Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell

  • Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues
  • By: Lonnie Wheeler
  • Narrated by: David Sadzin
  • Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell

By: Lonnie Wheeler
Narrated by: David Sadzin
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

The first full biography of the star Negro Leaguer and Hall of Famer

James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903-1991) was a legend in Black baseball, a lightning-fast switch hitter elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Bell’s speed was extraordinary; as Satchel Paige famously quipped, he was so fast he could flip a light switch and be in bed before the room got dark.

In The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell, experienced baseball writer and historian Lonnie Wheeler recounts the life of this extraordinary player, a key member of some of the greatest Negro League teams in history.

Born to sharecroppers in Mississippi, Bell was part of the Great Migration, the movement of African Americans from the southern states to the northern states from 1910 through 1930. In St. Louis, baseball saved Bell from a life working in slaughterhouses. Wheeler charts Bell’s ups and downs in life and in baseball, in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, where he went to escape American racism and major league baseball’s color line.

Rich in context and suffused in myth, this is a treat for fans of baseball history.

©2021 Lonnie Wheeler. Published in 2021 by The Overlook Press, an imprint of ABRAMS, New York. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Called Shot cover art
The Ultimate Yankee Book cover art
Yogi cover art
The Big Time cover art
A Band of Misfits cover art
History of Baseball for Kids cover art
For the Good of the Game cover art
Baseball Goes West cover art
Bums cover art
The Book of Joe cover art
Cheated cover art
COVID Curveball cover art
Sho-Time cover art
Amazing Tales from the Boston Red Sox Dugout cover art
Willie Mays cover art
The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats cover art

What listeners say about The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.