Happy Belated Birthday to Albert Belle. During his career, mainly for the Cleveland Indians but also for the Chicago White Sox & Baltimore Orioles, Belle was one of the greatest all-around sluggers of his era.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1989-2000):

.295 BA 1,726 HITS 381 HR 1,239 RBI 974 RUNS .369 OBP

• 5x All-Star

• 5x Silver Slugger

Primarily a Leftfielder,While his career was somewhat controversial and not as long, his bat was good enough. Belle was a great all-around hitter, batting over .300 multiple times, leading the majors in RBIs three times, and is one of eleven players to record nine consecutive seasons of 100 or more RBIs. Also, no play in baseball history besides Belle has hit for both 50 Homeruns and 50 Doubles in a season. In his nine-year span from 1992-2000, he had at least three to four years where he should’ve won the MVP.

Albert Belles’ Year-By-Year Stats from Baseball-Reference.com

In 1994, the year when the season and World Series were canceled, Belle lost to Paul O’Neill by .002 for the 1994 Batting Title; that year, he finished third in the MVP voting. The following year, despite hitting 50-50 and having a higher Average On Base and more Hits, Runs, and Home Runs than Mo Vaughn, he finished runner-up in the MVP voting. In the winter of 1996, he became the first MLB player to sign a contract that would pay a player in the eight figures with the White Sox. He spent two years there and then two more years in Baltimore, where he continued to make noise with his bat. However, despite hitting .281 and driving in 100 RBIs for the ninth consecutive time, Belle was forced into retirement due to degenerative hip osteoarthritis at 34.

Unfortunately, due to the way he treated teammates, coaches, and reporters, he didn’t get any support on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballots and got as little as 7.7%. I’m a harsh grader when it comes to judging a player being considered worthy of the Hall of Fame, and I believe that Albert Belle, with just his bat, is a Hall of Fame player. Like I’ve said on this blog before. Nine years consecutively driving in 100 or more RBIs, again 50 HOME RUNS and 50 DOUBLES IN ONE SEASON. No player, including the crown jewel Hall of Famers like Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Mays, etc., has done that. Lastly, he had four years in which a player who puts up those numbers with a better attitude wins the MVP. You can say that he did it to himself with his attitude and behavior, but let’s be honest, there are at least a dozen, if not more, guys that are in the Hall of Fame with worse behaviors than him.

References:

1. Albert Belle via Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Belle

2. Albert Belle Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/belleal01.shtml