So the past three times I ranted about players I hated, they were NBA stars. It's time to spread the love. Albert Belle-Here's to you. In case you forgot, Albert Belle was that fat ass who played for the Tribe in the 90's, and helped us get to the World Series in '95. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't bad when he was on the Indians. In 1995, Belle banged out 50 homers and 50 doubles, a unique feat that no one else has accomplished. But in 1996, Belle opted for greener pastures. And by greener pastures I mean that he wanted a fat contract that the Tribe would no have been stupid enough to give him. So where does he sign? He signed with division -rival Chicago White Sox. He plays a few seasons there, and here's the kicker. In his contract, Belle had a clause that he could opt for a new contract with Chicago to make him one of the three highest paid players in the MLB. He complained when the Sox wouldn't give him a new deal, making him a free agent. He was then signed by the Baltimore Orioles, who made him the then highest paid player with a 5 year $65 Million contract. Big mistake. He only played two seasons. When Fat Albert retired, the media went nuts. Belle was notorious for his profanity-filled tirades about not talking to the media. So what did they have to say about him? ESPN's Buster Olney wrote "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 anger: 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.' "
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."
In response 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 asshole, then we'll cover him that way. And then, of course, he's not gonna talk to us anymore—it's self-fulfilling."
So why don't I like Big Al? He's a shmuck. He's greedy, he doesn't care about anyone else, and he is a bad person. He's also a creeper. Don't believe me? Just ask the escort that he was arrested for stalking in 2006. Not bad enough? How about the fact that Belle went to jail for 90 days and has 5 years of supervised probation for placing a GPS tracking device on her car and obtained her phone records? Sorry Albert, you aren't on my list of faves.
