Albert Belle Going to Court

Shreveport native Albert Belle is in the news again, accused of tracking his ex-girlfriend with a Global Positioning Satellite device and threatening her several times.
Belle was arrested last week in Arizona and charged with stalking. He went to court and made bail. The judge ordered him to be electronically monitored and to stay away from the woman.

An Associated Press reporter reached Belle Friday morning, and he didn't want to talk about it.

"You didn't write a story about my Hall of Fame induction," said Belle, referring to joining the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame last year. "You guys never report the good stuff that I do."

Belle's next court appearance is set for February 24.

Belle is eligible for the baseball Hall of Fame, and needed 390 votes from sportwriters to get in. He got 40. His disdain for the media is well known. It will haunt him, as they use his off-the-field troubles to justify ignoring his statistics. He has virtually no chance of being inducted.
Of course, the local media in north Louisiana reported on his induction. Here's what Daddy D had to say in the summer of '05:


One of the most impressive athletes Shreveport has ever produced received a well-earned honor on June 25. Albert Belle was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Belle made it big in baseball with the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He was one of the most imposing and productive sluggers ever at LSU. Belle was viewed by many as eccentric. The intensity that drove his success drove him into trouble sometimes, but there’s no questioning the legitimacy of his hall of Fame induction. During his big league career, he had one season in which he hit more than 50 home runs and stole more than 50 bases, a rare combination of speed and power.
Before a degenerative hip condition forced him to retire quietly, Belle hit 381 Major league home runs 389 doubles and drove in 1239 runs. Despite his success and notoriety, Belle never was much of a celebrity around town, and he preferred it that way. When he was home visiting his parents, he preferred to be left alone. He let those close to him enforce that. With rare exceptions, he avoided media interviews. His face seemed frozen in a scowl. His size and demeanor were intimidating to many.
Belle meant business at the ballpark. The only way he knew how to be successful was to place himself into some kind of emotional solitary confinement, a self-imposed social exile. He would insulate himself from distractions: reporters, cameras, teammates, fans. It didn’t matter. He had no interest .whatsoever in public relations. While he met with criticism and even ridicule for some of his behavior, his work ethic was legendary, and the statistics speak for themselves.
When he was younger, we knew him as Joey Belle and he was impossible to ignore. One afternoon in the early 80’s, the Major League Scouting Bureau conducted an open tryout at Centenary College. Young hopefuls from hundreds of miles away showed up with gloves and cleats and dreams. Watching from the stands, it was easy to see that most of them would leave there with little more. But, there was one young man turning heads. As he swung the bat with force and authority, the sound it made as it struck the ball was different: louder, crisper. While most were fielding grounders or shagging flies with shaky confidence, there was one who was cleanly fielding the ball off the wall, turning and making rope-tight accurate throws to a cutoff man. He was young, but he was a man among boys that day. Ultimately, the skeptical old scouts and the handful of observers found themselves focusing almost exclusively on the kid introducing himself as Joey. He wasn’t ready for the big leagues, but he had all the tools. He spent three seasons at LSU, alongside his twin brother Terry, worked his way up the minor league chain and made his major league debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1989.
Along the way, the local media kept up with his progress, of course. His success was celebrated, his accomplishments lauded. There also was reporting on his troubles off the field – his admitted struggle with alcohol, a minor scrape with police, that sort of thing. From his place within himself, Belle resented the glare and he was perceived negatively by many.
I was able to communicate with him over the years for reasons I can’t explain. Maybe trust was earned that day at Centenary. Who knows? I never asked Belle why he would accept my phone calls or do an interview with me at the exclusion of others. I just took it as it came. However, I can tell you this: Beyond that scowl is a warm, funny man who loves his brother, his parents and his home town. Behind those emotional barriers is a man who would embrace acknowledgement of his accomplishments.
This will tell you all you need to know about how much the Louisiana Hall of Fame honor means to Albert Belle. He was to be married on the same day as the induction ceremony. When he was asked to be there, he changed his wedding date.
Belle has been silently longing for acceptance, to belong. Now, finally, he does.

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