Albert Belle hits 50th Home Run. 9/30/95

[ruthusk8r]

Truly an awesome video. The memories

[Dumpstermuffin1]

Back in the day when the jac was packed! Sold out seats from 1995 to 2001...alas to bad it's not like that now

[LLG47]

@footballplaya77 Ya with the way the tribe is playing that place will be hopping. Cleveland needs a team to play well after the cavaliers went down with out lebum.

[footballplaya77]

@LLG47 Hell yea, hes a distant memory to me now, i hope Dallas beats the hell out of the Heat and wins their first championship, but right now all everybody is talking about is the Tribe, we did horrible this week against the Rays, but we'll bounce back against Toronto

[footballplaya77]

It will be like this again, this summer, ROLLTRIBE!!

[Kdubslugga]

"Strongest man Ive ever seen without steroids was Albert Belle" - Jose Canseco

[PUCK271]

OMG I WAS THERE....I was only 6

[WarmPBR1]

Everything stopped when Albert came to the plate. Babies stopped crying, rivers stopped flowing, and planes paused in mid air to see what would happen.

[eggsmstr]

Love that 95 team, went to 1st playoffgame against boston, remember the phone tyups, then got tickets to game 5 world series, when J.T. knocked over the TREE, what a GREAT TIME!!

[tremontarama]

@eggsmstr I was at the first Boston game too with my camcorder, but the battery went dead in about the 7th. :(

[KenM66]

I was at this game.  I was 8 years old.

[Juan321C]

The Jake was alive! 455 in a row!

[webslinger48]

Albert Belle was a beast, but his career will always be overshadowed for me by the corked bat incident. If a guy corks his bat, who's to say who won't use roids, or something else, as well. His slugging prowess reminded me of Kevin Mitchell in '89-'90. These guys were born to rake.

[tristen539]

hof career buht a shitty atitude never got him ther

[AnonTbomb]

Albert Belle was one of the biggest douchebags ever born, but i loved the silly fucker. 

I never saw him in cleveland. I was at detroit once and saw him give the finger to a pitcher, then grab his crotch and spit. Was pretty funny.

[mg196]

Albert was HOF-bound. Injuries and a shit attitude kept him out.

[YANKEEBOY114]

I'm not an Indians fan but I still believe Belle is the most underrated player ever. If he were more well-liked I bet he would be in the HOF right now, and I don't think a player's character should factor into the voting.

[druid2131]

@YANKEEBOY114 - you're right - Ty Cobb was WAY worse than Belle and he's in the HOF.  Cobb had more years of success, but Belle dropped off the ballet in 2007 and will never even be considered again.

[YANKEEBOY114]

Uh.. I don't think Belle was at all better than Cobb, but there are definitely tons of HOFers that Belle was better than.

[Barneyst1]

That team had a lineup, except for Omar (who had a 298 BA) hit over 300. What a great summer. Jacobs Field packed, standing room only. But it's time for football..

It's about time for the Browns to start kicking ass. This year looks better. Lets open a big can of whipass on the NFL. Oh ya, F*ck Pittsburgh.

[Kdubslugga]

How did this team not win the world series?? Unbelievable team!!!

[chicksdigmizunos98]

@Kdubslugga they ran into the braves who had the best starting pitchers in the NL

[druid2131]

@Kdubslugga - They lost because Kenny Lofton was the only one who hit well in the '95 Series. Belle, Ramirez, Baerga, Thome, Alomar...all hit terribly in the series. Ramirez I think batted like .187. Braves' pitchers were sick that year (and many yrs after) - definitely deserve credit for shutting this team down.

[topdawg1020]

@druid2131 they lost in 95 because the strike zone for braves pitchers was the size of a rolls royce

[druid2131]

@topdawg1020 -haha you're right about that. I remember my dad screaming at the tv when the umpires kept giving Glavine that outside, and I mean outside, corner strike... haha. What's funny is I live in Atlanta now and everyone here just whines about how the Braves only won that ONE World Series after winning their Division like 13 times in a row. I say "Hey! One WS Championship goes a LONG way!!"

[Kdubslugga]

@druid2131 Yeah Braves were pretty stout that year!!

