Buddy Bell

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1972-1989)

AVG .279
HR 201
RBI 1,106
H 2,514
OPS .747
PIV 10,176
Position
Third Baseman
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 180 lb
Born
8/27/1951 in Pittsburgh, PA, USA
MLB Debut
1972-04-15
Last Game
1989-06-17
Awards
5× All-Star · 6× Gold Glove · Silver Slugger

Full name: David Gus Bell

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,405 8,995 1,151 2,514 425 56 201 1,106 55 836 776 .279 .341 .406 .747 10,176

Career AVG .279 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — +8.2% above league average.

Career OBP .341 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — +5.2% above league average.

Career SLG .406 vs. league average .383 across their career seasons — +6.0% above league average.

Career OPS .747 vs. league average .707 across their career seasons — +5.6% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1972 CLE AL 132 466 49 119 21 1 9 36 5 34 29 .255 .243 (+5%) .310 (avg) .353 (+2%) .664 (+1%) 72.8
1973 CLE AL 156 631 86 169 23 7 14 59 7 49 47 .268 .256 (+4%) .325 (avg) .378 (+4%) .703 (+2%) 196.4
1974 CLE AL 116 423 51 111 15 1 7 46 1 35 29 .262 .256 (+2%) .324 (-1%) .369 (-5%) .693 (-3%) -162.2
1975 CLE AL 153 553 66 150 20 4 10 59 6 51 72 .271 .257 (+5%) .327 (+1%) .374 (+1%) .701 (+1%) 90.5
1976 CLE AL 159 604 75 170 26 2 7 60 3 44 49 .281 .255 (+10%) .320 (+3%) .360 (+1%) .681 (+2%) 212.0
1977 CLE AL 129 479 64 140 23 4 11 64 1 45 63 .292 .264 (+11%) .329 (+7%) .401 (+6%) .730 (+6%) 613.3
1978 CLE AL 142 556 71 157 27 8 6 62 1 39 43 .282 .257 (+9%) .323 (+1%) .378 (+4%) .702 (+3%) 200.4
1979 TEX AL 162 670 89 200 42 3 18 101 5 30 45 .299 .265 (+12%) .329 (-1%) .397 (+13%) .727 (+7%) 692.2
1980 TEX AL 129 490 76 161 24 4 17 83 3 40 39 .329 .264 (+24%) .326 (+16%) .387 (+28%) .714 (+23%) 2177.5
1981 TEX AL 97 360 44 106 16 1 10 64 3 42 30 .294 .255 (+15%) .320 (+14%) .368 (+16%) .688 (+15%) 1001.5
1982 TEX AL 148 537 62 159 27 2 13 67 5 70 50 .296 .261 (+13%) .324 (+16%) .388 (+10%) .712 (+13%) 1561.9
1983 TEX AL 156 618 75 171 35 3 14 66 3 50 48 .277 .260 (+6%) .324 (+2%) .389 (+6%) .714 (+4%) 454.5
1984 TEX AL 148 553 88 174 36 5 11 83 2 63 54 .315 .259 (+21%) .322 (+18%) .384 (+19%) .707 (+19%) 2127.0
1985 TEX AL 84 313 33 74 13 3 4 32 3 33 21 .236 .257 (-8%) .323 (-5%) .390 (-14%) .714 (-10%) -488.5
1985 CIN NL 67 247 28 54 15 2 6 36 0 34 27 .219 .257 (-15%) .323 (-4%) .390 (-6%) .714 (-5%) -488.5
1986 CIN NL 155 568 89 158 29 3 20 75 2 73 49 .278 .257 (+8%) .325 (+11%) .395 (+13%) .720 (+12%) 1506.5
1987 CIN NL 143 522 74 148 19 2 17 70 4 71 39 .284 .262 (+8%) .331 (+11%) .415 (+2%) .746 (+6%) 905.1
1988 CIN NL 21 54 3 10 0 0 0 3 0 7 3 .185 .254 (-27%) .317 (-15%) .377 (-51%) .695 (-35%) -281.1
1988 HOU NL 74 269 24 68 10 1 7 37 1 19 29 .253 .254 (-1%) .317 (-5%) .377 (-1%) .695 (-3%) -281.1
1989 TEX AL 34 82 4 15 4 0 0 3 0 7 10 .183 .254 (-28%) .319 (-23%) .375 (-38%) .694 (-31%) -386.6
Career · 20 seasons 2,405 8,995 1,151 2,514 425 56 201 1,106 55 836 776 .279 — — — — 9,724

