STARKVILLE — The legend goes that while in the Negro Leagues, James Taylor Bell, also known as “Cool Papa” Bell, bet a teammate he could get under the covers of his bed at night before the lights turned off.

Bell ended up winning the bet, but not before taking advantage of a technicality to do so.

“He did it, but the roommate didn’t know that the lights had a timer on it that wouldn’t turn off immediately,” Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum Executive Director Derek Aaron said.

That story is one the more famous of Bell, someone born and raised in Starkville and considered to be one of the fastest baseball players who ever lived.

The first Mississippi-born baseball player to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, the 21-year baseball veteran played most of his career in the Negro Leagues. On Tuesday, Mississippi State baseball honored his legacy and career in poster form.

“It was one of my favorite projects I have ever created, knowing what he meant to Starkville as a native as well as a prominent figure in African American history,” said John Swinney, director for creative design for Mississippi State Athletics. “He was an icon, and it was so fun to bring to life.”

The Bulldogs honored Bell and Black History Month during their midweek game against Jackson State, one of the most prominent historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the country.

The first 250 fans who entered Dudy Noble Field received a poster of Bell, most prominently depicting his time with the St. Louis Stars, where he came up as a 19-year old and played for 10 seasons and nearly 700 games. 

Swinney designed the poster, given full creative freedom on the project to bring out the importance of this local baseball hero and his ever-lasting impact among the Black baseball community.

“Everyone involved was so supportive and very excited to honor a legend,” Swinney said. “… I can’t wait to get it framed and put up in my office.”

Among the things included is a quote from baseball great Satchel Paige, re-telling the same story of Bell getting in bed before the lights turned out.

Some inspiration for the poster was taken from former MSU athletics graphic designer Ali Meeler, who helped design “Cool Papa” Bell Plaza, a permanent addition to the left field area of The Dude in May 2021, using his illustration and color palette from his Stars tenure.

“We just wanted to find another way to recognize him and his significance to baseball and Starkville,” said Abbey Brown, assistant director for fan experience for MSU Athletics.

Bell’s legacy lives on both in the annals of Cooperstown, at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, and locally at the Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum.

Aaron, the first executive director in the museum’s history, has slowly curated artifacts to display within the museum especially of local sports legends like Bell, Bailey Howell and Jerry Rice, to name a few.

Among some of the recent additions include a bust of Bell used to sculpt the statue of him that was unveiled at Cornerstone Sports Complex last year. The piece, sculpted by artist Gareth Curtiss, was gifted to the museum by the city in late February.

“It was really interesting to find out that he could run the bases in 12 seconds, things like that, baseball trivia that I’ve learned from being here,” Aaron said of Bell. “… I don’t think people really know the history about him being here, being born here, so we encourage people to come to the museum, look at our exhibit and learn some more about him.”