[figtree1234]

that was when indians basbeall ment something. hell, we r even the worst in mlb 10 the show!

[1olrocker]

I turned 18 in August of 1995. Have lots of memories as a kid at the old Municipal Stadium. For those of you who are not from Cleveland or never lived in Cleveland, you have NO idea how magical the 1995 season was. It was pure electricity at Jacobs Field every night! It wasn't the fact the Indians won 100 games in a 144 game strike-shortened season...... it was how many come from behind, win in the last at-bat, walk off home-run wins that was just insane! I neve saw anything like it. Wow!

[tremontarama]

@1olrocker well put. I was there and totally agree with this statement.

[poshko41]

@1olrocker It really is too bad that team couldn't win the series... If we had played against anyone but Atlanta, I think we would have won it easily. We just happened to go up against one of the best rotations in baseball history. Plus, the Braves were a veteran team with heaps of postseason experience. That '95 Indians team was full of young, fledgling stars. I still think '97 was more painful than anything though... >.<

[TheCheeshead]

@1olrocker the indians also had a lineup with 8 batters with over 300 batting average, but omar, the only one who didnt have over 300, made up for his average with his amazing defense. its hard for a poor, compared to cities like new york, city like cleveland to get a team that good.

[folio12]

someone should show this to the Dolans. Those pricks ruined such a great thing!

[0809willyo]

wow a full jacobs stadium yea jacobs not that progressive bullshit wish i was older thoes days i sure missed alot

[HermFontenot]

What people forget is that AB started slowly in '95. He only had 19 HR thru July. In the last two months he hit 31 HR. He was just ridiculous in Aug and Sept that year, you couldn't pitch to him

[billyjoebutthed111]

HIdeo Nomo struck him out in the All Staar game in 1995. Albert Belle, Jose Canseco, Hideo Nomo, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and a few others will be blackballed from ever being allowed into cooperstown despite their accoplishments.

[Derby14]

Wo, I must be in the front row...great seats, eh buddy?

[selppuc]

mo vaughn over albert belle. maybe the biggest mvp snubbing of all time.

[sandemus8]

Did he always wear #8 on his jersey?

[ElKabong75]

it's still sick to this day that The Tribe lost to ANYONE in the World Series in '95.

[sploosh56]

I watched him hit a grand slam against the blue jays back in the 96. There wasn't many fans there because there had been a two hour rain delay. Albert Belle won that game for the indians beating the blue jays 4-2. The best part was that it was the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, 2 strikes, and 3 balls. He crushed that ball.

[Barney24200]

He also hit 50 doubles that year. The first player in history to hit 50 homers and 50 doubles.

[Skull10]

@Barney24200

And still the ONLY player to achieve such a feat. (And he did it in a truncated 144-game season!)

[thomesocksup]

@Lukachicago19

This coming from someone who has Chicago in his name. Been to Chicago a few times now. I like the city but really. Some areas are just really bad. But you find that in alot of cities

[thomesocksup]

Be thankful to Cleveland. You guys got the real cleveland browns now in Baltimore so be grateful to Cleveland. Think about that dude.

[mcredico]

One would be hard pressed to find a better all around OF in the 1990's.

[ballplayer1799]

I really think Belle is a case of one voter not voting for him into the HoF, thinking the next voter will... then just about nobody did

[MIKESOWELL]

But see that's the hypocrisy of it all. Just because they didn't like the guy, they are penalizing him IN SPITE of his stats...

[joekiddlouischama]

@MIKESOWELL Plus, Belle looks to be one of the elite sluggers of his era who posted his numbers without the benefit of steroids (such is the opinion of steroids savant Jose Canseco).

[saywhatmachine]

dayyyyyymn he hit that ball harder than he hit his wife

[MIKESOWELL]

I think what hurts Belle is that he didn't play in QUITE enough games. He needed maybe two more seasons and that would have done it.

[TheWestCoastBias]

The votes (The Media) wouldn't voted for him anyway, because he's a scumbag to them. That's why he's no longer in the HOF ballots since he didn't get enough votes to stay on. Heck, he was never an MVP, especially in 1995 where he had better numbers than Mo Vaughn, why...he's a scumbag to the media.

