From Belle to Bonds: Troubled Stars, Different Endings

Two of the most prominent sluggers of the 1990s had big events happen this week.

Barry Bonds, who hit at least 30 homers in all but one year in the decade, tied Babe Ruth this week.

Albert Belle, who hit 50 homers in 1995 and was the driving force of the Indians offense in the ’90s, was arrested for stalking.

The two men who were two of the top sluggers in baseball just a few years ago are now in very different places. Bonds is chasing one of the sport’s greatest records, and remains, even at 41, one of the most feared hitters in the game. Albert Belle is out of the game, and has been since 2000, when a degenerative hip condition forced him to retire.

In truth, the two men had as much in common off the field as on. Even today, the similarities are striking.

Bonds is heckled almost everywhere he goes, unless he’s playing in San Francisco, where he is loved.

People may not remember this, due to the way the partnership ended, but Belle was the exact same way in Cleveland. He was jeered everywhere he went. Fans in Boston chanted “Corky” at him, in reference to his corked-bat suspension in 1994. He was booed everywhere. Bob Costas, self-appointed moral-authority on everything, launched into an anti-Belle speech at the 1996 All-Star game, encouraged the star to seek help.

Growing up in Cleveland at the time (and being a baseball-obsessed teenager), I was a constant Belle apologist. He was the only player whose jersey I owned, and I supported him despite some somewhat horrifying incidents. I had an answer for everything.

• Belle threw a ball at a heckling fan. Well, he shouldn’t have been on him so bad. Belle did what anyone would have done.

• Belle chased some kids who egged his house. Hey, lousy kids got what they deserved.

• Belle corked his bat, then the Indians stole it when it was confiscated by umpires. Um, the White Sox probably set him up.

Article Author: Zach Baker

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