Bell improving, talks to interim manager Doran

Sunday, September 24th 2006, 2:11 pm

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Kansas City Royals manager Buddy Bell, who had surgery Friday to remove a growth near his left tonsil, talked to interim manager Billy Doran and the coaching staff by phone before Sunday's game against the Detroit Tigers.

``He told me to get the staff together and go into his office,'' Doran said. ``We went in and he told us he was doing fine. It was good to hear his voice. We talked about five minutes. His voice sounded surprisingly good. We didn't talk about baseball at all.''

Doran said Bell likely would be released Monday from the Mayo Hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz.

``He is the kind of guy never, I mean never, puts himself first,'' Doran said. ``That is one thing I admire about him. Even though he's in the hospital, hurting and sore, he's still concerned about us.''

Results from the biopsy of Bell's growth likely will be known Monday or Tuesday.