Toronto Star, December 11, 1991: C6; Dave Perkins, Is Derek Bell the Solution to Jays’ Woes? Toronto Star, December 9, 1991: D1.

17 Marty York, Derek Bell Assails Demotion to Farm // ‘Wasn’t Given Fair Shot,’ Says .059 Hitter After Being Sent Back to Syracuse, Globe and Mail (Toronto), July 19, 1991: C13.

18 Rosie DiManno, Derek Bell Can Sure Talk a Good Game.

19 Rosie DiManno.

20 Tom Slater, Jays Lose Tough Duel, Toronto Star, May 10, 1992: G1.

21 Brian Landman, Jays’ Bell Hustles Back Into Action After Injury, St. Petersburg Times, May 3, 1992: 5C; Rosie DiManno, Bell Bubbles with Enthusiasm // Blue Jays’ Young Outfielder Makes No Apologies for Antics, Toronto Star, March 4, 1993: D4.

22 Larry Brown, Joe Carter Shares Story Behind Epic Derek Bell Car Prank, Larry Brown Sports, December 17, 2019. https://larrybrownsports.com/baseball/joe-carter-story-epic-derek-bell-car-prank/528745.

23 Rosie DiManno, Bell Bubbles with Enthusiasm.

24 Rosie DiManno, Bell Bubbles with Enthusiasm.

25 Jeff Pearlman, Yo Ho Ho! Thrown Overboard by the Astros, the Mets’ Hot-Hittin’, Hip-Hoppin’ Derek Bell Has Been Cruisin’ Since He Docked In New York, Sports Illustrated, May 22, 2000. https://vault.si.com/vault/2000/05/22/yo-ho-ho-thrown-overboard-by-the-astros-the-mets-hot-hittin-hip-hoppin-derek-bell-has-been-cruisin-since-he-docked-in-new-york; Ronald Blum, Mets Hope Hampton Is the Answer: New York Acquires 22-Game Winner, Along with Derek Bell from the Houston Astros, Vancouver (British Columbia) Sun, December 24, 1999: H12.

26 Bill Chastain, Present perfect; Others May Have Doubted Derek Bell in the Past, but His Manager Calls the Astros’ Outfielder a ‘Complete Player,’ Tampa Tribune, August 15, 1995.

27 Chastain.

28 Hill.

29 Pearlman.

30 Hill.

31 Pearlman.

32 SNY, Todd Zeile Shares Great Derek Bell Stories from the 2000 Mets, YouTube, May 11, 2018. https://youtu.be/WCML9LmwTbc.

33 Robert Dvorchak, Pirates Finally part with Bell, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com Sports, March 30, 2002. https://old.post-gazette.com/pirates/20020330bucs3.asp; Craig Calcaterra, Happy Anniversary to ‘Operation Shutdown,’ NBC Sports, March 19, 2014. https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2014/03/19/happy-anniversary-to-operation-shutdown/; Jason Mackey, It Haunts Me to This Day, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 15, 2020: C1.

34 Associated Press, Bell Packs His Bags and Leaves the Pirates, New York Times, March 31, 2002: G8.

35 Mark Madden, Baker’s Son Gives Us a Series Moment, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com, October 26, 2002. https://old.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/20021026madden1026p1.asp.

36 Mackey, It Haunts Me to This Day.

37 Mackey, It Haunts Me to This Day.

38 Kepner, Still Room to Grow.

39 Mackey, It Haunts Me to This Day.

40 Larry Brown, Derek Bell Has One Classic Mug Shot, Larry Brown Sports, December 2, 2008. https://larrybrownsports.com/darwin-nominations/derek-bell-mug-shot-d089. Jason Mackey, It Haunts Me to This Day.

41 Mackey, It Haunts Me to This Day.

42 Stark Raving Sports, The MLB Player Who Lived on a Yacht During His Career, YouTube, April 17, 2021. https://youtu.be/RqRMLrShHnQ.

PAT BORDERS

By Malcolm Allen

The first American to win both a World Series ring and an Olympic gold medal, Pat Borders played parts of 17 major league seasons (1988-2005) for nine different teams.¹ When the Blue Jays won consecutive championships in 1992 and 1993, he caught more innings than any American Leaguer both years and earned 1992 World Series MVP honors.

Patrick Lance Borders was born on May 14, 1963, in Columbus, Ohio. His parents, Mike and Donna (Holbrook) Borders, taught social studies and math, respectively, and later had another child, Todd. Mike played softball into his 60s, and competed against his