Pratt). Bell sprained his ankle during the first game of the NLDS, and missed the remainder of the playoffs. The Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, but were defeated in five games by the New York Yankees in the World Series. Following the season, Bell's contract with the Mets expired and the team made no effort to retain his services. He later signed a two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason, following the World Series. Pittsburgh and "Operation Shutdown" In 2001, Bell was the Pirates starting right fielder, but he struggled at the plate; by mid-May, he was batting only .136. Bell was sent down to AAA Nashville, but didn't do much there either: .162 with a home run in 68 at-bats. Nevertheless, he came back to Pittsburgh in mid-June and did fairly well over the next fifteen games, hitting .261 with four homers in 46 at-bats. Still, this only raised his 2001 big-league average to .173, and Bell did not play an MLB game after July 3, when he managed a hit and two walks in a win over Cincinnati; this would turn out to be his last major league appearance. In spring training , Bell learned that he would have to compete for the Pirates' starting right field job. Despite his poor 2001 season (and the fact he was hitting just .148 that spring), Bell did not feel that he needed to prove he was worthy of being a starter. On March 18, Bell told reporters: Nobody told me I was in competition. If there is competition, somebody better let me know. If there is competition, they better eliminate me out of the race and go ahead and do what they're going to do with me. I ain't never hit in spring training and I never will. If it ain't settled with me out there, then they can trade me. I ain't going out there to hurt myself in spring training battling for a job. If it is [a competition], then I'm going into 'Operation Shutdown.' Tell them exactly what I said. I haven't competed for a job since 1991. Bell left the team on March 29, was released two days later, and never played pro baseball again. Still on the hook for Bell's guaranteed two-year, ten-million dollar contract, the Pirates ended up paying him