Wally Bell remembered fondly by MLB players on Twitter
Veteran umpire Wally Bell died on Monday after suffering a heart attack. Bell umpired the NLDS between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates this season, which was one of his many accomplishments. That was his seventh division series he umpired. He also umpired two All-Star Games, three League Championship Series and a World Series.
On his umpire bio, Bell listed returning to the field from open heart surgery as his proudest moment as an umpire. Bell had quintuple bypass surgery on Feb. 18, 1999.
Bell was 48 and leaves behind two young children, a brother and a sister, per WFMJ.
Bell was remembered fondly on Monday. A number of baseball players sent their positive thoughts about Bell via Twitter. You can see a compilation of those tweets below:
My condolences to Wally Bell's family. He always had great spirits on the field, i will always remember how he teased me about my beard.
— Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19) October 15, 2013
Wally Bell was a wonderful man! A true professional. Prayers go out to his family. He will be missed.
— AJ Burnett (@wudeydo34) October 15, 2013
Just heard the news & devastated about the passing of Wally Bell. A great umpire, a great man.My thoughts & prayers are with his family.
— Jake Peavy (@JakePeavy_44) October 15, 2013
Very sad to hear about the passing of Wally Bell. One of my favorite umpires in the game. RIP Wally.
— Brian Dozier (@BrianDozier) October 15, 2013
Prayers go out to Wally Bell and his family. I truly respected Wally and his professionalism. He definitely will be missed. RIP Wally.
— Josh Donaldson (@BringerOfRain20) October 15, 2013
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Wally Bell. So sad to hear will remember him tomorrow as I take the field
— Shane Victorino (@ShaneVictorino) October 15, 2013
Sad to hear about the passing of MLB umpire Wally Bell. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends…
— Brad Ziegler (@BradZiegler) October 15, 2013
Prayers to the family of Wally Bell. Sad to hear of his passing. He was the plate umpire in my first career win. #RIP
— Daniel Hudson (@DHuddy41) October 15, 2013
R.I.P. Wally Bell. Was one of my favorite umpires in the game.
— Jeremy Affeldt (@JeremyAffeldt) October 15, 2013
Fun team win 2nite but thoughts and prayers are with family and other umpires grieving loss of Wally Bell.
— AJ Ellis (@AJEllis17) October 15, 2013
Sad to hear the news about umpire Wally Bell. Thoughts and prayer are with his family and friends.
— Jason Motte (@JMotte30) October 15, 2013
Thoughts and prayers go out to Wally Bells family and friend! He's gonna be missed, awesome individual! #RIPWallyBell
— Dexter Fowler (@DexterFowler24) October 15, 2013