Albert Belle

• OQB

  

  haha I was around 6-10 when Belle played for the Indians, but my dad and I would watch every game together either at home or at the ballpark. I might of been young, but I sure did love the Indians in the 90's....very special time in Cleveland sports history for sure and glad I got to enjoy it.
• jordo212000

  

  Albert Belle used to be my guy. Definitely one of my favorite players from back in the day. That Indians team was fun to watch. Crazy how much talent they had!
• HitsRus

  

  Yeah, Belle was a thug...but he was thug who could hit!
• grodt

  

  Here's the video I was talking about. It's just a short clip about 0:45 in but I'd watch the whole thing.
  
  http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13327439&topic_id=17363694&c_id=cle
• BRF

  

  jordo212000;735805 wrote: Crazy how much talent they had!

  
  Yeah, Paul Sorrento batting ninth. I'm going to have to go back and look up those 95 96 line-ups. I always disagreed with Hargrove batting Omar in the 2 spot and instead move him to 9 to move those big sticks up! Ah, the old days.
• like_that

  

  grodt;735853 wrote:Here's the video I was talking about. It's just a short clip about 0:45 in but I'd watch the whole thing.
  
  http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13327439&topic_id=17363694&c_id=cle

  
  It would be nice to find the video of that whole sequence with the home run and then Belle flexing his muscles. It's stupid how strict the MLB is with their video footage. They should follow the NBA's approach to youtube videos.
• like_that

  

  BRF;735854 wrote:Yeah, Paul Sorrento batting ninth. I'm going to have to go back and look up those 95 96 line-ups. I always disagreed with Hargrove batting Omar in the 2 spot and instead move him to 9 to move those big sticks up! Ah, the old days.

  
  I still think firing Hargrove was the most stupid decision made by John Hart. Granted, he made many great decisions and moves.
• iclfan2

  

  grodt;735853 wrote:Here's the video I was talking about. It's just a short clip about 0:45 in but I'd watch the whole thing.
  
  http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13327439&topic_id=17363694&c_id=cle

  
  Good video.
• BRF

  

  like_that;735859 wrote:I still think firing Hargrove was the most stupid decision made by John Hart. Granted, he made many great decisions and moves.

  
  I also didn't like his quick "hook" and lefty-righty theory....but overall, he was good and I agree with you.
• I Wear Pants

  The 90s were a sweet time to be an Indians fan. I can still name the whole lineup from memory. Watched pretty much every game back then.
• royal_k

  

  I Wear Pants;735898 wrote:The 90s were a sweet time to be an Indians fan. I can still name the whole lineup from memory. Watched pretty much every game back then.

  
  Same here bud.
• O-Trap

  

  My parents and I moved into our new house in the summer of '95. My first night in the new house, I was listening to the game on the radio in bed, and it was the night Belle hit a grand slam off Lee Smith in the 9th to take the lead. Great hitter. Great student of the game.
  
  And crazy as a loon, but we loved him anyway.
  

  grodt;735102 wrote:I never really got to see him with the Tribe (I wasn't really old enough), but I know he was a great power hitter and I still think he got jobbed in the '95 MVP race.

  royal_k;735133 wrote:He was one of my favorite Indian of all time. And I love that shot! And yea, he did get fucked in 95. I think he was the only player to ever hit 50 HR and 50 doulbles in a season at the time, and I don't think anyone has done it since. He was the true MVP that year. But, the media hated him.

  Yeah, he was definitely no media child. I believe he was the one who threw a ball at a camera man that year (I think it was that year). The only reason they gave it to Vaughn was because he had the same number of RBI. Belle's numbers in every other relevant category were better.
  
  Also, don't forget he had 36 bombs in just over 100 games in 1994 before the strike. And I believe he put up 48 or 49 in 1996 as well. I still remember thinking he looked so intimidating at the plate.
  
  Oh, here's that picture.
  
  

  Fab4Runner;735277 wrote:??
  
  

  I'm even a Steelers fan, but I lol'd.
  

  wes_mantooth;735579 wrote:I think that Omar's book tells the story of Albert's confiscated bat. The story of Jason Grimsly traveling through vents to get the umps locker room....it is a great read.

  I thought it was Jeremy Burnitz? And the bat was allegedly Paul Sorrento's. I could be wrong, though.
  