[nest790]

Alber Belle belongs in the HALL OF FAME. I don't like the media because of what they did to his career.

[UltimateWheelman]

I agree. There's no suspicion about him using PED's and he put up amazing numbers. 9 straight 100 RBI seasons is amazing, then considering that he only played over 100 games in 10 of his 12 seasons, it's mind boggling. He had 95 RBI's in 123 games in 1991, so that was almost 10 straight 100-RBI seasons. How can he NOT be in the Hall of Fame? His attitude? Then why is Ty Cobb in there? The BBWAA don't make any sense sometimes.

[saveusfrom1983]

Cobb was also put in the HOF when racisim was still excepted in 1936. Things have changed dramatically and people don't put up with the garbage that athlethes like Belle or TO or "Ochocinco" do anymore. I do agree he was a phenominal player but sometimes your attitude will reflect if you get into the HOF or not now-a-days.

[UltimateWheelman]

@saveusfrom1983 Yeah, I think you're right.

[wastemgmt07]

I cant tell you how much this video memory is appreciated. A tear in my eye and chills up my spine. When Albert Belle walked to the plate....everything stopped. We all knew something was going to happen. I loved this guy . He had a bad ass atitude but got the job done.....

[renandstim]

In the history of the Cleveland Indians, Albert Belle is the greatest left fielder to ever be home grown. It was Albert, he of the .317 BA, 1.091 OPS, 50 HR, 126 RBI, and 377 TB in 1995. Belle deserved the MVP that year.

[Barney24200]

Remember the video they put out at the end of the 95 season.? Tom Hamiltons call saying Albert Belle "The first man in baseball history with 50 homers and 50 doubles' What a great season for Cleveland

[jimandtara23]

I have to agree with ytownteddy! Albert Belle was THE MAN!!!! He should have won MVP in 1995, but thats the media. They hated Belle. Belle would have followed it up with another 50 HR season in 1996, but there was a game in Seattle where Griffey robbed him of a Homerun. Ill never forget it! I love the Indians, Ive loved them ever since 1993, after I saw "Major League" on USA. I get laughed at all the time because I live in Amish Country PA, and Im an Indians fan.

[Indians727]

Man I remember that, I was 5 years old and I was sitting behind home plate, great memories

[dipset2244]

man the good days when the jake (progessive) was packed

[RetroBoyWontDie]

i used to take a camcorder to my teams games. kind of hit and miss. might get a tight-ass usher who says that taping is not allowed by MLB. others ignored it.

not a tribe fan, but i still remember that '95 line-up described by a pitcher as "like facing an all-star team, 1-9". they and the '95 Mariners had the friggin scariest line-ups.

[UltimateWheelman]

Those were the days.

[JLTRAIN233]

i actually can't believe i was at this game, i was only 5 years old, my dad was a season ticket holder and this was awesome to be in attendance

[beccabonz626]

i wish the stadium was like that again! packed with so many cheering fans, on a regular game day

[TheCheeshead]

@beccabonz626 i wish that they wouldn't have changed the name to progressive field. I mean, whats wrong with jacobs field?

[OpressionOffical]

@beccabonz626

Just wait, i think the Indians have GREAT talent and are going to be great in a couple of years. Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore (Healthy), hopefully a producing Matt LaPorta and the Third Baseman of the future Lonnie Chisenhall looks great, also Jason Kipnis. And we have a bunch of power arm pitchers like Alex White and Drew Pomeranz in our farm system have are really showing in Spring Training this year/

My prediction:

.500 this year and playing by 2012 or 13

[OpressionOffical]

@beccabonz626

Just wait, i think the Indians have GREAT talent and are going to be great in a couple of years. Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore (Healthy), hopefully a producing Matt LaPorta and the Third Baseman of the future Lonnie Chisenhall looks great, also Jason Kipnis. And we have a bunch of power arm pitchers like Alex White and Drew Pomeranz in our farm system have are really showing in Spring Training this year/

My prediction:

.500 this year and playoff by 2012 or 13

[1993jsizzle]

@beccabonz626 just wait until the Indians are a 100 win team, you'll see a packed house every night.

