THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 24, 1996 TAG: 9604240560
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
What can one say about Albert Belle, except to point out that his 1996 public relations campaign has gotten off to a rocky start?
Now we can see how easy Belle went on Hannah Storm during the World Series. Last fall, Belle hurled profanities at the NBC reporter, for which he was fined $50,000 by interim commissioner Bud Selig.
If mere words come at such a price, what should Belle be expected to pay when he punctuates his expletives with a couple of horsehide exclamation points?
Should Belle be cited for both balls he threw from the outfield at photographer Tom Tomsic, or only for the one that actually struck Tomsic on the hand, opening a cut?
The Indians have been quiet about this, but they know Belle was out to plunk Tomsic, who avoided more serious injury by blocking the ball with his hand. Eddie Murray, who shares Belle's love and respect for the media, joked that he was going to get Tomsic a catcher's mask.
Those Indians are such charmers.
For some reason, Belle's erratic behavior makes me think of the current Budweiser advertising campaign in which Charlton Heston confronts the weird party crasher who is after his beer.
``Frankly, son,'' says Heston, ``you frighten me.''
Belle should frighten baseball. In 1991, he responded to a taunting fan by striking him with a ball fired into the stands. He was suspended for a week by the American League.
Last October, after his Storm-y World Series, Belle was in the news again when he climbed into his automobile and chased children who had egged his house on Halloween. He struck one of the kids with his car.
Belle's latest on-field incident, which took place before the April 6 game in Cleveland, should not be mistaken for Alec Baldwin slapping a paparazzi. Tomsic, a member of the accredited media, was taking pictures of Belle as the Indian slugger stretched in front of the dugout.
When Belle complained, Tomsic stopped taking pictures. When Belle went to the outfield to play catch, Tomsic began taking pictures again.
That's when Belle turned and fired.
By not filing a complaint, Tomsic, a Clevelander on assignment for Sports Illustrated, showed the sort of restraint Belle probably will never know. You could say that Tomsic took one for the club.
``Some people,'' he said, ``are even mad at me for not pressing the issue.''
Those would be the people who want to see Major League Baseball force Belle to act like an adult. As the story gains wider circulation, however, Tomsic is having second thoughts.
``The bad side of this is if something happens two weeks, two months, two years down the road and somebody really gets hurt, I'm going to look like an ass,'' he told USA Today. ``I guess that's something I've got to live with.''
The Indians are willing to live with a ticking bomb as long as Belle delivers home runs and RBIs. He is the Dennis Rodman of baseball, only without the clown's hair.
Perhaps the attention given this story will force the embarrassed Indians to discipline Belle.
If so, their punishment could not equal the payback administered last year to Belle by the baseball writers, who awarded the American League MVP to Mo Vaughn.
Could Belle's image be hurt any more than it already is?
Never say never. As this paper went to press, he had not yet head-butted an umpire. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press
[Color Photo]
by CNB