Cleveland Indians: Albert Belle Won’t Be Attending Induction
By Ryan Rosko
One key member of the Cleveland Indians hall of fame class will be missing his induction.
When you think of successful, popular Cleveland Indians with a unique personality, outfielder Albert Belle comes to mind. Belle was a key member of the organization during his time with the Tribe, but his play may be remembered just as well as his antics and attitude at times.
Still, without Belle, Cleveland may not have snapped their multiple decades drought of World Series appearances. Due to Belle’s success at the plate and specifically overall game early on in his career, many Cleveland Indians fans I am sure would still want him as a key component of the team during his career.
Now that his career is over, fans, media, and the organization can reflect and show their support to Belle. According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on July 30th, Belle, along with fellow Clevlenad Indians greats Frank Robinson, Jim Thome, and Charlie Jamieson will be inducted into the team’s hall of fame.
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Unfortunately, Belle will not be in attendance. He wanted to be, but schedule conflicts will not let him be in NE Ohio next week. The reason? Belle and his family will be on vacation! Even though the timing did not work out, it was not like he did not try to attend.
"“I talked to Bobby DiBiasio (Indians senior vice president of public affairs) this whole offseason. I told him I could do it in May or June when my kids get out of school. Or I could do it in August. I said don’t do it in July . . .that’s like our family vacation time.”"
It is a disappointment we will not get to see Belle in Cleveland at the end of the month. Each one of the upcoming inductees certainly deserves this honor. It just would have been nice to see everyone come together, including Jamieson’s family, that’s all.
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I am not going to knock Belle for not attending the Cleveland Indians induction because you and I do not know exactly why he is not flexible in dates. To an extent he is, but absolutely blocking a whole summer month is tough to work around.
"While Belle was selected for the honor after last season, negotiations between him and the team have been going on for the last four years to find an agreeable time, preferably with him in attendance, for his induction. Yet in all that time, a suitable date could not be agreed upon."
On the other hand, Belle is the only one of the four inductees who will be missing the event. It is not everyday a professional sports team inducts a player into their hall of fame.
Maybe in the future Belle will regret not attending. Either way, it comes down to this: If Belle does not want to go, he does not have to. It is as simple as that.
The fact that it has taken multiple years of negotiations and no date was agreed upon does imply Belle still does not have the best relationship with the Cleveland Indians. With no give and take, how does a date not get agreed upon years in advance?
Despite Belle’s situation, it will be great to see both Robinson and Thome; two players who impacted the Cleveland Indians a great deal.
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Even with Belle absent, this is still an extraordinary honor, one in which the media, fans, organization, and the inductees will never forget. It will be an exciting time watching those players become officially inducted.