One of the chief figures in the ten-man swap between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns this year was Beau Bell. He started his professional baseball career with the Galveston Club of the Texas League in 1931, playing the outfield for them until the end of the 1934 season. He started the 1935 season with the St. Louis Browns but was farmed out to the San Antonio Club in the middle of the season, with whom he acquired a batting average of 366. Beau was recalled in 1936, and played both the outfield and first base for the Brownies, collecting a total of 212 hits for a batting average of .344. The following year, 1937, Beau Bell led the American League in hits with a total of 218 and finished the season with a batting average of .340, amongst the leaders. Bell's four-year major league record shows 623 hits in 534 games for an average of .311.