Albert Belle was probably the crankiest and sometimes meanest S.O.B. in the game back in his day. He’s not mellowed with age, as his interview with CSNChicago’s Chuck Garfien reveals. Highlights:
- On his corked bat in 1994 – “I know Bobby Brown was [out to get me] because me and him had a few run-ins before as the American League president, so it was kind of his chance to get back at me, so he did.”
- On steroids allegations – “What people don’t remember about Albert Belle is, Albert Bell was living in a glass house. I’m sure if Albert Belle was doing steroids, somebody would have reported me a long time ago.”
- On losing the MVP to Mo Vaughn in 1995 – “If you ask every reporter who voted, they knew they should have been voting for me. It should have been the greatest landslide in MVP history. Just because some of them didn’t like me … they didn’t vote for me.”
He’s absolutely right on 1995. He’s full of crap on the corked bat. I don’t know what he did steroids-wise, but if your best defense is “well, someone would have said something already, yes?” you’re not exactly offering a full-throated denial.
Guy was a horse’s ass back in the day and he’s in at least some amount of denial now. Still a hell of a ballplayer, though, so I kinda don’t care as long as he’s not committing felonies.