Derek Nathaniel Bell (born December 11, 1968) is an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, New York Mets, and Pittsburgh Pirates from 1991 to 2001. With the Blue Jays, he was a member of the 1992 World Series champions.
Amateur and minor league career
Bell is one of only eleven players to play in both the Little League World Series and the Major League World Series. In 1980 and 1981 Bell played for Belmont Heights Little League in Tampa, Florida, winning the US championship and losing to Taiwan in the world championship game both years. (Bell is also the only player to appear in the LLWS twice and later in the big-league World Series.)
When he reached C. Leon King High School in Tampa, Bell attracted the attention of the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto selected him in the second round of the 1987 June draft, with the 49th overall pick. Bell signed with Toronto, and made his debut that same year in the New York–Penn League. He emerged as a top prospect with the Myrtle Beach Blue Jays the next year, when he was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team. Bell's .344 batting average earned him the league batting title, and he also displayed substantial power, hitting 29 doubles, five triples, and 12 home runs in only 352 at bats. His success helped him earn a late-season promotion to class AA.
Although he continued to advance, Bell struggled for the next two seasons, batting .242 at AA in 1989 and .261 at AAA the next year, but drawing walks at an extremely low rate. Despite being younger than most players in those leagues, he re-emerged as a top prospect in , repeating AAA with the Syracuse Chiefs. That year, Bell batted .346 with 22 doubles, 12 triples, 13 home runs, 57 walks, and 29 stolen bases. Bell made the International League All-Star team and won the International League Most Valuable Player Award, and Baseball America magazine named him the Minor League Player of the Year.
Major league career
Toronto
Bell made his Major League debut on June 28, 1991, starting in left field in a 3-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Bell was slated to be the Jays' starting left fielder in 1992, but broke his wrist in the second game of the year and ultimately appeared in only 61 games that year as the Blue Jays' fourth outfielder. Toronto won its division that year and advanced to the World Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves in six games to capture its first championship. On Fan Appreciation Day in , the team played a trick on Bell. During a break between innings, they announced that a vehicle would be given to a lucky fan, and then outfielder Joe Carter (accompanied by Dave Winfield) drove Bell's green Ford Explorer out onto the field.
San Diego
Shortly before the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays traded Bell and Stoney Briggs to the San Diego Padres, in exchange for veteran outfielder Darrin Jackson. It was in San Diego where Bell first established himself as an everyday player. He was still somewhat unrefined as a player, batting .262 and striking out more than five times as often as he walked in , but he also displayed a good base of pure skills by hitting 21 home runs and stealing 26 bases.
Bell improved his batting average to .311 in 1994, despite off-the-field distractions. On April 25, Bell and pitcher Scott Sanders were arrested in New York City before a game against the New York Mets, as police claimed that the pair had offered undercover policewomen $20 in exchange for oral sex. The charges were ultimately dropped on October 25. In December, Bell was part of a 12-player trade between the Padres and the Houston Astros. Along with Bell, the Padres sent Doug Brocail, Ricky Gutiérrez, Pedro A. Martínez, Phil Plantier, and Craig Shipley to Houston, receiving in return Ken Caminiti, Andújar Cedeño, Steve Finley, Roberto Petagine, Brian Williams, and Sean Fesh.