If you look at the Wikipedia article on Albert Belle you will find that the section on his controversies is longer than his accomplishments. He fought with sportswriters, with fans, with other players, and his temper was legendary. So was his prowess with a bat.
Albert Belle may have been the most feared slugger of the 1990s. He was the first 50/50 man (doubles and home runs) in baseball. He pounded out extra base hits by the truckload and was able to generate a decent Batting Average. He was a constant Triple Crown threat as he was to win the MVP Award. In fact, Belle was jobbed out of the 1995 MVP to Mo Vaughn, likely due to the baseball media's hatred of him.
Albert Belle retired at the age of 34 due to a degenerative hip condition, though he quit his baseball career before his numbers declined to an unproductive level. The writers’ bad will towards Belle meant they would have had to amass numbers they could not ignore. As he did not hit them, they dropped him off the ballot after two years. If the writers only looked at what he did on the field instead of off of it (as they should), it is hard for them to justify why his vote tally was so low.
Comments powered by CComment