by Perhaps the most impressive thing about 1996 was that both the hitters in front of him and behind him played poorly. Both Eddie Murray and Carlos Baerga struggled and were traded at the deadline. His protection was gone, and he was still mashing everything in sight!
While the postseason is one Cleveland Indians fans would like to forget, Belle did provide one outstanding moment that is still shown today. The Indians were already down 2-0 in the series and on the brink of elimination.
For whatever crazy reason, despite having 99 wins, the Indians didn’t have home field over Baltimore, so game three took place at Jacobs Field.
With the game tied 4-4 in the 7th inning, Belle hit a grand slam so long and hard that Cleveland Hopkins Airport may have just seen it on their radar. It was one of the most dramatic home runs in Cleveland postseason history, and the crowd’s reaction may have been the loudest. The bomb from Belle however, would sadly prove to be his last as a Cleveland Indian as they would lose the next day.
On October 28, 1996, Albert Belle, became a free agent. Most fans assumed that it would only be a matter of time before Belle resigned with the Indians. They had won back to back division titles and still had a loaded lineup.
In the first of many signs to come that baseball is still a business to many players, Belle betrayed his hometown fans and signed with the rival, Chicago White Sox.
He joined perennial All Star, Frank Thomas, and with the new power duo in place, many in the media declared the White Sox as the new team to beat. In his eight years with Cleveland, he hit 242 homeruns and drove in 751 RBI.
Suddenly it was all gone, and the Indians would have to trade away Kenny Lofton for David Justice, and also trade for Matt Williams just to attempt to replace his bat in the lineup.
