in fielding, bell was spectacular and often played far off the third base line, taking many basehits from opposing batters. in total zone runs (a defensive statistic) he is 9th all time (ahead of willie mays) and 2nd among all third baseman (behind brooks robinson). his range factor (another defensive stat) is 5th all-time among 3rd baseman. he was in the top 10 in fielding pct. 10 times and finished first 3 times.