"They made a huge sacrifice," said Bell, who was entering fifth grade at the time of the move. "I think sometimes that's what it takes for a kid. With basketball and football, it's not as bad. When you play baseball, you need to be in a state that you can play all year around."
By ninth grade, Bell had already garnered attention.
"He started as a freshman playing varsity, and that never happens in the southeast part of the state," said Nick Presto, the Orioles' Southeast scouting supervisor. "This guy was on the map for a long time."
Brian Joros, who coached Bell his sophomore and junior seasons at Boynton Beach High, managed against him as a freshman. He remembers the first time he saw the lanky second baseman.
"He made three errors in that first game and even making those errors, I said to my coaches, 'That kid is going to play in the big leagues some day.' " Joros said. "He was that good, that smooth, his actions were that polished."
Before his 6-foot-3 frame filled out and he became a powerful, switch-hitting corner infielder, Bell was a five-tool shortstop, winning a district title game by stealing home.
Entering his senior year, he was a second-team preseason All American. But he didn't live up to expectations. He switched schools, his conditioning routine suffered, his numbers dropped.
And he was quietly dealing with the death of his father.
* * *
Bruce Bell wasn't easy on his sons, Jacob, a basketball star and the elder by two years, and Josh. He was always at their games. He always demanded their best.
"He knew Josh had the talent and he kept him focused," Jacqueline Bell said. "Josh would want to go to the movies and he'd say, 'Have you hit 30 times yet? Have you taken 100 ground balls yet?' He kept him in line that way."
An accomplished high school athlete in Illinois, Bruce Bell was in his early 40s when he began struggling with kidney-related issues. After a two-year illness, he succumbed to kidney failure in June 2004 at age 44.
"It was extremely difficult," Josh Bell said. "I went from always having him around and talking to him about baseball to not having that one guy in my life that was there all the time. ... I knew he was real sick, and it was better that way for him not to be here. But for him not to share the dream with me is pretty hard."
Bell's tight-knit family grew closer. His mother took on an even larger role.
