Albert Jojuan Belle (born August 25, 1966 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a former American Major League Baseball outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, and Baltimore Orioles. Considered by many one of the leading sluggers of his time, he was the first player to hit 50 doubles and 50 home runs in a single season when he accomplished the feat in 1995.

Belle was also considered a model of consistency, compiling a .298 career batting average, averaging 37 home runs and 120 RBI a season over the ten years of his major league career from 1991 to 2000. Belle is also one of only six players in major league history to have nine consecutive 100-RBI seasons. However, his combative personality combined with occasional angry outbursts created a public persona for surliness that often overshadowed his on-field hitting performance.

Early life
Belle was born on August 25, 1966, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Albert Belle Sr., a high school baseball and football coach, and Carrie Belle, a former math teacher. Belle also has a fraternal twin, Terry Belle. Belle attended Huntington High School in Shreveport, where Belle was a star baseball and football player, a member of the National Honor Society, and vice president of the Future Business Leaders of America. Belle graduated sixth in his high school class and made the all-state baseball team twice. In 1984, Belle was selected to play for the USA in the 1984 Junior Olympics where the U.S. won a silver medal. He played outfield and pitched, winning one game. After graduation, Belle was offered many football and baseball scholarships, including one to the University of Notre Dame and an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. However, Belle decided to stay close to home and accepted a baseball scholarship to Louisiana State University.

College
Belle played college baseball at LSU from 1985–1987 where he made 1st team All-SEC in 1986 and 1987 and played in 184 games, with stats of 585 at bats, 194 hits, 30 doubles, 49 home runs, 172 runs batted in, 157 runs, a .670 slugging percentage, and a .332 batting average.

After college he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians. While in the minor league system he was known as "Joey" (his childhood nickname) and was thought of as a top prospect, but high-risk due to his temper and excessive drinking. Belle underwent counseling and became known as "Albert." Umpire Durwood Merrill, who wrote a book called You're Out, and You're Ugly, Too, tweaked Belle by calling him "Joey" long past the time when Belle was known by that name publicly.

] Major league career
Belle became just the fourth player to have eight straight seasons of 30 home runs and 100 RBI, joining Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Lou Gehrig. He was a mediocre fielder, but a somewhat effective base stealer, with a career high of 23 steals in 1993, and a surprising 17 steals in 1999 despite hip problems. Belle led the league three times in RBI, three times in total bases, three times in extra-base hits, and twice in slugging. He was a five-time All-Star between 1993 and 1997.

Remarkably, Albert Belle's career highs in home runs, RBI, batting average, runs scored, and walks occurred in five separate seasons.

In 1994, he lost the batting title to the New York Yankees' similarly volcanic outfielder Paul O'Neill, .359 to .357. Belle's postseason record was limited to two heavy-hitting appearances, in which only his batting average suffered: he hit .230/.405/.557 with six home runs and 14 RBIs in 61 at-bats.

In 1995, Belle became the first player in the history of the major leagues to hit 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same season: the last player to reach 40 in both those categories in a season was Willie Stargell in 1973. In 1998, Belle had another 40 homer/40 double season.

His reputation, and more specifically his disdain of the media, almost certainly cost him the 1995 MVP Award; Belle finished second in the media voting to the Boston Red Sox's Mo Vaughn. This result occurred despite Bell's having led the American League that season in runs scored, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage, and total bases, and despite Belle's outpacing Vaughn head-to-head in every important offensive category except RBI (both men had 126). This was in the middle of a three-year streak in which Albert Belle finished 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd for the American League MVP. Belle had two other top ten MVP finishes, in 1993 (7th) and 1998 (8th).

In the winter of 1996, Belle signed with the Chicago White Sox as a free agent, which made him the highest paid player in baseball for a brief period. In 1999, he again became the game's highest paid player, signing a five-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Unfortunately for him and his new team, Belle ended his career just two seasons later, retiring at age 34 as a result of degenerative osteoarthritis in his hip. However, he was kept on Baltimore's active 40-man roster for the next three years, as a condition of the insurance policy which largely reimbursed the Orioles for the remainder of Belle's contract.

Albert Belle homered in the final at-bat of his major-league career on October 1, 2000.

When Cal Ripken ended his record consecutive game streak, it was Belle who took over as the major league's active leader in the category.

Controversy
Belle was involved in controversial incidents during his major league career. He was suspended in 1994 for using a corked bat. He was fined in 1996 for knocking down Brewers infielder Fernando Viña, who had blocked his way on the basepaths (though many observers felt the collision was a legitimate play). He also had unpleasant interactions with the public. In 1990, he threw a baseball into the stands, where it struck a fan who had been taunting him about his alcohol rehab. He also chased down rowdy trick-or-treaters who were celebrating Halloween by throwing eggs at his home, bumping one with his car. In 1986, he'd gone after a heckler in the stands who was shouting racist insults at him, and was suspended while his team played in the College World Series.

Sports reporters resented Belle's refusal to grant interviews before a game. A profane outburst directed at a group of reporters in his team's dugout, including NBC Sports personality Hannah Storm, was widely reported during the 1995 World Series. The incident cemented Belle's image in the media, which was further fueled by his unrepentant attitude: "The Indians wanted me to issue a statement of regret when the fine was announced, but I told them to take it out. I apologize for nothing."

Eventually, Belle routinely refused to speak with the media. "I don't get excited talking about myself," he explained. "Guys such as Sandy Koufax, Joe DiMaggio, and Steve Carlton did not interview, and it was no big deal. They were quiet. I am also quiet. I just want to concentrate on baseball. Why does everyone want to hear me talk, anyway?" Belle rarely even conducted interviews regarding his various charitable donations and scholarships.

In 2001, following Belle's retirement, the New York Daily News's venerable columnist Bill Madden wrote: "Sorry, there'll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he's a hurt surly jerk...He was no credit to the game. Belle's boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers' Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame." The New York Times's sportswriter Robert Lipsyte observed, "Madden is basically saying, 'He was not nice to me, so let's fuck him.' Sportswriters anoint heroes in basically the same way you have crushes in junior high school...you've got someone like Albert Belle, who is somehow basically ungrateful for this enormous opportunity to play this game. If he's going to appear to us as a surly asshole, then we'll cover him that way. And then, of course, he's not gonna talk to us anymore — it's self-fulfilling."

In Belle's 1st year of Hall of Fame eligibility, he garnered only 7.7% of the baseball writers' votes — missing election by an extremely wide margin.

Above is 'Mug Shot' of Belle after he was arrested on February 16th, 2006 on suspicion of stalking his ex-girlfriend.