George Bell has surprised many people with his play in left field. He might not win a Gold Glove, but he hasn`t embarrassed himself.
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”I`ve been here since 1984 except for one year-1987-and I haven`t seen anyone play left field better for us,” said manager Don Zimmer, who defended Bell`s glove throughout spring training. ”I tell you, he`s made some great plays. He`s a great athlete. You see him in batting practice taking grounders, and he can catch the ball.”
The rave reviews come one season after Bell feuded with Toronto management over its attempt to make him a full-time designated hitter. Bell took personal offense.
”They didn`t think I could play the outfield, but you`ve seen that I can,” Bell said. ”I`ll tell you one thing-I always play hard when I`m healthy.”
Going into Thursday night`s game, Bell has been charged with one error in 15 games in the outfield. That`s still a pace for 10 on the season. He had five in 106 games in the outfield a year ago.
First mistake: Paul Assenmacher`s instincts cost him a shot at the major-league record for errorless games to start a career. He committed his first miscue in the ninth inning Wednesday night when he bobbled Pedro Guerrero`s chop.
”If he catches it, it`s a double play, and if he lets it go it`s a double play,” Zimmer said.
Assenmacher went 323 games without an error, nine short of Rob Murphy`s record of 332.
Un-uniformed: The umpires weren`t accused of favoring the Reds, but they dressed like them when their luggage was lost on a connecting flight from Houston. The umps wore Cincy road grays with red warmup jackets and caps.