History
The Original Bellingham Bells
The Bells take their name from the original Bellingham Bells who played at Battersby Field off and on from the 1930s to 1988. [1] The original Bells came to prominence under the leadership of Joe Martin (the namesake of the ballpark of the current incarnation of the Bells), who helped lead the Bells to 20 National Baseball Congress Washington State titles and multiple top five finishes at the NBC World Series during the height of their semi-pro prominence from 1946 to 1972, when the Bellingham Dodgers brought minor league baseball to Bellingham. [2] [3] [4] The original Bells played in leagues with the Alaska Goldpanners, Humboldt Crabs, Grand Junction Eagles, Anchorage Glacier Pilots, and Wichita Service Auto Glass.
1999
Seeking to put a team together to compete in the Pacific International League, former Skagit Valley College Head Coach, Rob Crawford chose to pay homage to the baseball heroes of the past and name the team the Bells. Wanting to create a "minor league feel', George Daniels (an Attorney from Philadelphia) joined forces with Crawford to bring a team into the PIL. The PIL was a member of the National Baseball Congress (NBC). the 1999 Bells started the season with a surprising 19 wins in a row and eventually went on to win the 11-team PIL and participated in the NBC World Series held in Wichita. The Bells of 1999 heralded local players from Bellingham, Skagit as well as a few players from across the US. Kevin Richardson (Bellingham High School) won MVP honors and set a PIL record for homeruns (19). Sehome Standouts, Ben Demond, Paul Lockhart, Adam Kim, Josh Turell were among local players who made the historic run for the Bells in 1999.
2010
The Bells finished third in the West Division with a 25-22 record. [5] Ben Ruff hit three home runs. James Wise picked up five wins on the mound. Cody Fassold threw 55 strikeouts and finished with an ERA of 1.75. [6] The Bells saw the worst attendance in the league. 11,488 total fans attended for an average of 499 per game. [7]
The Bells finished in non league play with an undefeated 4-0 record. [8] Chris Sturdivant finished with a batting average of .462. Chris Pearce hit one home run. Danny Hennigs finished with an ERA of 0.00. [9] 2,930 total fans attended non-league games for an average of 733 per game. [10]
2023
On August 25, 2022, former Bells coach Jim Clem was announced as the team manager for the 2023 season. [11]
Former Bell Matt McLain made his debut for the Cincinnati Reds on May 15. [12]
On June 19, Jack Erdman was honored by the league as one of the two selected players of the week. Erdman was on the mound for five innings against the Kelowna Falcons allowing no runs, ten strikeouts, and only two base hits. [13]
With their 7-5 comeback win against the Kamloops NorthPaws on July 6, the Bells have clinched their second consecutive First Half Title and third consecutive playoff spot. [14]
Four former Bells were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Detroit Tigers drafted 2021 Bell of the Year Bennett Lee while the Houston Astros drafted Joey Dixon. Will Simpson and Diego Barrera were picked up by the Oakland Athletics. Will McGillis who went undrafted signed with the Los Angeles Angels. [15]
The Bells improved on their 32-20 record from the previous season finishing 35-18, but they struggled in the second half and finished third in the North after winning the First Half with a 20–7 record. [16] Ryan Beitel finished with five wins on the mound while Daniel Paret threw 43 strikeouts. [17] The Bells saw 58,220 total fans for an average of 2,156 per game. [18]
The Bells swept the Falcons in the division series but fell on the road against the HarbourCats 6-7 after leading 5-0. Coleman Schmidt and Daryl Ruiz each hit one home run while Andrew Valdez brought in four runs. Sheldon Egger and Ryan Beitel finished the postseason with one win on the mound. Beitel also threw seven strikeouts and finished with an ERA of 0.00 alongside Trevor Moore. [19] Despite only hosting one home playoff game (game 2 of the division series), the Bells finished third in attendance for the playoffs with 2,612 total fans attending. [20]
On September 21, 2023, the team announced Jim Clem would retire from his role as head coach after twelve seasons with the team [21] Bob Ralston was announced as the new manager on October 19th. [22]
2022
The 2022 Bells finished first in the WCL North division with 33 wins and 20 losses. [23] Pitcher and "Bell of the Year" Trevin Hope led the league with an ERA of 2.64 while Ryan Beitel threw a 3.57 ERA and won five games on the mound. [24] The Bells saw 62,979 total fans for an average of 1,968 per game, third overall in the league. [25]
The Bells went undefeated in the division playoffs. They swept the HarbourCats in the semifinal and defeated the AppleSox in the final. The Bells fell to the Corvallis Knights in the WCL Title game 5-0. [26] This was the Bells first championship appearance since 2016. [27]
After the season, Hope was named WCL Pitcher of the Year. [28] Christopher Campos who played for the Bells in the first half of the season was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. [29] Former Bell Seth Martinez won the World Series that fall as part of the Houston Astros.
