Should Albert Belle be in the MLB Hall of Fame?

[Mr. Friscus]

Major playing years only

1991 .282 28 HR 95 RBI
1992 .260 34 HR 112 RBI
1993 .290 38 HR 129 RBI
1994 .357 36 HR 101 RBI
1995 .317 50 HR 126 RBI
1996 .311 48 HR 148 RBI
1997 .274 30 HR 116 RBI
1998 .328 49 HR 152 RBI
1999 .297 37 HR 117 RBI
2000 .281 23 HR 103 RBI

Talk about a BEAST for an entire decade... and he's not in the HOF because a bunch of high-school girl prissy sports writers got their feewings hurt because he wasn't nice to them.

What a joke.

 

[Hossfly]

Albert Belle

Controversies​

In 1990, the Indians sent Belle to the Cleveland Clinic for two months for alcoholism rehabilitation.[1]

Belle was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat, resulting in a seven-game suspension. The incident gained further notoriety for his sending teammate Jason Grimsley through the building's ceiling panel to break into the locked umpires' dressing room to replace his corked bat with a teammate's bat. The revelation of Belle's use of corked bats was later given more emphasis when Cleveland teammate Omar Vizquel wrote in his 2002 autobiography that it would be naive to suggest otherwise, and that "all of Albert's bats were corked."[13]

Belle was fined in 1996 for knocking down Brewers infielder Fernando Viña, who had blocked his way between bases.[14]

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. He was unrepentant afterward: "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."[15]

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?"[16]

Buster Olney wrote about his outbursts as a member of the Cleveland Indians:

It was taken as fact in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts.... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be in a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his wrath: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet ... launching plates into the shower, and after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitors' 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." ... 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....[17]
In 2001, following his 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.[18]
In his 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.[19] But his vote total was high enough to keep his name on the ballot for the following year. In 2007, however, he garnered only 19 votes (3.5%).

In retirement, Belle had his first encounter with the Cleveland Indians since leaving the club in 1996, during their 2012 spring training in Goodyear, Arizona and was joined by former teammates Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Carlos Baerga.[14] In spite of this, Belle declined both to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the 1995 World Series team in 2015 and the 2016 ceremony when he was inducted into the Indians team Hall of Fame.[20]

Legal troubles[edit]​

In October 1995, Belle's house in Euclid, Ohio was egged by teenagers after he turned away trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Belle chased one of the trick-or-treaters in his car.[21] Belle was fined $100 for reckless operation of a vehicle. The guardian of the teenager later sued Belle for $850,000 contending that Belle's car had bumped into the teenager.[22] The lawsuit was settled in 1997.[23]

In 2006, Belle was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years' probation after he admitted to stalking his former girlfriend.[24]

On March 25, 2018, Belle was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona and charged with indecent exposure and DUI.[24] All charges were dismissed the following month.[25]

Albert Belle - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[The Duke]

Major playing years only

1991 .282 28 HR 95 RBI
1992 .260 34 HR 112 RBI
1993 .290 38 HR 129 RBI
1994 .357 36 HR 101 RBI
1995 .317 50 HR 126 RBI
1996 .311 48 HR 148 RBI
1997 .274 30 HR 116 RBI
1998 .328 49 HR 152 RBI
1999 .297 37 HR 117 RBI
2000 .281 23 HR 103 RBI

Talk about a BEAST for an entire decade... and he's not in the HOF because a bunch of high-school girl prissy sports writers got their feewings hurt because he wasn't nice to them.

What a joke.

Idk, but Pete Rose should.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Albert Belle

Controversies​

In 1990, the Indians sent Belle to the Cleveland Clinic for two months for alcoholism rehabilitation.[1]

Belle was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat, resulting in a seven-game suspension. The incident gained further notoriety for his sending teammate Jason Grimsley through the building's ceiling panel to break into the locked umpires' dressing room to replace his corked bat with a teammate's bat. The revelation of Belle's use of corked bats was later given more emphasis when Cleveland teammate Omar Vizquel wrote in his 2002 autobiography that it would be naive to suggest otherwise, and that "all of Albert's bats were corked."[13]

Belle was fined in 1996 for knocking down Brewers infielder Fernando Viña, who had blocked his way between bases.[14]

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. He was unrepentant afterward: "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."[15]

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?"[16]

Buster Olney wrote about his outbursts as a member of the Cleveland Indians:

It was taken as fact in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts.... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be in a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his wrath: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet ... launching plates into the shower, and after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitors' 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." ... 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....[17]
In 2001, following his 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.[18]
In his 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.[19] But his vote total was high enough to keep his name on the ballot for the following year. In 2007, however, he garnered only 19 votes (3.5%).

