Albert Belle would have been deserving of every humanitarian award possible if he had taken out Shaw.

I hate it when columnists almost come to blows with players like Albert Belle and...um...Albert Belle.

Almost? Bah. That's not a story!

Almost? Bah. That's not a story!

Now if he almost came to blows with an inanimate object, that'd be a story!

Shaw is still proud 14 years later that he provoked a player to yell at him, by calling him a jerk in a newspaper article and writing about sensitive trade secrets? He really was a troll before it was popular. Troll-Blazer?

I'd imagine this is about as accurate an account as whenever a baseball player remembers how a player hit him with a baseball, so he did this, then that, then this other player did that.

Which is, not at all.

I wouldn't want to fight Albert Belle.

He was always my pick as MLB's player most likely to pull a Mike Tyson and start biting chunks out of someone's body.

Why do I think that Albert Belle has always been completely misunderstood. He's like a mid 90's Milton Bradley. He didn't like the media, so they didn't like him. His background other than baseball is pretty impressive: Eagle Scout and degree in Accounting. Of course maybe I'm completely wrong and he is crazy.

Why do I think that Albert Belle has always been completely misunderstood. He's like a mid 90's Milton Bradley. He didn't like the media, so they didn't like him. His background other than baseball is pretty impressive: Eagle Scout and degree in Accounting. Of course maybe I'm completely wrong and he is crazy.

Well, the chasing down trick or treaters with his SUV, firing a ball at a fan's chest and stalking charges suggest that Albert is a little more than just a gentle misunderstood soul.

This isn't to deny that he also seems pretty bright and probably a little more well-rounded than your average ballplayer. But the angry/crazy wasn't just a media creation.

Headline should be: "I almost got beat up by Albert Belle."

I remember reading somewhere that when Albert Belle showed up in Baltimore he had the misfortune of challenging Cal Ripken to wrestle. Apparently, he ended up being thrown over a couch in the clubhouse.