C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Trevor Bell walked into Tempe Diablo Stadium, fresh off the Reds' bus from Goodyear and already in uniform. His teammates were already inside, but Bell was going through a gauntlet of sorts. A former Angel, Bell had hugs and smiles for everyone. The parking lot attendant. The security guard. The groundskeepers.

And then he got to former teammates and coaches. All welcomed with the same smile and a hug.

It's rare to see Bell, 27, without a smile. That could be genetic, as the Bell family has been providing thousands of smiles for many years. Bell is the grandson of Bob Bell, who was Bozo the Clown on WGN-TV in Chicago from 1960 to 1984.

Bell has a tattoo of his grandfather on his left arm, as well as a pair of clown shoes with the words, "The shoes will never be filled."

Bob Bell, who died in 1997, serves as a role model for his grandson, a first-round pick of the Angels in 2005 and now a reliever in the Reds' spring camp. Trevor Bell's heard all the stories of his grandfather's work ethic, and uses that as inspiration for his own work as a baseball player.

"He did it for 25 years straight -- if I could play baseball for 25 years, that'd be incredible," Bell said of his grandfather's tenure on Bozo's Circus. "It'd take him three-and-a-half hours to put his makeup on every day. He'd be up at 3:30 in the morning putting on his makeup and he did it for the kids, and that's all he did it for. He did it to lighten kids' days, it was something that was totally selfless. It's a lost thing nowadays in the arts. It's still lost in the arts. As far as acting, baseball, it's keeping those things alive."

The selflessness is something else Bell shares with his grandfather.

Although Bell reached the big leagues in 2009 at the age of 22 and made a total of 52 appearances and 11 starts in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Angels released him in 2012 after putting up an 8.27 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A. He didn't find another job in baseball until after the season, when he was signed by the Tigers. His stint with the Tigers didn't work out and he asked for his release from the team at the end of spring training. Detroit obliged.

At that point, Bell didn't know if his baseball career was over -- but he didn't want it to be. It wasn't until June that he got a call from the Reds.

The Reds made no promises -- he'd been a starter and reliever with Detroit -- just that he'd be assigned to Double-A Pensacola.

"From Day 1, it just seemed like the good idea with this organization," Bell said. "The way they came after me, the way they communicated with me. They didn't lie to me. They didn't say we're going to send you to Double-A and you'll be in Triple-A in a week. They said, 'go there, we want you to help the team out, younger guys, show them how to be in the clubhouse, how to be outside the field.' I took that responsibility with open arms because I knew that's what they wanted me to do."

Bell followed that instruction, serving as that role model, more through actions than words, said Tucker Barnhart, a catcher on the Blue Wahoos last season.

"He's not a big yell-at-people kind of guy, he came into Pensacola to do everything he could to help the team win," Barnhart said. "That's the kind of guy he is, he's a bulldog and goes after guys on the mound. He sets a good example for younger guys, he's someone you pay attention to and watch."

He also had success there. Serving as a closer for the first time in his career, Bell appeared in 27 games, recording 17 saves and a 1.72 ERA. In 31 1/3 innings, he struck out 37 and walked eight. He's had the same kind of success so far this spring, appearing in four games and striking out six batters in 3 2/3 innings. On Saturday, he relieved Logan Ondrusek with two men on and one out and struck out both Cubs he faced, ending the inning.

As for 2014, Bell said the Reds haven't told him what their plans are for him. He'll likely be back in the minors, serving as an example and a quality bullpen arm. So far, all he's been told is to show up to big league camp. That's all he needs. The Reds gave him a chance to be back in baseball -- and that's important. Closing has been a revelation for Bell, but he knows he's "not taking his spot, that's for sure," motioning toward Aroldis Chapman. That's not even a question in my mind, never was, never will be." Still, he's enjoyed it while he's had a chance.

"It's so much fun -- it made the game back to fun for me again," Bell said. "In the last couple of years, it'd gotten to where I was effecting in playing the game of baseball. It's never fun at your work, you don't want to effort to walk in the door. You want to show up and have fun, that's what I started doing again in Pensacola."

Now, he's hoping for another chance to get back to the big leagues, and if it came with Cincinnati, it'd be quite the coincidence, considering his grandfather got one of his big breaks at WLW-AM and WLWT-TV in Cincinnati as part of the "Wally Phillips Show."

Bell smiles when he remembers his grandfather, who died when he was 11.

"He was just the type of person who could walk into a room and brighten everyone's day no matter what," Bell said. "Even without the makeup, he'd put it on and it'd be even more. It wasn't a fake thing, he' just loved to do that."

It must run in the family.