Strange Dream

I was on Mike and Mike in the Morning as a guest. We were on location in Cleveland and I was on to discuss Cleveland Indians who should be in the Hall of Fame. Not sure if I was book because of my knowledge of the Hall of Fame or the Cleveland Indians. Either way, we were standing, with Golic in the middle.

The topic turned to Albert Belle who will never make the Hall of Fame but whose candidacy I am a big advocate of. I prefaced my remarks by saying that I consider a candidate with a short period of dominance more worthy of the Hall of Fame than a player with a long career of numbers compilation.

Belle only has 381 homers and 1726 hits but over a period of 8 years he averaged 40 homers and 125 RBI. And two of those seasons were shortened. In 1994 and 1995 he was averaging one homer per 11 at bats or so and he was robbed about 65 games probably another 20 - 25 homers, meaning he could have hit one of those magic numbers, 400 homers.

But Greenberg was not swayed by this argument, especially when I used Eddie Murray (an Indian briefly, was Belle's teammate) as an example of someone who just compiled numbers, although I do think Murray was a Hall of Famer.

At some point Greenberg became belligerent and actually swung at me and hit me in the face. Golic broke us up, then I woke up.

But Albert Belle belongs in the Hall of Fame.