George Antonio Bell Mathey (born October 21, 1959, San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball. He played in 12 major league seasons, for three teams: Toronto Blue Jays (1981, 1983-1990), Chicago Cubs (1991) and Chicago White Sox (1992-1993). October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... San Pedro de Macorís is a port city in the Dominican Republic, the capital of San Pedro de Macorís Province, and home of the Universidad Central del Este. ... The position of the left fielder A left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder in the sport of baseball who plays defense in left field. ... MLB logo Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world. ... The Toronto Blue Jays are a Major League Baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, notable for being the first team from outside the United States to win the World Series. ... The Chicago Cubs are a Major League Baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. ... The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. ...

Bell was discovered in the Dominican Republic by Blue Jays' scout Epy Guerrero. Bell's first season as a regular was in 1984, when he teamed with Lloyd Moseby and Jesse Barfield to form a very successful outfield for the Blue Jays. That outfield, along with some solid starting pitching, led the Blue Jays to their first-ever division title in 1985. Despite Bell's .321 average in the ALCS, they lost to the Kansas City Royals. Lloyd Anthony Moseby (born November 5, 1959 in Portland, Arizona) was a Major League Baseball player. ... Jesse Lee Barfield (born October 29, 1959 in Joliet, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball right fielder who played for the Toronto Blue Jays (1981-89) and New York Yankees (1989-92). ... The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. ...

His best season came in 1987, as he led the Blue Jays in a stirring race for the division title, ultimately falling 2 games short of the Detroit Tigers. Bell finished with a .308 BA, .352 OBP, .608 SLG, 111 R, 47 HR and 134 RBI. He was awarded the American League MVP award that year. The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. ... Batting average is a statistic in both baseball and cricket measuring the performance of baseball hitters and cricket batsmen, respectively. ... In baseball statistics, on base percentage (OBP) (sometimes referred to as on base average (OBA)) is a measure of how often a batter gets to first base for any reason other than a fielding error or a fielders choice. ... In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the power of a hitter. ... In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around all three bases and returns safely to home plate. ... For other uses of the phrase see Home run (disambiguation) In baseball, a home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run himself (along with a run for each runner who was already on... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... The American League (or formally the American League of Professional Baseball Clubs) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States of America and Canada. ... In the game of baseball, both amateur and professional, it is tradition to annually recognize the one player in the league who has contributed the most to the success of the players team. ...

Bell became the first player in the major leagues to hit 3 HR on opening day in 1988, but the rest of the year was not up to his standard of the past few years, as he had some conflicts with Blue Jays manager Jimy Williams. Bell became a free agent after the 1990 season and signed with the Cubs. After one year with the Cubs, he was traded to the White Sox for Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson. James Francis Jimy Williams (born October 4, 1943 in Santa Maria, California) is a former manager in Major League Baseball. ... Samuel Peralta Sosa, better known as Sammy Sosa (born November 12, 1968 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic), is a professional Major League baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles. ...

He played two years with the White Sox, recording 25 HR and 112 RBI in 1992. In 1993 he suffered a poor season, in part due to a knee injury. He was benched in the ALCS against his former team, the Blue Jays, and was released at the end of the season, after which he announced his retirement.

Bell was a powerful free-swinger, usually posting a good slugging average but a poor on-base average. He was known as a poor defensive player, and played mainly as a designated hitter during the last two years of his career. A designated hitter, or DH, is a baseball player who is chosen at the start of a game to bat in place of the pitcher. ...

On May 28, 1989, while with the Blue Jays, Bell hit a walkoff homerun in a 7-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the final major league game played at Exhibition Stadium. Bell also homered in the first game at the Blue Jays' new park, the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre), on June 5, eight days later. May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. ... Exhibition Stadium was a stadium that formerly stood at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds in Toronto, Ontario. ... The Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), is a multi-purpose stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower near the shores of Lake Ontario. ... June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ...

See also

• Players from Dominican Republic in MLB

This is an alphabetical list of 385 baseball players from the Dominican Republic who have played in Major League Baseball between 1956 and 2004. ...

External link

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis