Heath Bell Named 2011 National Baseball Congress Graduate of the Year
⋅ Alumni
The role of the closer in Major League Baseball has evolved over the last four decades. In today’s era of seemingly instant offense, winning teams must have a group of effective relievers that can succeed in specific roles during the latter stages of games. No reliever is more important to a team’s bullpen than its closer. A dominant closer can often be the difference in reaching the playoffs through the grind of a 162-game season…or heading home for the winter earlier than expected. A team’s closer not only pitches with the game on the line in the most critical moments, but also serves as a leader for the younger pitchers in the bullpen. The 77th annual National Baseball Congress World Series congratulates its 2011 Graduate of the Year, San Diego Padres’ closer Heath Bell.
Since arriving in San Diego in a 2007 trade with the New York Mets, Bell has been one of the most dominant relief pitchers in Major League Baseball. Through July 20th, 2011, Bell is 26-18 in 330 Padres’ games with 118 saves and a 2.54 ERA. In 350.2 innings in a San Diego uniform, Bell has struck out 366, walked a mere 125, and allowed just 268 base hits.
Heath Bell grew up in Tustin, CA, little more than 90 miles from his current workplace at PETCO Park in San Diego. The right-hander attended Santiago Canyon College where he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 69th round in 1997. During the summer of 1997 Bell pitched for the Jayhawk League’s El Dorado Broncos, helping them reach the NBC World Series. Bell made two appearances in the annual tournament at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, allowing no runs in 1.1 innings of work.
Bell declined Tampa Bay’s offer, and officially signed his first professional contract as a non-drafted free agent with the Mets the following year. Now 33 years of age, Bell spent seven years in the Mets farm system before finally carning his first call to the Big Leagues in 2004. Ironically, Bell’s Major League debut came on August 24th against his future employers, the Padres. Bell pitched two shutout relief innings with three strikeouts, two of which came against sluggers Brian Giles and Ryan Klesko.
Bell finished his first year in the Majors with a 3.33 ERA in 24.1 innings, and averaged 10.0 strikeouts per nine. Over the next two seasons, Bell struggled with consistency, posting an ERA over 5.00 in both 2005 and 2006. Bell still showed flashes of potential greatness, striking out 78 batters in 83.2 innings during those two seasons. Because of his peaks and valleys, the Mets frequently shuttled Bell back and forth between the Majors to Triple-A Norfolk, difficult circumstances for any ballplayer. Bell remained mentally tough, though, and kept his ERA under 2.00 in the minor leagues, including a 1.29 mark in 2006.
Excited about his potential as a full-time Major League reliever, the Padres pulled off a trade for Bell prior to the 2007 season, shipping outfielder Ben Johnson and pitcher Jon Adkins to the Mets in exchange for Bell and fellow pitcher Royce Ring. With each year of dominance by Bell in the Padres’ bullpen, the trade continues to look like more and more of a steal, as neither Adkins nor Johnson have seen time in the Majors since 2008.
In his first season in San Diego, Bell pitched to a 2.02 ERA and struck out 102 batters in just 93.2 innings of work. The following year, Bell earned six wins out of the bullpen with a 3.58 ERA, and averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. In a very short amount of time, Bell had emerged as one of the most reliable setup men in the game. His role however, would change drastically heading into the next season.
Bell was named the San Diego Padres’ closer in 2009, which for any other organization seemed like an easy decision. San Diego had parted ways with their previous closer, and Bell had already proven his abilities in late-inning, pressure situations. Promoting Bell was a natural fit. The catch of course, was that Bell was replacing Trevor Hoffman.
Trevor Hoffman, the same pitcher who spent 19 years in the Major Leagues, 16 of them in a Padres uniform. Trevor Hoffman, the same pitcher who is baseball’s all-time saves leader with 601 and who will one day have his name enshrined in Cooperstown. It was certainly a tough act for Bell to follow. The expectations were raised enough simply by taking over the closer’s role, and now Bell was following in the footsteps of a legend.
