Rangers History Today: Buddy Bell's 1,000th Hit
On this date in Texas Rangers history, Buddy Bell became the second Rangers players to record at least 1,000 hits with the franchise.
The moment came on May 13, 1985, when the Rangers faced Detroit at Tiger Stadium. The Rangers lost the game, 7-4, and Bell’s 1,000th hit came on an eighth-inning home run off Dan Petry.
Bell came to Texas before the 1979 season as part of a trade with Cleveland that saw the two teams swap third basemen (the Rangers sent Toby Harrah to Cleveland). At the time, Bell was coming off a 1978 season in which he hit .282 with six home runs and 62 RBI. When he arrived in Texas, he found his offensive groove. In 1979, he hit .299 with 18 home runs, 101 RBI and finished 10th in Most Valuable Player voting. He also earned his first Gold Glove.
From there, Bell had at least 10 home runs in every season he was in Texas, while earning four All-Star Game berths, six Gold Gloves, and finishing in the Top 30 of MVP voting five times.
But, despite his steadiness, Bell outlived his usefulness for the Rangers midway through then 1985 season when the Rangers traded him to Cincinnati. Before Buddy was a Major League player, his father played for the Reds, so it was a homecoming for the Bell family.
Bell returned to the Rangers in the 1989 season and played just 34 games before retiring.
Bell finished with a career average of .279 with 201 home runs and 1,106 RBI, earning him a place in the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. In his post-player career, Bell earned managerial gigs with Detroit, Colorado, and Kansas City. Bell had just one winning season, coming with Colorado in 2000.
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