Full Name – Heath Justin Bell

Born –September 29, 1977 in Oceanside, CA

Nickname – Heater or Taco

Hobbies/Interests – Taking care of the kids. Besides my fatherly duties, I enjoy messing around with toys and making movies on my computer, I’m actually pretty good at putting movies together. I’m just a big kid at heart and love going to places like Toys R Us and Lego Land Park in San Diego.

Player you would pay to watch today – I enjoy watching two kinds of pitchers, ones who know how to pitch and are crafty and others who throw hard, but know how to pitch and think about each pitch. Guys who don’t throw as hard but are good at what they do are Moyer of the Phillies and LeBlanc from the Padres. Guys who throw hard and know what to do on the mound are Sabathia, Clemens and Mike Pelfrey, who is a good friend and pitching great this year. Someone like Roy Halladay, while a great pitcher, is boring to me. I don’t enjoy watching his style of pitching if I have to be paying for it!

Favorite thing to do on an off day – Take it easy, spend time with the kids at an amusement park.

Favorite Foods – Chocolate chip cookies

Favorite Actor – Dennis Quaid and Tom Hanks

Favorite Ballpark – Our home park in SD, Petco Park is beautiful. For a crazy atmosphere, love the Phillies stadium where they have great intensity in the stands.

Biggest Influence for your career – My father, who was a marine and who I respect greatly. He played baseball with me growing up.

Favorite Non Baseball Sports Team – I love any Soccer game and team. In hockey, I enjoy the Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks. In football I like the Chargers because I know some of the guys. I also like the Jets because when I was called up to the Mets, my teammate John Franco made me pick a team to follow here in NY, so I choose the Jets and got to know some of their players. This year I will especially follow them because the Jets have now two of my favorite ex Chargers in LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie.

Toughest hitter I Ever Faced – Four guys, Marcus Giles, Andruw Jones, Jose Reyes & David Wright. Giles was always a tough out for me in the minors and the majors. Jones just owns me; I can’t seem to ever get him out. Reyes and Wright are no fun and give me a hard time in every at bat. Those two are good friends of mine and I hate giving up any hits to anyone let alone good friends. Last year, I gave up a long homerun to David and it made me very upset.

Talent I wish I had – David Wright because he owns this city. He has the good looks, which is something I don’t have. He is also very humble and to be able to be a star in NY, wow!  I’d also love to see how it feels to hit a homerun for the NY fans, it must be amazing!

First Job - Janitor

Favorite City to Visit – New York

Boyhood Idols – Roger Clemens

Favorite Team growing up – Chicago Cubs

Favorite Athlete in another Sport – Since I love soccer, it would have to be Wayne Rooney, the English Soccer star. I also enjoyed watching Wayne Gretzky play hockey.

Most Embarrassing Professional Moment – I had two. My first one occurred in the minors, there were two outs, late in the game. There was a little ground ball hit that I forgot to cover first base for, batter was safe, run scored and we lost the game. The other was in LA against the hated Dodgers, there was a bunt down the first base line, and I tripped on my open laces and fell like a whale to the ground. The fans in LA and some of the players still give me a hard time because of that play.

Feelings about being traded away by the Mets – I gave my heart and soul to the Met organization and loved the team. They gave up on me and I feel that I could have excelled here in NY, which is the center stage of baseball. When they traded me, I looked at it as a fresh start and I wanted to start proving to the Mets and all my doubters that they made a mistake in getting rid of me. I especially want to show the NY fans what they are missing. I am confident in my abilities and now when I face the Mets, I am passionate and try to do extra well to prove my point. I’d love to come back to pitch for the Mets one day. I think its karma, as my Met debut came vs. the Padres, my Padre debut came vs. the Mets, my first save was at Shea Stadium and I got that first ever save in Citifield on Opening Day 2009. It would make my career complete to one day come back and play in NY. I do enjoy SD, but if they choose to go in a different direction, it would be my first choice to come back and lead the Mets to a championship.

Biggest Thrill To Date As An Athlete – I’ve had three. 1) My Major League debut at Shea Stadium, running out of the bullpen and striking that first batter out. 2) Getting the first save in the history of this beautiful park, CitiField. 3) Making the NL All Star team in 2009. I had never been an All Star, it was an unbelievable feeling to be on the field with all those great players, even though I blew the game for the NL and took the loss.

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Tags: Heath Bell, New York Mets, San Diego Padres