Jay Bell talks birthdays, mascots, Trash Pandas

Jay Bell’s ties to the D-backs run deep. He was the team’s first Major League player, having signed a free-agent deal just before the Expansion Draft, and was a key part of the teams that won three National League West titles in four seasons from 1999-2002.

An iconic image from Game 7 of the 2001 World Series is of Bell scoring the game-winning run and leaping into the arms of Matt Williams.

Bell was the team’s bench coach from 2005-06, and his family played a role in why the D-backs’ mascot is a bobcat.

As part of our “Catching Up With” series, I spoke to Bell recently via FaceTime:

Are you in your backyard, Jay?
I am coming to you live from my backyard.

So, this year you’re going to be managing a team called the something Pandas?
The Trash Pandas -- come on, don’t play stupid with me, Stevie. I know your tricks.

Yes, the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Double-A team for the Angels. You were managing [Class A Advanced] in the Yankees system before that, right?
I really enjoyed working for the Yankees and made tons of friends of there, built some strong relationships, but I was looking again to go to the next level. I spent three years managing there. It was just time to leave the Yankees. And I was out for a month, maybe a little longer than that. Then all of a sudden, within a week I had chatted with a few different teams.

The one team that did a formal interview was the Angels. It’s a great situation -- the Spring Training facility is eight miles from my house. I also really appreciate a lot of what they said. In my opinion, part of player development is winning, and the Angels believe in that. So I think coming into the Angels organization at this time is really positive. The four weeks that I was there in camp, I really enjoyed it, had a great time, was looking forward to the season.

I had made a phone call when I found out I was getting that Double-A job, and it turns out that [former D-backs front office executive] Ralph Nelson is the CEO/owner of that team in Madison. I called him up and told him I was going to be his manager, and he was thrilled. I had an opportunity in January to go to Madison, Ala., to see what was going on there and the greater Huntsville area. They’re excited about having baseball all over again. I’m hoping that we can get started and have at least a portion of the season there. That would be ideal.

We’ve talked about this before, but you’ve really enjoyed managing, haven’t you?
I love it. I love everything about it. I loved playing. To have had the opportunity to play 20 years was more than I ever dreamed of being able to do, but I tell you the managing stuff, I love it every bit as much or more than I did playing.

You went right into coaching when Bob Melvin hired you here as a bench coach in 2005.
I owe him a ton. He could have easily gone elsewhere to find somebody to do that job. I know I was only there two years, but it meant more to me than he will ever know to have the opportunity to learn from somebody like him who was very passionate about the game, very methodical about the game. It forced me to think about the game in a way that I had never really thought about it before.

He held me to a high standard being his bench coach. He expected things to run a particular way, especially during Spring Training, and it forced me to seek excellence in that arena. So I loved working for him. And then fast forward to my years in Cincinnati -- I loved working for [manager] Bryan [Price]. He was similar, a little bit different, but similar in his expectations. From the managers that I played for and then to work underneath those two particular guys was extremely beneficial.

Last year was the 20th birthday for the D-backs’ mascot, D. Baxter the Bobcat, and they told the story again about how it was your son, Brantley, who was 5 or 6 at the time, was the one that came up with the idea for it to be a Bobcat. Does he still remember that?
Oh yeah, he remembers it. We still talk about it from time to time. It’s still kind of a neat thing. We had cats around the house when he was growing up. I mean, we’ve had them around the house for years mainly because I forgot Laura’s birthday once.

Wait, I haven’t heard this story. What does you forgetting her birthday have to do with it?
Our third year of marriage, I wasn’t making any money at the time and I forgot about her birthday. And on the way to pick her up that night I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I forgot her birthday!’ Now we had been at the mall the night before and stopped by the pet store and she liked the cats. And I had to do something. So I stopped at the mall on the way to pick her up and bought a cat for $20 and that was the start of us having cats around the house. So Brantley was a cat lover, and at that time Chase Field was called Bank One Ballpark, the BOB, so it takes a 5-year-old to put it all together and he said, ‘Dad it’s the BOB, and if it was a cat it could be a Bobcat.’ He didn’t have any idea at that time that bobcats were prevalent in Arizona. I told the front office about his idea, and they liked it.

I’ve seen you cross home plate with the Game 7 winning run about 10 times over the last month. Have you watched any of the replays?
I’ve seen them. I watched one the other night. It’s amazing how quickly the time has gone. I mean you’re talking about it being 20 years coming up next season.

I always thought it was perfect that Matt Williams was waiting for you at home plate since you were the two veterans that had been there from Day 1 of the franchise.
I think about that every time I see the photo or see the replay of me jumping into his arms. That was such a special time and a great group of guys.