  Fun fact about Paul Sorrento. Up until 1995, no player had ever played over 100 games in a season while still having more RBI than hits. That year, two players did it. Mark McGwire had 90 RBI on 87 hits, and Sorrento had 79 RBI on 76 hits. Both played in 104 games. That really says something when the 8th man in your lineup puts up 79 RBI on just 76 hits in a shortened season. I believe that, of the starters, he had the team's worst batting average at .235 (which would probably earn him the 5th spot in the lineup on the Indians now ).
  
  That was a HELLUVA team. Lead-off man with the most stolen bases in the American League (second-most in the MLB). Clean-up hitter with the most homers in the MLB. Seven of their nine regular starters had .300 or better batting averages (Alomar only had 203 at-bats because of knee problems, but still hit .300). The two who didn't bat .300? One of them won the Golden Glove at arguably the most competitive fielding position (Vizquel at SS), and the other, as mentioned before, had more RBI than hits (talk about clutch).
  
  Couple that with their pitching staff. Every starter had a winning record, and four of them had winning percentages over .700 (Dennis Martinez at 12-5, Chuck Nagy at 16-6, Orel Hershiser also at 16-6, and Chad Ogea at 8-3). The starting bullpen was nothing to be ashamed of either. Closer Jose Mesa had 46 saves (38 in a row without a blown save). And the worst ERA from any pitcher in their bullpen was Jim Poole's 3.75 ERA. He also had the worst winning percentage of all the regular pitching staff at .500 (3-3).
  
  It's no wonder they won 100 games, even in a shortened season.
  
  Top to bottom, that team was just amazing. I couldn't believe they lost the World Series.
  

  ts1227;735687 wrote:They did get face to face, and the benches cleared, but they didn't end up throwing any punches.

  Vina got his ass rocked. I wish the MLB hadn't had all the videos of it taken down. It was a thing to behold. As a former infielder, if you can help it, you stay OUT of the baseline for that very reason.
• Timber

  Good times indeed! Paid $300.00 for two Uecker seats in the world series to watch Orel defeat Maddux... well worth the Benjamins.
• ts1227

  

  O-Trap;735915 wrote:Vina got his ass rocked. I wish the MLB hadn't had all the videos of it taken down. It was a thing to behold. As a former infielder, if you can help it, you stay OUT of the baseline for that very reason.

  
  He got taken clean off his feet and straight onto his ass. It was textbook, lol. Still can't believe all they did was get face to face after he got up.
• hoops23

  

  ts1227;735931 wrote:He got taken clean off his feet and straight onto his ass. It was textbook, lol. Still can't believe all they did was get face to face after he got up.

  
  I'm pretty sure Vina is glad that's as far as it went lol.
• Con_Alma

  jordo212000;735805 wrote:... Crazy how much talent they had!

  Imagine having Jim Thome batting 6th and Manny Ramirez batting 7th. That's a lot of sticks in one lineup.
• Footwedge

  BRF;735720 wrote:I always like Belle. I am stunned by the number of posters who say they were too young to remember! Egad!I remember when this guy from Wooster got bit on the thumb by another fan who tried to take Belle's 50th homer away from him.

  
  Some of us don't remember Albert Belle. And then some of us remember Gary Bell.
• Footwedge

  I still say that the 94 Indians were charging...and would have won the whole thing..... the drive, the fumble, red right 88...Jordan....and the players strike.
• royal_k

  

  Footwedge;736076 wrote:I still say that the 94 Indians were charging...and would have won the whole thing..... the drive, the fumble, red right 88...Jordan....and the players strike.

  
  I would agree with this. It was all coming together and wham, the fucking strike happened. They were playing the best of any team in baseball at that time.
• BRF

  

  Footwedge;736075 wrote:Some of us don't remember Albert Belle. And then some of us remember Gary Bell.

  
  Maybe even Gus Bell!
• royal_k

  

  And Buddy Bell.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Frank Duffy anyone? Anyone?
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Joey was a great left fielder but he was no John Lowenstein.
• cat_lover

  Lowenstein,Oscar Gamble,Frank Duffy,Rick Manning(yeah he played before he was an announcer) I remember them all.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Duane Kiper?