[mattygOsfan]

I'm an Oriole fan, and I don't really have strong feelings toward Albert Belle either way. Sure he was kind of a jerk, but the man could hit. And, tell me his refusal to take 1st base after being hit by a pitch wasn't classic. What an interesting character he was.

[TheNextNoelGallagher]

The glory days. I remember being a kid during that summer, staying up late night to listening to Tom Hamilton on the radio. Classic. It saddens me to see what has become of the Tribe and the crowds at 'the Jake.' (fuck that new name, it's the Jake)

[mikey217]

1995 was an amazing year for tribe fans. I will never forget that team as long as I live. Lofton,Omar,Baerga,Belle,Murra­y,Sorrento,Manny,Thome,Alomar. Wow.

[supashak80]

Baseball is not the same and it has no business being in the #3 sport in this country when it is better than football and basketball. But too bad the product MLB is putting out is not.

[supashak80]

I Albert Belle is the man everybody else crying and criticizing is a bunch of wussies. Albert acted the way he acted because he's a private person and a lot things distracted his routine as a hitter.I remember fans in Baltimore Crying about Albert for not puting up MVP #'s early in the season. But they didn't have enough baseball sense to realize the scrub B.J. Surhoff they was singing praises for was having a career year thanks to Albert hitting right behind him.

[airjordanseattle23]

steroids

[osubucks91]

he wasnt on roids but he did cork his bat a lot.

[acb06172005]

The Dennis Rodman of baseball :P

[swolfdab]

love this video... thank you

[optimusoct]

The Greatest Baseball player EVER!!!! Pure Power!!

[bt823]

i was at this game...what a year for the tribe

[Triple3Deuce2]

baseball sucks now.

[poshko41]

Man those were the days! I would love to see what kind of camcorder this guys used to film this. It was probably one of those huge monstrosities that took VHS tapes and rested on your shoulder! :D

[ytownteddy]

I still have not seen anyone as locked in as Albert was that year. He was incredible, and it was a joke that Mo Vaughn got the MVP instead of him. For a stretch of about 3-4 years he was, in my opinion, as good a hitter as there EVER was in MLB. It didn't last forever but for a time he just crushed everything you put in the strike zone. He was on pace to have H.O.F. numbers. Yeah, he was a douche. But you couldn't sneak one by him...especially with the game on the line. Great hitter.

[acb06172005]

Maybe if Joey, I mean Albert, wasn't the Dennis Rodman of baseball, he would've been MVP.

[miceypoo]

Yes true, but look at what Babe Ruth did. Ruth's teammate Larry Gardner once walked in on him having sx w/ a hooker. Ruth got into way more trouble than Belle, but police and others looked the other way. Does perception count, yes, but the MVP and Hall is basically sports writers (the media) choosing false idols rather than commending someone's performance in the sport. Ruth did drugs, Mantle did drugs...If fans love Belle they can demand his recognition. I went to LSU, btw.

[osubucks91]

ya the media and even some of his own team mates strongly disliked his angry and isolated attitude and that is the only reason he didnt win mvp.

[Kdubslugga]

@ytownteddy And if you read Cansecos book, Belle did not juice!!! Call Canseco a liar, he's been 100 percent accurate so far!!

[Nateezie]

@ytownteddy bro i started following baseball a little late in 98 99 and Belle was even at that point one of my fav players. FLAT OUT RAKING from the right side....

[ryan9942]

@ytownteddy. Yeah he was a hell of a ballplayer and I liked him but why is it Indians fans are kissing his ass now???, I still remember when he was hated as equally as Modell in Cleveland because of the way he left Cleveland, the fact he went to the division rival White Sox, the fact how he was just an total ass and the corked bat incident, he's a Indian at heart since that's where he had his best years but he basically burned his bridges in Cleveland and took a dump on the team when he left.

[utrocksit]

I love this video... thanks for putting it up!!!!

[WaxHeavenDOTcom]

Great freakin' video! THANKS!

Has an Indian hit more than 50 since?

[evrbody]

Jim Thome hit 52 in 2002.

[poshko41]

Good call. I was gonna ask the same thing actually (can't believe I didn't know that already O_O).

