Huffamaniac
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- Oct 8, 2008
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From Wikipedia. His page is by far my favorite
Belle was involved in several controversial incidents during his baseball career. In 1986, he went after a heckler in the stands who was shouting racist insults at him; he was suspended while his team played in the College World Series. In 1991, he threw a baseball into the stands, where it struck a fan who had taunted him by yelling, "Keg party at my house, Joey," a reference both to Belle's prior nickname and his stints in alcohol rehabilitation. He was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat and received further disdain for sending teammate Jason Grimsley through the building's ceiling panel to break into the locked umpire dressing room to retrieve Belle's corked bat and substitute it with another teammate's bat. This resulted in a seven game suspension for Belle. He was fined in 1996 for knocking down Brewers infielder Fernando Viña, who had blocked his way on the basepaths. He also had unpleasant interactions with the public. He also chased down rowdy trick-or-treating vandals who were celebrating Halloween by throwing eggs at his home; Belle ended up hitting one of the vandals with his car.
Sports reporters resented Belle's refusal to grant interviews before a game. A profane outburst directed at a group of reporters in his team's dugout, including NBC Sports personality Hannah Storm, was widely reported during the 1995 World Series. Later, Belle was unrepentant: "The Indians wanted me to issue a statement of regret when the fine was announced, but I told them to take it out. I apologize for nothing."
Eventually, Belle routinely refused to speak with the media. "I don't get excited talking about myself", he explained. "Guys such as Sandy Koufax, Joe DiMaggio, and Steve Carlton did not interview, and it was no big deal. They were quiet. I am also quiet. I just want to concentrate on baseball. Why does everyone want to hear me talk, anyway?" Belle rarely even conducted interviews regarding his various charitable donations and scholarships that might have burnished his sour image.
But the media did not ignore Belle. ESPN's Buster Olney would write about Belle's outbursts while a Cleveland Indian:
It was a taken in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts... The Indians billed him $10,000 a year for the damage he caused in clubhouses on the road and at home, and tolerated his behavior only because he was an awesome slugger... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be on a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his wrath: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet...launching plates into the shower... after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitor's clubhouse and took a bat to teammate Kenny Lofton's boombox. Belle preferred to have the clubhouse cold, below 60 degrees, and when one chilly teammate turned up the heat, Belle walked over, turned down the thermostat, and smashed it with his bat. His nickname, thereafter, was "Mr. Freeze."[3]
In 2001, following Belle's retirement, the New York Daily News' columnist Bill Madden wrote:
"Sorry, there'll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he's a hurt surly jerk....He was no credit to the game. Belle's boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers' Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame."
Responding to this, The New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte observed:
"Madden is basically saying, 'He was not nice to me, so let's screw him.' Sportswriters anoint heroes in basically the same way you have crushes in junior high school... you've got someone like Albert Belle, who is somehow basically ungrateful for this enormous opportunity to play this game. If he's going to appear to us as a surly a-hole, then we'll cover him that way. And then, of course, he's not gonna talk to us anymore—it's self-fulfilling."
When Belle did choose to communicate with fans, it was generally via unfiltered forums such as his website, or in columns for the Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Press.
In Belle's first year of Hall of Fame eligibility (2006), he garnered only 7.7% of the baseball writers' votes—missing election by an extremely wide margin.[4] But Belle's vote total was high enough to keep his name on the ballot for the following year. In 2007, however, Belle only garnered 19 votes (3.5%) and dropped off the ballot.
