PITTSBURGH -- While fans made every effort to vote him into the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard from his spot at first base at PNC Park, Josh Bell swatted the equivalent of a stump speech at Minute Maid Park.

Bell launched a two-run homer to right-center field off Astros starter Framber Valdez in the first inning of Wednesday night’s game in Houston. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Pirates opened PNC Park for four hours to host the “Ring the Vote” Josh Bell All-Star voting party during the ongoing Starters Election. On Thursday, he learned he fell short to Freddie Freeman in the tightest NL race.

Bell said he appreciated the support of the Pirates and their fans along with the #BELLieve campaign that his teammates joined in full force on social media Wednesday afternoon. And did not hide how much it would mean to represent them on July 9 in Cleveland.

"It's awesome to have that kind of support," Bell said Wednesday in Houston. "It's not something that happens across the league. To know the Pirates have my back, and the team is working as hard as they can to get me out there, is pretty special."

Bell would have been the Pirates’ first All-Star starter since Andrew McCutchen in 2015, their first starting infielder since Bobby Bonilla in '88 and their first starter at first base since Dale Long in '56.

Team president Frank Coonelly, who greeted fans near first base at PNC Park on Wednesday night, said that the club’s public relations and marketing departments put a lot of thought into how they could best support Bell. They came up with a novel idea: the “Ring the Vote” party at PNC Park.

The Pirates offered free parking, live music, happy hour-priced refreshments and a rare chance to hang out on the field. More than 1,000 fans showed up to run the bases, take pictures on the field, play the Super Bucco Run game, eat, drink and -- of course -- vote for Bell at a station set up at first base. They even got to celebrate his home run from afar.

“We said, 'How can we make sure that we’re giving Josh the best opportunity to win a position that he deserves, give our fans an opportunity to enjoy PNC Park in a way that’s somewhat different than they normally enjoy it and come together while the team’s on the road, and make sure that we’re out there showing Josh that he deserves to be an All-Star?'” Coonelly said.

There’s no doubt that Bell has put together All-Star numbers in this breakout season. After going deep on Wednesday, he was batting .313 with a 1.026 OPS and a Major League-leading 68 RBIs. He entered the night ranked 10th in the Majors in hard-hit rate (51.6 percent), according to Statcast, and third in average exit velocity (93.7 mph).

"If you're caught up in exit velocity, he's your guy," manager Clint Hurdle said. "If you're caught up in distance of home runs, he's your guy. If you're caught up in driving in runs and a lot of the slug stuff that's going on, he's one of your guys.

"And the smile -- it's a million-dollar smile. He plays with emotion, he doesn't play emotionally, and the fans gravitate to that as well."

Coonelly agreed that fans are drawn to Bell. The Pirates have seen the demand for his No. 55 jersey increase as his play has improved. Pittsburgh also seems to appreciate that Bell is, as Coonelly put it, “a blue-collar guy with a blue-collar mentality.”

What else makes Bell endearing? His candidness when talking about how much he wants to be an All-Star. He grew up watching the Home Run Derby and Red Carpet parade and would very much like to be a part of both.

"Guys drive around on the backs of trucks and stuff like that and you say, 'What if?'" Bell said of the Red Carpet parade.

Asked which Derby stands out the most in his memory, Bell pointed to the 2008 event at old Yankee Stadium, when Josh Hamilton crushed a record 28 first-round dingers.

"He [eventually] lost, but he won it for me," Bell said.