Bristol attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Western Carolina University. A right-handed hitting and throwing infielder, he never played in the Major Leagues. Bristol became a playing manager in the Cincinnati farm system at the age of 24 with the Hornell Redlegs of the Class D New York–Penn League in 1957. By 1964, he was managing the Reds\' top farm team, the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, where, at age 31, he won a pennant and playoff title—the fifth league championship of his eight-year career to date. In nine seasons (1957–65) as a minor league pilot, his teams won 652 games and lost 562 (.537).\n', '

In 1966, Bristol was named to the Reds\' coaching staff, and when the team performed badly under rookie skipper Don Heffner, Bristol took over the club as manager on July 13. At 33, he was the youngest pilot in the Major Leagues that season through 1969. Bristol guided the Reds through 3​1⁄2 winning seasons, but he was dismissed following the 1969 campaign. Sparky Anderson, who took over from Bristol, would go into the Baseball Hall of Fame as the leader of the "Big Red Machine".\n', "

Cincinnati (298–265, .529) represented the highwater mark of Bristol's managing career. He would never manage another winning club.\n", '

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