Why David Bell's All-Star invitation 'emotional' for Cincinnati Reds manager
PHOENIX – David Bell will go down as the name on the National League All-Star coaching roster this summer.
But it will be Mike Bell’s All-Star moment as much as his brother’s when David joins Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo as the only non-Diamondbacks coach for this year’s NL All-Star squad in Texas in July.
“I just wanted to honor Mike the best way I could,” Lovullo said, adding he was allowed one outside, guest coach from the NL to invite. “It just made so much sense for me personally, and professionally, to ask David to join us.
“It was a no-brainer.”
Mike Bell, a one-time Cincinnati Reds third baseman and the the younger brother of Reds manager David Bell, was a longtime Arizona Diamondbacks minor-league manager and player development executive. He died in 2021, at 46, just two months after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.
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“It’s unbelievable how it still seems like he’s here," David Bell said during a media event in Phoenix announcing his All-Star coaching spot, at times appearing to hold back emotions, "and mainly because there’s so many people on Torey’s staff right now that were really close with Mike. So many staff members throughout the Diamondbacks organization, many players that are current Diamondbacks players or former DBacks players that I see around the league.”
More than a half-dozen of the players who helped the Diamondbacks reach the World Series last year and that remain on the roster were drafted or signed as amateur free agents during the nine years Mike helped run Arizona’s player development department.
“Of course Mike would be happy and proud,” said David, whose frequent conversations with his brother during those years also led to relationships with DBacks personnel that, in turn, influenced hiring some of them over the years to join the Reds organization, he said.
“What I’ve come to realize is I was the older brother but I learned so much more about life and baseball and leadership through Mike than he learned through me,” David said. “And I learned a lot about how to treat people, a lot about how to be vulnerable. A lot about leadership and what that really means.
“I’m grateful for every minute I had with him,” he said, “and to be able to still share those moments in conversations with people that I know meant the world to him is really special.”
Lovullo and David Bell were teammates with Triple-A Buffalo in the Cleveland system in 1995, and Lovullo spoke of his respect and affection for the Bell family that grew from there and included David’s and Mike’s dad, Buddy, helping mentor Lovullo as a young coach in the Cleveland organization.
”It’ll be a lot of fun for me to sit next to (David) and tap into the Bell family a little more,” Lovullo said.
Bell, who quickly accepted Lovullo’s invitation during spring training, said he hopes to take his young son, Gus, to Texas for the event. David said being invited was an "emotional" experience.
“I’d definitely like my family to be there and share this,” David said. “Family is a big part of this game for all of us. To be able to share these moments whenever we possibly can is great.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why David Bell's All-Star nod 'emotional' for Cincinnati Reds manager