In February 2006, Belle was arrested on suspicion of stalking a woman who was identified in court as a former licensed escort.[5] He was again arrested in charges related to the same case on May 17, 2006.[6] On July 27, 2006, Belle plead guilty to one count of stalking and he was sentenced on August 24 to 90 days in jail and five years supervised probation.[7] Belle had attached a GPS tracking device onto her car and obtained her phone records. Belle issued an apology to the woman stating, "I have made mistakes in my life, but I have admitted my mistakes and learned from them to be a better person."[8]
Belle was involved in several controversial incidents during his baseball career. In 1986, he went after a heckler in the stands who was shouting racist insults at him; he was suspended while his team played in the College World Series. In 1991, he threw a baseball into the stands, where it struck a fan who had taunted him by yelling, "Keg party at my house, Joey," a reference both to Belle's prior nickname and his stints in alcohol rehabilitation. He was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat and received further disdain for sending teammate Jason Grimsley through the building's ceiling panel to break into the locked umpire dressing room to retrieve Belle's corked bat and substitute it with another teammate's bat. This resulted in a seven game suspension for Belle. He was fined in 1996 for knocking down Brewers infielder Fernando Viña, who had blocked his way on the basepaths. He also had unpleasant interactions with the public. He also chased down rowdy trick-or-treating vandals who were celebrating Halloween by throwing eggs at his home; Belle ended up hitting one of the vandals with his car.
Sports reporters resented Belle's refusal to grant interviews before a game. A profane outburst directed at a group of reporters in his team's dugout, including NBC Sports personality Hannah Storm, was widely reported during the 1995 World Series. Later, Belle was unrepentant: "The Indians wanted me to issue a statement of regret when the fine was announced, but I told them to take it out. I apologize for nothing."
Eventually, Belle routinely refused to speak with the media. "I don't get excited talking about myself", he explained. "Guys such as Sandy Koufax, Joe DiMaggio, and Steve Carlton did not interview, and it was no big deal. They were quiet. I am also quiet. I just want to concentrate on baseball. Why does everyone want to hear me talk, anyway?" Belle rarely even conducted interviews regarding his various charitable donations and scholarships that might have burnished his sour image.
But the media did not ignore Belle. ESPN's Buster Olney would write about Belle's outbursts while a Cleveland Indian:
It was a taken in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts... The Indians billed him $10,000 a year for the damage he caused in clubhouses on the road and at home, and tolerated his behavior only because he was an awesome slugger... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be on a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his wrath: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet...launching plates into the shower... after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitor's clubhouse and took a bat to teammate Kenny Lofton's boombox. Belle preferred to have the clubhouse cold, below 60 degrees, and when one chilly teammate turned up the heat, Belle walked over, turned down the thermostat, and smashed it with his bat. His nickname, thereafter, was "Mr. Freeze."[3]
In 2001, following Belle's retirement, the New York Daily News' columnist Bill Madden wrote:
"Sorry, there'll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he's a hurt surly jerk....He was no credit to the game. Belle's boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers' Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame."
Responding to this, The New York Times sportswriter Robert Lipsyte observed:
"Madden is basically saying, 'He was not nice to me, so let's screw him.' Sportswriters anoint heroes in basically the same way you have crushes in junior high school... you've got someone like Albert Belle, who is somehow basically ungrateful for this enormous opportunity to play this game. If he's going to appear to us as a surly a-hole, then we'll cover him that way. And then, of course, he's not gonna talk to us anymore—it's self-fulfilling."
When Belle did choose to communicate with fans, it was generally via unfiltered forums such as his website, or in columns for the Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Press.
In Belle's first year of Hall of Fame eligibility (2006), he garnered only 7.7% of the baseball writers' votes—missing election by an extremely wide margin.[4] But Belle's vote total was high enough to keep his name on the ballot for the following year. In 2007, however, Belle only garnered 19 votes (3.5%) and dropped off the ballot.
In February 2006, Belle was arrested on suspicion of stalking a woman who was identified in court as a former licensed escort.[5] He was again arrested in charges related to the same case on May 17, 2006.[6] On July 27, 2006, Belle plead guilty to one count of stalking and he was sentenced on August 24 to 90 days in jail and five years supervised probation.[7] Belle had attached a GPS tracking device onto her car and obtained her phone records. Belle issued an apology to the woman stating, "I have made mistakes in my life, but I have admitted my mistakes and learned from them to be a better person."[8]