2021
The Bells introduced new branding prior to the start of the season. The color scheme was updated with Northwest Green being removed. [30]
The West Coast League and Bells returned for the 2021 season after COVID-19 shut down the league the previous season. The Bells finished second in the North Division with a 24–24 record. [31] The Bells made it back to the postseason but fell in the division series to the Pippins 1-2. [32] The Bells finished third in league attendance with 51,248 total tickets sold for an average of 1,464 fans per game. [33]
2020
The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019
The 2019 season proved to be an up and down campaign for the team. The Bells came within one game of winning the first half WCL north crown to put them in the playoffs, losing a heartbreaker to WCL North champion Victoria in the final game of the first half. The team's first half performance produced 5 all stars with Guthrie Morrison OF (Gonzaga), Jack Machtolf OF (Gonzaga), Troy Viola 3B (San Jose St), Jimmy Chatfield RP (Yale), and Nick Proctor SP (Cal - Berkeley) all representing the squad. Troy was also invited to participate in the home run derby and ended up leading the team with 8 homers on the year. The second half saw many new faces on a Bells squad that fought hard, but in the end was not able to make the WCL playoffs. Nick Proctor was a member the All WCL first team, while Jimmy Chatfield was named to the All WCL second team. The community in Bellingham rallied around the Bells, packing Joe Martin with 50,344 fans in 28 games for an average of almost 1,800 fans a game.
2018
The Bells dominated the WCL north in 2018 going 35-19 and winning both the first and second half titles for their division. The Bells had many stand out performers on their squad, including Matt McLain (UCLA) who was named the WCL top prospect as an incoming freshman. [34] The Bells were well represented in the WCL All Star Game with Justin Armbruester (PLU) being the winning pitcher, Taylor Davis (Gonzaga), Bellingham local Ernie Yake (Gonzaga), and team homerun leader Matt James (Notre Dame) all representing the team. The team also boasted 3 1st team (Ernie Yake SS, Nick Nastrini SP (UCLA), and Theron Kay RP (Cal-State Northridge), and 3 2nd team All WCL players (Zach Needham 1B (Lewis-Clark State), Taylor Davis RP, and Justin Armbruester SP). The first round of the playoffs featured a matchup between the Bells and the Kelowna Falcons, where the Bells were defeated in the deciding third game of the series. There was a large spike in attendance as the Bells saw a rise in popularity in 2018, with 51,635 fans making it to 35 for an average crowd of 1,475, good for third in the WCL.
2017
Despite falling one game short of the playoffs in 2017 after going 31-23 on the season, the fight for the post season provided a variety of very dramatic endings. Kyle Stowers (Stanford) provided two occasions where he was responsible for the walk-off hit to win the game. A non-league game ended in a Home Run Derby tie-breaker after extra innings, including an exciting finish and game-winning dinger by Chase Illig (West Virginia). Illig also was awarded Player of the Week mid-season, set the record for most home runs during the WCL season at 15 and was awarded WCL Player of the Year Honors. Hometown kid, and 2019 5th round draft pick Austin Shenton, was the WCL Batting Champ, finishing the season with a .409 batting average. [35] The attendance at Bells games also grew in 2017, finishing third in overall attendance, 36,569, which averages to 1,407 fans per game.
