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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1835390, member: 289"] ALBERT BELLE was the player who was so valuable that he broke the strike. His temper threatened to break his own life before his body broke and his career suddenly ended. Belle came up as “Joey” Belle, based on his middle name of Jojuan, but insisted he be called Albert. His first two partial years in the big leagues were a struggle but then he broke through in 1991, hitting 28 home runs and 95RBIs. He improved that to 34 HR 112RBI in 1992 and then 38HR and 129RBI in 1993. His batting average jumped from .260 to .290 that year. Then came 1994, the year, (I believe) the owners juiced the ball to maintain interest through the strike. Belle rang the bell with a .357 batting average, 36 home runs – in 106 games, (he’s hit 38 in 159 games in ’93), with 101 RBIs. The ball wasn’t the only thing that was juiced for Albert. Wikipedia: “Belle was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat, and gained further notoriety for sending teammate Jason Grimsley through the building's ceiling panel to break into the locked umpires' dressing room to retrieve his corked bat and substitute it with another teammate's bat, resulting in a seven-game suspension. The revelation of Belle's use of corked bats was given more emphasis when Cleveland teammate Omar Vizquel wrote in his autobiography that it would be naive to suggest otherwise and that "...all of Albert's bats were corked." (Wikipedia) But Belle’s hitting didn’t subside in subsequent seasons. In 1995 he became the only player in baseball history to hit 50 doubles and 50 home runs in the same season. He hit .317 and had 126RBI and 121runs scored and he did this in only 143 games due to the strike. The Indians made their first World Series since 1954. As in 1954, (111-43.721), they had an historically great regular season, (100-44, .694) but failed to win the series. Albert continued his impressive slugging hittiing .311 with 48 homers 148RBI and 124 runs in 1996. The White Sox Jerry Reinsdorf had been the ringleader of the strike and headed a small group that refused to accept the agreement that interrupted it. But that group dissolved when Reinsdorf signed Belle to a free agent contract. Belle slumped in 1997 to .274BA 30HR-116RBI but bounced back strong in 1998 with .328-49-152 in 1998, the latter two figures all-time White Sox records. His contract with Reinsdorf stipulated that he be one of the three highest paid players in baseball. When Reinsdorf refused to increase his salary to that level after other free agents have surpassed it, Belle became a free agent again and moved on to the Orioles. The next year he ‘fell’ to .297-37-117. The following year he hit .281 with 23 homers in 141 games. And then, all of a sudden, he was done at age 34. What happened? He developed degenerative osteoarthritis of his hip. He hit .295 lifetime with 381 home runs, which might normally have gotten him into the Hall of Fame, despite the aborted career. Comparisons have been made to Hank Greenberg, who hit .313 with 331 home runs and Ralph Kiner, who his .279 with 369 home runs but whose rate of production far exceeded most players who wound up with such numbers. Both are in the Hall of Fame but Albert Belle never came close, getting 7.7% of the vote his first year of eligibility and 3.5% in his second year, which caused him to be dropped from the ballot. The fact that he had been caught using corked bats was, no doubt, a factor. The fact that his weight had increased from 190 to 220 pounds during his short career, suggesting he might have been using steroids, might have been another. But the big factor is that he seemed on a mission to make everyone dislike him as much as possible, especially sportswriters- the very people who vote for awards and the Hall of Fame. Buster Olney in the New York Times: “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 wrath: 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 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." When he retired, Bill Madden in the NY Daily News 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." It was. Will Rogers was famous for saying he never met a man he didn’t like. Bob Costas said: "Outside of Cleveland, he may be regarded as the man Will Rogers never met." MANNY RAMIREZ was the player so talented that the Indians were willing to part with Albert Belle. He was kind of Albert Belle Jr. for them and then rose to the production level of the original when Albert left for the White Sox. Manny came up in 1993 and didn’t do much. He played a half season with them in 1994 but was kind of lost in the crowd with his .269 batting average and 17 homers in 91 games. The next two years were twins: .308-31-107 and .309-33-112. In 1997 he hit .328 with 26 homers but that was OK because Jim Thome hit 40, David Justice hit 33 and Matt Williams hit 32. Manny’s bust out year was 1998: .294 with 45HR, 145RBIs and 108 runs scored. Then he topped that with .333-44-165, 131. The 165 RBI were, (and are), the most in major league baseball since 1938. With all the huge number put up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, nobody reached that level except Manny Ramirez. The onslaught continued: .351-38-122 in 2000, (in only 118 games). A move to Boston didn’t hurt: .306-41-125, .349-33-107, .325-32-104, .308-43-130, .292-45-144, .321-35-102. The man was a hitting machine. He was part of the Red Sox resurgence that got then the 2004 title. He finally had an off year in 2007, when they won their second title with .296-20-86. He was limited by a strained left oblique. He came back with a Manny-like year in 2008: .332-37-121. But he got traded to the Dodgers in the middle of that year. A phrase called “Manny being Manny” had come into the lexicon, based on various events, documented on Wikipedia:: - Ramirez has often attracted attention on and off the field for his quirky behavior and attitude. These incidents are colloquially known as "Manny Moments" or more commonly, "Manny Being Manny". Instances of this behavior include inducing his Red Sox teammates, including Ellis Burks, to drink alcohol which he had spiked with Viagra, wearing Oakley THUMP (sun glasses), while playing the outfield, disappearing through a door in the Green Monster and selling his barbecue grill on eBay. - “In the summer of 2003, Ramirez missed several games with pharyngitis. He was spotted in a bar (in the hotel where he lived) with a close friend, Yankees infielder Enrique Wilson, when Ramirez was supposedly too ill to play in the Yankees series.” - (Also in 2003): “The new Red Sox ownership and management, trying to rid themselves of his massive contract, put Ramirez on irrevocable waivers, thus making him available to any team willing to assume the remainder of his contract. However, all 29 other teams passed on the opportunity to claim Ramirez.” - (2005): “Off the field, this season was one of much conflict for Ramirez. Persistent trade rumors (generally involving the New York Mets) dogged him all season. After the Red Sox were eliminated in the first round of that year's playoffs by the eventual World Series champion Chicago White Sox, Ramirez once again expressed a wish to be traded. This included a threat to not show up for spring training if his latest demand was not met by Red Sox GM Theo Epstein.” - (2008): “A heated altercation between Ramirez and teammate Kevin Youkilis took place on June 5, during a game at Fenway Park against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Globe speculated that Youkilis was angry that Ramirez has been slow to join a bench-clearing brawl earlier in the game. The altercation may have also been caused by Ramirez objecting to what he believed was excessive complaining by Youkilis about the strike zone, as well as the first baseman's penchant for sometimes throwing his helmet in frustration after making an out. Before the fifth inning, Ramirez was caught on NESN cameras taking a swing at Youkilis. Ramirez and Youkilis yelled at each other and had to be separated by teammates, coaches, and training staff. Youkilis headed out to the field still yelling at Ramirez, while Ramirez was escorted into the tunnel leading to the clubhouse by bench coach Brad Mills and trainer Paul Lessard.” - (also 2008): “Later in the season, during a series with the Houston Astros, Ramirez had a physical altercation with elderly Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick. The two were arguing over McCormick's inability to fill Ramirez's large game-day request for 16 tickets to the game in Houston. Ramirez pushed the 64-year-old McCormick to the ground after telling him "Just do your job." (Hey…I’ll be 64 in two years – is that “elderly”) - (also 2008): “After the Dodgers lost in the playoffs, Ramirez was asked about his future. "Gas is up, and so am I", was his reply, indicating that he expected to be valued highly in the free agent market. After long and contentious negotiations that dragged into the start of spring training, Ramirez signed a two-year $45 million contract with Los Angeles on March 4.” Manny had been one of those players who tested positive for steroid use in 2003 in what was supposed to be a secret test. There was no penalty for testing positive at that point but when he tested positive in 2009, he was suspended for 50 games. Injuries caught up with him after that. He was on the DL three times in 2010. His Dodger career ended when he was ejected for arguing a strike call by an umpire. The White Sox claimed him on waivers. He hit 1 home run for them in 24 games. The Rays signed him up for the 2011 season but it was over: He went 1 for 17 in five games and announced his retirement. Another positive drug test might have helped him make his decision. At any rate, he was basically finished as a player. He later tried comebacks with the A’s, Rangers and Cubs but never made it out of the minors. His final stats: .312 lifetime batting average with 555 home runs. In 111 post season games he hit .285 with 29 home runs. He went into the wine business, producing, among other things, a wine called “Manny being Merlo”. Years ago I heard a line “Having heroes is a way of belittling oneself”. I haven’t been able to find out since who said that but its meaning is that when we idolize someone, we presume that they have capabilities that we could never have and thus fail to aspire to. When it comes to the ability to play games that is often true. But when we take it beyond that to virtues of integrity and gentlemanly behavior, we move into a realm that our sports heroes sometimes lack but are nonetheless available to all of us. [/QUOTE]

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