Congrats To Buddy Bell

[whalberg11]

Congrats to buddy bell who was announced as Royals new manager today. Honestly I dont think any manager can help this team, but we'll see. I liked Bell when he was the Tigers coach, but has never really proved himself to be a winner.

Bell, who had been bench coach for the Cleveland Indians, was named as the permanent replacement to Tony Pena on Tuesday morning.

The former All-Star third baseman was among five candidates, winning the job over Art Howe, Terry Collins, Jerry Manuel and interim manager Bob Schaefer.

Bell, who agreed to a contract through 2007, managed the Detroit Tigers for three seasons and the Colorado Rockies for two-plus seasons. His combined record was 345-462, a winning percentage of .428.

His greatest success as a skipper came in 1997 when he directed the Tigers to a turnaround season. They were a franchise-worst 53-109 in 1996, Bell's first as manager, but the record improved to 79-83 the next year.

Bell, 53, faces a daunting challenge. He takes over a club mired in the American League Central cellar with a 13-37 record. The Royals are 20 1/2 games behind, so a retooling program is in order.

After losing 104 games last year, the Royals launched a rebuilding season based around younger players. They knew they'd take their lumps but didn't figure on quite this many.

Pena resigned on May 10 when the club had an 8-25 record. Schaefer, the bench coach, took over and the club perked up, going 5-6. However, on a just-completed road trip, the Royals were 0-6 and the timetable on change accelerated.

As happens in the managing business, Bell was fired from his first two Major League jobs. The Tigers dismissed him on Sept. 1, 1998, after the team was 52-85 in his third season. The Rockies axed Bell after a 6-16 start in his third year with them.

The Royals wanted not only a manager with Major League experience but one who had worked well with young players and had the patience to wait while players developed.

Bell had been director of Minor League instruction for the Chicago White Sox and worked as a farm system batting coach for the Indians.

Called "Buddy" but named David Gus Bell, he comes from a rich baseball background.

His father, outfielder Gus Bell, spent 15 years in the Majors and was a standout for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1950s.

Buddy Bell played 18 years in the Majors and combined with his father to set the record for most hits, 4,337, by a father-son duo in history. Now the mark is second to Bobby and Barry Bonds' 4,348.

Bell broke in with the Indians in 1972 and spent seven years with them. Then he was traded to the Texas Rangers for infielder Toby Harrah.

He finished his playing career in 1989 after playing for the Reds, the Houston Astros and, briefly, the Rangers again. His career average was .279 with 2,514 hits, 201 home runs and 1,106 RBIs in 2,405 games.

Bell's sons, David, Michael and Ricky, also developed into professional players. David Bell, currently with Philadelphia, has played for several Major League teams and was the San Francisco Giants' third baseman in the 2002 World Series.

Buddy Bell becomes the 14th full-time manager in Royals history. The list includes Whitey Herzog, who had a club-high 410 victories, and Dick Howser, who won 404 games and directed the 1985 Royals to the World Series championship.

Bell will begin his tenure with a new hitting coach. Royals Minor League instructor Andre David was promoted Monday after Jeff Pentland was dismissed.

(http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NAS...t=.jsp&c_id=kc)

[RockSports17]

Still say Tony Pena was a better manager. Maybe a experienced manager will do the Royals well.

Hopefully Tony Pena finds another position with another team, cause he's a great baseball guy.

[Killah Sith]

Pena's problem was he ran too loose of a ship. There was no consquence for making the same mental errors again and again. Pena lacked discipline in the clubhouse and that can't happen when you have a team full of rookies and 2nd year players. They need to learn how to become professionals, put in there work and be on time. I liked Pena, but the more of this stuff that comes out I'm glad he is gone.