Cleveland Indians: 4 players in Tribe history that should’ve won AL MVP

Albert Belle (1994/1995/1996)

In the grand scheme of things, Albert Belle isn’t the most beloved Cleveland Indians player of all time. He’s had his share of controversies, from corked bats to beyond-anger fueled outbursts at teammates, all the way down to chasing down kids while in his automobile on Halloween. He’s stalked his ex-girlfriend and lord knows what else.

That’s the long way of saying that Belle’s a bad dude. A bad dude who should’ve been a multi-time MVP.

For three straight seasons, Belle had to deal with the “Cleveland tax”. It’s not hard to suggest that had Belle put up the same numbers in Boston or New York from 1994-1996, that he’d of won three straight AL MVP’s. In the strike-shortened season of 1994, Belle had near exact numbers to Frank Thomas. Both men’s teams were at the top of the AL in records and both men were doing ungodly things.

He didn’t so much get screwed in 1994. No, it was more of a case that had had Belle had a full season of play to his name, he may have outlasted Thomas down the stretch and out hit him for the year.

In 1995 he was robbed, flat out robbed, by Mo Vaughn of all people. Belle had better stats than Vaungh in every category except in stolen bases. The only stat that Vaungh and Belle were a wash on was RBI’s, where both men had the same total. That’s it. Everything else went to Belle. Even more impressive is that Belle did all that in fewer at-bats (only four less but still). Belle was outright mugged in 1995 by the voting committee and it was because of his address (and possible anger issues).

In 1996, Belle outperformed MVP winner Juan Gonzales without fail. More hits, more runs scored, more home runs, more RBI’s, and a better OPS. The slight issue with this one is that Alex Rodriguez, who finished in second just ahead of Belle’s third-place spot, had even incredible numbers as well and there was a case for Rodriguez in 1996 to be an MVP. Both Belle and Rodriguez were seemingly penalized for not playing in a huge market. For Belle, it was Cleveland and for Rodriguez it was Seattle.

A bit of MLB trivia, Gonzales is one of the few men to win the AL MVP and not make the All-Star game in the same season.