James "Cool Papa" Bell
The Color Barrier

His Return

Cool Papa Bell came back to America in 1942 and played for the Chicago American Giants in the Negro League. He had left that team within the next season moving to the Homestead Grays in 1943 where he won two championships. When the team was going for their third consecutive championship, they lost in the final game. The next year with the Grays, Bell hit .396. He was 41 years old. 

Player Coaching

After his final season with the Homestead Grays, he became a player manager. When you become a player manager you play on the team but you also manage the team. Bell was a player manager for 4 years. He was a player manager for the Negro Farm Leagues. Cool Papa Bell finished his Negro League career with a .341 batting average. He also hit .391 in exhibition games against the MLB teams.