(By Jonathan Lintner, The Courier-Journal)
Former Louisville Bats manager David Bell is set to join the St. Louis Cardinals for 2014 after spending last season as a the Chicago Cubs’ third base coach.
The Cardinals will soon introduce Bell as their assistant hitting coach, perhaps during MLB’s Winter Meetings ongoing now in Orlando, according to the Post-Dispatch’s report. It marks Bell’s return to the club that he played for from 1995-1997, which included a number of trips down with the Louisville Redbirds.
Bell, 41, served as the Triple-A Bats manager for just one season, when the team went 51-93 in 2011. That followed a three-year stint managing the Class A Carolina Mudcats, which were then a Cincinnati Reds’ Double-A affiliate.
The grandson of Gus Bell, a Flaget High School graduate and former major leaguer, is part of one of three families to have had MLB players from three generations. His father, Buddy Bell, and brother, Mike Bell, also made the show.
Bell played for the San Francisco Giants in the 2002 World Series, hit for a cycle in 2004 and retired in 2006.
The Cardinals’ opening came about when former assistant hitting coach Bengie Molina left St. Louis to join the Texas Rangers organization.