In retirement, Belle had his first encounter with the Cleveland Indians since leaving the club in 1996, during their 2012 spring training in Goodyear, Arizona and was joined by former teammates Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr., and Carlos Baerga.[14] In spite of this, Belle declined both to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the 1995 World Series team in 2015 and the 2016 ceremony when he was inducted into the Indians team Hall of Fame.[20]

Legal troubles[edit]​

In October 1995, Belle's house in Euclid, Ohio was egged by teenagers after he turned away trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Belle chased one of the trick-or-treaters in his car.[21] Belle was fined $100 for reckless operation of a vehicle. The guardian of the teenager later sued Belle for $850,000 contending that Belle's car had bumped into the teenager.[22] The lawsuit was settled in 1997.[23]

In 2006, Belle was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years' probation after he admitted to stalking his former girlfriend.[24]

On March 25, 2018, Belle was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona and charged with indecent exposure and DUI.[24] All charges were dismissed the following month.[25]

Albert Belle - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Okay... tell me now why his performance isn't what it is...

Do only Cub Scouts make the HOF?

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Idk, but Pete Rose should.

Pete Rose not being in the HOF exposes the (if i can use political language) deep-state entity that stands strong in opposing him because their feewings were hurt because he stood up to them.

Rose lied, yes. Does lying exclude you from the HOF? No, especially when it has nothing to do with your playing career.

The Rose issue is nothing more than HOF voters wanting to feel important and valued, and each them individually throwing temper tantrums to come together and present some unified front to make each other feel better.

 

[Hossfly]

Okay... tell me now why his performance isn't what it is...

Do only Cub Scouts make the HOF?

I personally liked Albert Belle and think he should be in the HOF. But the sportswriters are the ones to do the voting and they vote according to their rules.


BBWAA Election Rules

 

[Esdraelon]

Idk, but Pete Rose should.

I agree. Looking back, his offenses look like small potatoes compared to the disgraceful actions of many today. He was a machine!

 

[The Duke]

I agree. Looking back, his offenses look like small potatoes compared to the disgraceful actions of many today. He was a machine!

Mr. Baseball!

 

[Mr. Friscus]

I personally liked Albert Belle and think he should be in the HOF. But the sportswriters are the ones to do the voting and they vote according to their rules.


BBWAA Election Rules

Oh geez, look at this guy hiding behind what the "rules" supposedly are, and treating sportswriters as if they're some valid authority. Don't worry, they're petty, spiteful, egotistical humans just like too many of us, far moreso than the general public.

 

[Harry Dresden]

what one did on the field is mostly what should matter....so the guy was asshole,so was ty cobb and cap anson....

 

[Couchpotato]

Major playing years only

1991 .282 28 HR 95 RBI
1992 .260 34 HR 112 RBI
1993 .290 38 HR 129 RBI
1994 .357 36 HR 101 RBI
1995 .317 50 HR 126 RBI
1996 .311 48 HR 148 RBI
1997 .274 30 HR 116 RBI
1998 .328 49 HR 152 RBI
1999 .297 37 HR 117 RBI
2000 .281 23 HR 103 RBI

Talk about a BEAST for an entire decade... and he's not in the HOF because a bunch of high-school girl prissy sports writers got their feewings hurt because he wasn't nice to them.

What a joke.

Is this a serious question?

 

[candycorn]

Again, the HOF should have inductions with honors and just regular inductions. The "honors" are reserved for folks ike Derek Jeter, Robin Yount, Ichiro, etc... If you were a beast on the ballfields but not the best citizen off of it...you get a regular induction. Honoring the player but not the man. With those stats, I don't see a serious argument to keep him out.

 

[MarathonMike]

Okay... tell me now why his performance isn't what it is...

Do only Cub Scouts make the HOF?

Soooo have you ever heard of Pete Rose?

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Is this a serious question?

Yes, he’s not in.. and I’d say his numbers say he clearly should be

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Soooo have you ever heard of Pete Rose?

LOL yes… and he should be in. Only petty, spiteful sports writers kept him out

 

[MarathonMike]

LOL yes… and he should be in. Only petty, spiteful sports writers kept him out

I agree about Rose, but with Albert Belle I think he is a marginal pick at best for the HOF for the following reasons. He had some great years for sure but his post season numbers were mediocre batting .230 well under his career batting average. In his only world series he also hit .230 and the Indians lost. He was also a nut job and team chemistry is a big part of baseball.

 

[tahuyaman]

He was an asshole, but he’s a legit Hall of Famer.

 

[MarathonMike]

He was an asshole, but he’s a legit Hall of Famer.

I could see him getting in eventually. But because he was less than an inspiring teammate and his mediocre post season numbers make him questionable IMO.

 

[themirrorthief]

I personally liked Albert Belle and think he should be in the HOF. But the sportswriters are the ones to do the voting and they vote according to their rules.


BBWAA Election Rules

baseball blows, boring as hell. only the pitcher and catcher actually do anything old fashioned game played by men in their long johns...entertainment for people who cant find entertainment

 

[Seymour Flops]

I know nothing about Albert Belle, but as a general principle, it is wise to be nice to people who decide whether you get somewhere you want to be.