As I was reading an interesting article on Bleacher Report on what players could possibly be making the Hall of Fame up until the year 2014, I couldn't believe there was no Albert Belle on the list.
Belle last played in 2000 for the Baltimore Orioles. He was forced to retire due to a degenerative condition in his hip.
When Belle became a regular player, he was the model of consistency. He had eight straight years of at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI. His best year came in 1996 when he hit .311, had 48 home runs, 148 RBI, 187 hits, 11 stolen bases, walked 99 times, and struck out 87 times.
On the defensive side, he had a career-high in outfield assists in 1999 with 17 and his second highest came in the 1993 season where he had 16 assists. Also, in 1993 Belle was involved in seven double plays while playing in the outfield. For his career, he had a fielding percentage of .976.
Looking further at Belle's statistics, he is the only player so far in Major League history to have hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in a season. That happened in 1995.
For his career Belle, was selected to five All-Star games and had five Silver Sluggers. Three times he was in the top 10 in hitting, his best season in 1994 with a .357 average.
He ranks 16th all-time in slugging percentage. He was among the league leaders in hits four times, with the most coming in 1998 where he finished fourth with 200 and his best finish was in 1994 where he came in third. Six times he ranked among the top 10 in times on base, and for his career he ranks 19th in at-bats per home run.
Also worth noting, Belle is one of just eight players to have nine consecutive 100 RBI seasons. This list includes Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons, Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, and Sammy Sosa. Another player will join the list this year in Albert Pujols.
A majority of the players on the list are already inducted into the Hall of Fame. Questions surround Ramirez, Palmeiro, and Rodriguez due to the steroid controversies, but even with that Ramirez and Rodriguez are more than likely Hall of Famers once they retire.
Belle, for his career, hit .295, hit 381 home runs, 1239 RBI, 1726 hits, 974 runs, walked 683 times, struck out 991 times, had a career .369 on-base percentage, and a slugging percentage of .564
His average 162 game season average looks like this: 295, 40 homers, 130 RBI, 72 walks, 101 strikeouts, 103 runs, 41 doubles, and nine stolen bases.
Here's a look at all the accomplishments that Belle had:
- Silver Slugger Team...1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998
- All Star...1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
- Participated in Home Run Derby...1993 (6th place), 1994 (7th place), 1995 (2nd place)
- AL RBI leader....1993, 1995 (tie), 1996
- AL Home Run leader...1995
- AL Slugging Percentage leader...1995, 1998
- AL Doubles leader...1995
- AL Runs leader....1995
- AL Outfield Assist leader (RF)...1999 (tie)
- First player to ever hit 50 HR and 50 Doubles...1995
- The Sporting News Player of the Year...1995
- Baseball Digest Player of the Year...1995
- Cleveland's nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award...1993, 1994
- Hit 15 home runs at Oriole Park in his career prior to becoming an Oriole, which is the most by any opponent
- Led Major Leagues in the 1990s with 1,099 RBI
- Led Major Leagues in Extra Base Hits in the 1990s with 711
- One of 5 players to have led the AL in home runs, runs and slugging percentage. Others are: Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriguez
- Holds various batting records for the White Sox
- Inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2005
I would say the numbers speak for themselves. Belle was a tremendous power hitter and he had a pretty solid arm in the outfield. He may have not been the most fleet of foot, but he could make up for that at the plate.
The main reason why Belle has not been elected or kept on the ballot is due to Belle's reputation as being a hothead especially to the media. He just wanted to play baseball and not worry about talking to the media. I see no problem with that.
Yes, Belle had some interesting run-ins with baseball and suspension. One for using a corked bat and then having Jason Grimsley try to remove the corked bat with another one earned him a seven-game suspension. He also used a forearm to Fernando Vina to breakup a double play and was fined for it.
Maybe the most infamous event in Belle's career didn't come on the baseball diamond. It was when he went after trick-or-treaters who had egged his house and eventually he ended up knocking of them down with his car.
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