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2405 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home11984402591125699567.285
Away120745935601258102539.274

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1989-06-17 TEXNYYL 100000000
1989-06-16 TEXNYYL 301100000
1989-06-16 TEXNYYL 100000100
1989-06-14 TEXLAAW 211000110
1989-06-12 TEXLAAW 401000000
1989-06-11 TEXOAKL 100000000
1989-06-10 TEXOAKL 100000000
1989-06-09 TEXOAKW 100000110
1989-06-08 TEXCHWW 412000000
1989-06-07 TEXCHWL 402100000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 12 10 63 4 2 4
2B 1 0 0 1 0 0
3B 2183 2161 1798 4925 254 430
OF 136 127 299 10 4 4
SS 41 17 36 69 2 10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1972 CLE 3B 6 5 10 13 0 2
1972 CLE OF 123 115 274 10 3 4
1973 CLE 3B 154 153 144 363 22 44
1973 CLE OF 2 1 2 0 0 0
1974 CLE 3B 115 115 112 274 15 31
1975 CLE 3B 153 149 146 330 25 29
1976 CLE 1B 2 1 5 1 0 0
1976 CLE 3B 158 157 104 330 20 23
1977 CLE 3B 118 115 111 253 15 23
1977 CLE OF 11 11 23 0 1 0
1978 CLE 3B 139 139 125 355 15 30
1979 TEX 3B 147 144 112 364 15 22
1979 TEX SS 33 17 35 65 2 9
1980 TEX 3B 120 120 123 282 8 26
1980 TEX SS 3 0 0 0 0 0
1981 TEX 3B 96 96 66 281 14 18
1981 TEX SS 1 0 1 3 0 1
1982 TEX 3B 145 143 131 396 13 35
1982 TEX SS 4 0 0 1 0 0
1983 TEX 3B 154 153 123 383 17 29
1984 TEX 3B 147 147 129 323 20 28
1985 TEX 3B 83 82 70 192 16 22
1985 CIN 3B 67 67 54 105 9 13
1986 CIN 2B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1986 CIN 3B 151 150 105 290 10 28
1987 CIN 3B 142 141 93 241 7 17
1988 CIN 1B 2 2 8 2 1 0
1988 CIN 3B 13 13 6 24 1 2
1988 HOU 1B 7 6 43 0 1 4
1988 HOU 3B 66 65 31 114 12 8
1989 TEX 1B 1 1 7 1 0 0
1989 TEX 3B 9 7 3 12 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
First Base 12
Second Base 1
Third Base 2183
Shortstop 41
Left Field 11
Center Field 64
Right Field 66
Designated Hitter 24

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1988 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1986 Player of the Week Week of 1986-08-15
1984 Gold Glove 3B
1984 Silver Slugger 3B
1984 TSN All-Star 3B
1983 Gold Glove 3B
1982 Gold Glove 3B
1981 Gold Glove 3B
1981 TSN All-Star 3B
1980 Gold Glove 3B
1980 Player of the Week Week of 1980-06-27
1980 Player of the Week Week of 1980-07-11
1979 Gold Glove 3B
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-06-15
1977 Player of the Week Week of 1977-05-21

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1988 CIN NL $790,909
1987 CIN NL $870,000
1986 CIN NL $870,000
1985 CIN NL $751,297
Total Career Earnings $3,282,206

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1984 Most Valuable Player AL 22th 4.0 392 0
1982 Most Valuable Player AL 30th 3.0 392 0
1981 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 7.0 392 0
1980 Most Valuable Player AL 18th 7.0 392 0
1979 Most Valuable Player AL 10th 48.0 392 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Buddy Bell (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Chris Chambliss
    .279 avg, 185 HR
  2. 86
    Alan Trammell HOF
    .285 avg, 185 HR
  3. 81
    Jimmy Dykes
    .280 avg, 108 HR
  4. 80
    Lou Whitaker
    .276 avg, 244 HR
  5. 79
    Jeff Conine
    .285 avg, 214 HR
  6. 79
    Ron Fairly
    .266 avg, 215 HR

Compare Buddy Bell

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Bell's closest peers by position and era.

vs Gus Bell

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Frequently Asked Questions about Buddy Bell

What years did Buddy Bell play?
Buddy Bell played in Major League Baseball from 1972 to 1989.
Was Buddy Bell a pitcher?
No. Buddy Bell was a position player (Third Baseman).
How many home runs did Buddy Bell hit?
Buddy Bell hit 201 career home runs with 2514 hits.