BOSTON -- Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr., a nephew of Kansas City Royals manager Buddy Bell, was among the 14 Marines killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
There was a moment of silence before the Royals played the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
"That was probably the most touching moment of silence I've
stood through," Royals designated hitter Mike Sweeney said after
Boston's 8-5 victory.
Fourteen members of an Ohio Marine battalion were killed Wednesday, two days after five other Marines assigned to the battalion were killed while on sniper duty in Iraq.
Military officials told the families of three Marines -- including Bell, 22, of West Chester in suburban Cincinnati -- that they were among those who died Wednesday in a roadside bombing.
"It makes it harder to see the skipper, the rock of our team, with tears in his eyes," an emotional Sweeney said. "I ask everyone to pray for him and his family.
"We wanted to pull this one out for Skipper, with the pain he's
going through," Sweeney said.
After the game, Bell answered questions from reporters in the middle of the clubhouse, as he did after Tuesday night's loss.
He ended the session by saying, "That's all I've got," and
walked into his office.
Bell is a member of a three-generation baseball family. He and his father, Gus, combined for 4,337 hits -- the second-best father-son duo after Barry and Bobby Bonds, who have 4,348. Bell's son, David, plays for the Philadelphia Phillies.