[abruzz0]

The Indians were so dominant that year, and Belle struck the fear of God into every pitcher

[mexizona858]

i love albert belle, whomever believes he's an ass has never met albert belle. belle was the terrell owens of his time, a very talented black athlete who talked back to the majority owned white media. i, as a white man, love that and think the media blackballs (no pun intented) atheletes who won't be their friends, belle never wanted to be anybody's role model, he just wanted to play the game the best he could. next time espn's baseball tonight comes on, mute it, it's better that way.

[MJohnnyboy]

I know, it's completely the media's fault he ran over kids with his car on Halloween.

[Metinja]

That guy was one of the top players in his time.

I really hope he makes it into the Hall of Fame.

[downsidefx]

he will never make it into the hall of fame. he was a d-bag anyways

[EastMan1173]

jesus christ kid, you fuckin lose control over an arguement in baseball? embarrassing. you tell him to stop running his mouth when you clearly are the one antogonizing. how old are you 16? gee, the city of losers? how insulting. dumb redneck? haha wow your just fucking embarrassing.

[arvydas0069]

you got served cocksucker

[thomesocksup]

wow! what memories. A packed house at the Jake. Sometimes I miss those days. Assenmacher, Plunk, Jose Mesa, Carlos Baerga, Albert Belle, Paul Sorrento, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel. I miss the 90's. Those were some magical years. Orel Hershieser, Dennis Martinez... Fantastic.

[arvydas0069]

Obviously your aren't from Cleveland. There aren't any rednecks in Cleveland retard. Its a big urban city. There are no country accents or farms jackass.

[thomesocksup]

the ignorance of people sometimes crack me up. There are community gardens in some places in Cleveland. I miss Cleveland. Moved to PA. Now where I live is some country. Been seeing bats lately. Kinda cool. Kinda.

[arvydas0069]

Sorry fag, you're wrong. Any baseball almanac will show you that. I've followed the Indians my entire life. They played 20 more games in 1999 fucking idiot! Of course the runs are likely to be higher. What you need to do is take the average runs per game for 1995, times that by 21 (number of games shortened), and you will get thier final run tally for a full 1995 season.

You didn't go very far in math did you son?

[arvydas0069]

WTF?? I've lived in Cleveland almost my entire life.

And guess what.........

144 games were played the 1995 season

the averages add up to more runs scored than 1999 when you average in the games in a 165 game season!

Sorry faggot, you must have had a dick in your mouth at the time and you didn't pay attention that the averages add up to the greatest offensive season in Cleveland history. Sorry

remember, Hoes before bros, faggot.

[cacable7]

They play 162 games in a season man

[doubleglock187]

I agree 100% with you but, there are 162 game in a normal season not 165.

[arvydas0069]

oops. I was in Iraq when I typed that. Had other things on my mind on a day to day basis. But ya you're right. I was just trying to get a point across

[wilijamesme]

I didn't say he did steriods. He's more like a bruce bowen type of player.

[arvydas0069]

This was an amazing year in Cleveland....i've never been a part of such a magical season since...EVERYONE in the Metro Area attended at least one game that season. Hence the All Time sell-outs record and deservedly so....7 .300 hitters, shoddy pitching, but greatest offense ever.

[kautumn88]

Albert Belle was the Belle Ringer for the Tribe, clutch hitter

[davidm8985]

Nice video. They allowed you to bring a video camera in the ballpark? Just curious. Belle was a very dirty player, and some of the stuff I've heard about him is very bad. However, like him or not, he was a great hitter. You can't take that away from him as a player.

[Faz316]

He didn't do steroids, he just corked all his bats.

[beauknight]

he might not have been most people's favorite player but he has never, not once, been mentioned in steroid scandals. At least one great home run hitter is clean.

[wilijamesme]

He was a dirty player

[arvydas0069]

Wasn't a dirty player. Just a bad person if you were the press or you fucked with him on halloween. He never did steriods and the closest guy I can see to his productivity these days is Albert Pujols

[basbalfrk]

Nah, no steroids...just corked his bat.

[Ruhnald]

Go Tribe! Albert Belle belongs in the Hall of Fame.