What Color Is the Sky

The Route

Seven franchises in eleven seasons, eight stints counting Washington twice. Josh Bell has worn the uniforms of the Pirates, the Nationals, the Padres, the Guardians, the Marlins, the Diamondbacks, the Nationals again, and now the Twins. On June 9, 2026, in Minnesota, he hit the home run that put him at 200 for his career.

The Yard

Before any of the moving, there was a backyard in Coppell, Texas, and a father named Earnest. Nearly every afternoon, Josh hit in the backyard, aiming to clear the fence. Five or six balls over meant dinner out — practice that felt like time with his dad rather than forced work. Long drives to tournaments and a Wiffle ball machine did the rest. Earnest had seen a switch-hitter on television and decided his five-year-old could do the same. He took Josh to the backyard, reversed his hands and his stance, and Josh switched sides virtually every at-bat as a kid.

The family is educators. His mother and sister are professors; his grandmother taught the family to read. When Josh had a rough game, Earnest would ask him what color the sky was — a reminder to keep his head up. Bell turned that question into a children's book, What Color is the Sky, following his mother's footsteps as an author. He has run book clubs on social justice and mental performance, and he practices yoga.

The Count

He debuted with Pittsburgh on July 8, 2016, and hit a grand slam in his second big-league at-bat. He made the All-Star team in 2019 and won a Silver Slugger in 2022. The Pirates drafted him 61st overall in 2011 and paid him a $5 million bonus — a record for a non-first-round pick at the time — after he had planned to attend the University of Texas. In eleven seasons he has logged 1,407 games and driven in 748 runs.

He is 34, a designated hitter for the Twins.

Reporting: MLB.com, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Wikipedia, Andscape, What's Up Magazine. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.