Pittsburgh Pirates

Bell was 18 years old when he made his pro debut in the Pirates' farm system in 1947. In both 1948 and 1949, he batted over .300, and led the Eastern League in hits during the latter season. A torrid start to his 1950 season at Triple-A Indianapolis — he hit .400 with 66 hits in 38 games — earned him a call-up to Pittsburgh. He debuted on May 30 playing both ends of a Memorial Day doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field, and went four for ten; then, the following day, against the Boston Braves, he maintained the same pace, with two hits in five at bats.^[3] He ended his rookie season with a .282 batting mark in 111 games as the Bucs' starting rightfielder.

Bell played for the Pirates through 1952, leading the National League in triples with 12 in 1951, and driving in 89 runs. On June 4, 1951, he hit for the cycle against the Philadelphia Phillies.^[4] In 2004, his grandson David hit for the cycle; Gus Bell and David Bell are the only grandfather-grandson duo in major league history to hit for the cycle.

But a terrible 1952 campaign, during which the Pirates compiled a franchise-worst 42–112 record and Bell slumped to a .250 batting mark in 131 games, led to his October 14, 1952, trade to the Cincinnati Reds for three players.

Cincinnati Redlegs/Reds

During his nine years with Cincinnati from 1953 through 1961, Bell achieved success and popularity. A four-time NL All-Star selection (1953–54, 1956–57), he enjoyed his best seasons in 1953, when he hit .300 with 30 home runs and 105 RBI, and in 1955, batting .308 with 27 home runs and 104 RBI. Four times, he recorded more than 100 RBI in a season and hit 103 home runs from 1953 to 1956.

Bell hit home runs in three consecutive at-bats on May 29, 1956.^[5] During the 1956 season, Bell, Ted Kluszewski and Bob Thurman became the second trio of teammates each to have three-home run games in the same season. The feat had been accomplished by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 (Duke Snider, Roy Campanella and Tommy Brown) and subsequently was equally by the Cleveland Indians in 1987 (Cory Snyder, Joe Carter and Brook Jacoby).

In 1957, Bell and six of his teammates – Ed Bailey, Johnny Temple, Roy McMillan, Don Hoak, Wally Post and Frank Robinson — were voted to the National League All-Star starting lineup, the result of a ballot stuffing campaign by Cincinnati fans. Bell remained on the team as a reserve, but Post was taken off altogether due to injury. Bell and Post were replaced as starters by Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Bell entered the game as a pinch hitter for Robinson in the seventh and drove in both Mays and Bailey with a double against Early Wynn.^[6]

Bell's last season as a regular outfielder was 1960, when he started 122 of the Reds' 154 games. In 1961, his final year with Cincinnati, he was a part-time player (starting 54 games) on the Reds' first pennant-winning team in 21 years. In the 1961 World Series, Bell was called on to pinch hit in Games 3, 4 and 5 and went hitless in three at bats. One day after the conclusion of the Fall Classic, won by the New York Yankees four games to one, Bell was the eighth overall selection in the primary phase of the National League expansion draft by the New York Mets.

New York Mets

Bell started the 1962 season with the Mets, and on April 11, 1962, he was the starting right fielder in the Mets' inaugural game. He became the first base runner in Met history after hitting a single in the second inning of an 11–4 loss to the Cardinals.^[7] But he collected only 15 hits in 101 at bats (.149) in 30 games with the expansion club.

Milwaukee Braves

On May 21, 1962, Bell was sent to Milwaukee to complete a November 1961 transaction in which the Mets acquired veteran slugger Frank Thomas. He batted .285 in 79 games (with 53 games started as an outfielder) to raise his 1962 season average to .241. But he had only six more MLB at bats as a Brave in 1963–64 until he was released on May 12, 1964, during the roster cutdown then in effect in the major leagues.