2016
The Bells made it back to the WCL Championship Series after going 32-22 in the regular season. The North Division Champs faced the Corvallis Knights of the South Division for the title in a hard-fought three-game series. Even though the Knights ended up winning the title (2 games to 1), the Bells still had a very successful season overall. Shane Hanon (Marshall University) was crowned WCL Batting Champ, finishing the season with a .331 batting average. The Bells also had one of their standout pitchers from the 2015 and 2016 season, Spencer Howard, drafted 45th overall in the 2016 MLB Draft to the Philadelphia Phillies and is #20 on their Top 30 prospect list.
2015
Following the WCL Championship Season, the Bells were looking to defend their title. Though they went 33-21 on the season, they were unable to make it back to the playoffs. The highlight of the season though was the 2015 WCL All-Star Game, hosted by the Bells at Joe Martin Field. The Bells were able to represent themselves at the game by having six players in the All-Star Game. These players include Justin Calomeni (now with the Colorado Rockies organization), Andrew Kemmerer, Bronson Larsen, Andrew Reichenbach, Dustin Breshears, and Aaron Stroosma. The Bells finished the 2015 season fourth in attendance, with 34,435 attendees to Joe Martin Field.
2014
The Bellingham Bells became the 4th team in WCL history to win a championship, going 37-17 for the season. David Bigelow set a WCL record for most games played, with 29 games in the season. As a whole team, the Bells had 20 saves on the season setting the record for the most saves by any team in WCL history. Their 0.202 opponents' batting average as a team tied the record set by the 2005 Aloha Knights. Bellingham saw 47,307 fans in the seats at Joe Martin Field in just 32 home games, with an average of 1,478 people per night.
Jim Clem
In the 25 years since the Bellingham Bells have been a summer collegiate team competing in the PIL and WCL, Jim Clem has been the longest tenured Bellingham Bells coach, spending twelve seasons with the team before retiring at the end of the 2023 season. Clem spent 11 seasons with the Bells as pitching coach/recruiting coordinator (2011 - 2021) and 1 season (2023) as head coach. Clem joined the Bells in 2011 as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator on Coach Gary Hatch’s staff. Throughout the years, Coach Clem was a constant force for the Bells, remaining in place as pitching coach for eleven seasons and working with six head coaches during that time. Clem’s pitching staffs were consistently among the league’s best, with numerous pitchers over the years being named to all-league teams and two (Seth Martinez – 2014, Eric Chavarria – 2021) being named WCL Pitcher of the Year. In September 2022, Clem was named the Bells head coach and led the 2023 Bells to a 37-19 record and an appearance in the West Coast League North Division title game. Two pitchers whom Clem worked with for multiple seasons, Michael Rucker (Chicago Cubs) and Seth Martinez (Houston Astros), are now part of Major League Baseball pitching staffs. Clem also worked closely with two-year Bell Spencer Howard (Triple-A New York Mets), the first Bells player of his time to make an MLB pitching staff. Howard pitched with the Phillies and Rangers for four MLB seasons (2020 – 2023). Howard is currently pitching in AAA with the New York Mets. Clem also served as the primary architect for the team’s rosters, working closely with the Bells head coach and front office/ownership to assemble players each season. He engineered one championship team, and many others that contended for titles, with seven post-season appearances in 12 years. Beyond his work with the Bells, Clem has long been known as a legendary coach throughout the area and has had success at various levels of the game. He has been named to multiple hall-of-fames, including the WIAA Coaches Hall of Fame, the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the Central Washington University Hall of Fame.
