“I disliked Belle more than any player I’ve covered. He was a bully, uncooperative and a constant pain in the neck.” This from the Plain-Dealer’s Paul Hoynes, who found former Tribe slugger Albert Belle so boorish, he willingly allows Hannah Storm’s least favorite interview subject to trash his old ballclub.
“Tell Larry Dolan I won’t be interviewing for the manager’s job,” said one of the most feared and ill-tempered hitters in Indians history. “How can you manage when you’ve got no players?”
“This season isn’t the manager’s fault,” Belle said. “They traded away all his players. You can’t win when you trade two Cy Young winners in CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee.
“Dolan is getting what he paid for.”
“Every time I watch a game in Cleveland, there’s nobody in the stands,” Belle said. “I said, ‘Damn, it’s worse than the old place [Cleveland Municipal Stadium] where we played.’
“What do they call that park now, Progressive Field? They should call it Regressive Field.”
“I’ve got buddies in Cleveland who had free tickets to games this season,” Belle said. “They told me, ‘We’re not going. Who are you going to watch?’ “
“I might have to put a coaching staff of Kenny Lofton, Eddie Murray and Wayne Kirby together,” Belle said. “Charles Nagy could be our pitching coach. Then I’d go to Dolan and apply for the job as manager.”
Hey, maybe old pal Fernando Vina could come to spring training and show everyone how to turn a double-play under pressure?