Bell Hits Stride in St. Lucie Bullpen

If he had listened to his coaches, Heath Bell probably wouldn’t have made it past junior varsity. It’s a good thing he listened to his heart.

Unwanted in high school and community college, and overlooked by major league scouts, Bell has become one of the top closers in the New York Mets’ organization. Signed as a free agent out of Santa Ana College for a few hundred dollars, Bell is 5-1 with a 2.50 earned-run average at Class-A St. Lucie of the Florida State League. In 43 appearances and 54 innings, Bell has saved 21 games with 70 strikeouts and only 19 walks. Batters are hitting only .197 against him.

“It’s kind of a weird story,” said Bell. “My mom and I were saying it would make a pretty good movie.”

The movie would start at Tustin High, where Bell played just one year of varsity baseball, and felt fortunate to even do that.

“When I was a junior, they said they were only keeping me in the program because I liked to play,” Bell said. “They never gave me much hope of playing.”

But after a strong season on the junior varsity, Bell earned a varsity spot as a senior. He began the 1996 season as Tustin’s No. 3 pitcher, but he finished it as the No. 1 starter and the No. 2 player in the county in ERA at 1.01.

But those numbers didn’t impress any college coaches. Bell walked on at Santa Ana because that was his only option. His first year, Bell was a freshman community college All-American. As a sophomore, he was the Orange Empire Conference pitcher of the year.

That was enough to catch the attention of Division I college coaches, but it didn’t interest major league scouts. Bell signed with Cal State Fullerton, but he wanted to play professionally even though he wasn’t drafted.

“Opportunity only knocks once,” Bell said. “I thought that I could get hurt at Fullerton or have a bad year.”

Bell’s opportunity came after a strong performance in the Alaskan summer league caught the eye of a Met scout. The scout didn’t offer Bell much except a plane ticket and a spot on the Mets’ rookie team in Kingsport, Tenn.

“The money was never important to me,” Bell said. “I just wanted to play pro ball. All I ever wanted was a chance.”

He got that chance, although at 6 feet 2, 238 pounds, Bell has the body of a catcher or offensive lineman. But in three minor league seasons, he has proven to have the arm of a pitcher.

At Kingsport in 1998, he tied a Met short-season record with eight saves in 22 appearances. The next year at Capital City, S.C., Bell set a franchise record with 25 saves. This season, with another four to five mph added to his fastball, he is on pace to break that mark.

Bell, 22, said the difference is his delivery.

“Before, I was too jerky,” he said. “But I’ve learned to use all my weight and power and put it behind my pitches. My motion is much more fluid. Now my fastball explodes and my breaking pitches are tighter.”

Coaches are finally noticing. Bell was selected to play this winter in Australia, but has decided to accept an invitation by his Capital City manager, Tim Foley, to play in the Dominican League instead.

“There’s a lot of triple-A and major league players in the Dominican,” Bell said. “If I can prove myself there, I might be able to get to the big leagues quicker.”

Bell hopes his chance comes with the Mets. But he knows another team could draft him this winter if the Mets don’t protect him on their 40-man roster.

“I’d love to play at Shea Stadium,” he said. “But the Mets have a lot of high draft picks ahead of me. They don’t have much invested in me.”

No one ever has. But that hasn’t stopped Bell.

LINTON SPARKLES

Doug Linton (UC Irvine) didn’t have the greatest start to his 2000 season, losing 11 of his first 17 decisions for the triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox. But Linton pitched a two-hitter for the Sky Sox this week in a 2-1 victory over New Orleans. The victory was Linton’s third in a row.

Linton (9-11, 5.32), who retired 11 in a row at one point, allowed one run and struck out 11.