News flash...Albert Belle is crazy:
Albert Belle tracked his ex-girlfriend with a GPS device and repeatedly threatened her, according to a police probable cause statement filed in support of stalking charges.
The 39-year-old former baseball star was arrested in Scottsdale on Thursday and charged with stalking. He made an initial court appearance late Thursday, and a judge set bail at $108,000, ordered him to be electronically monitored and to stay away from the victim.
Reached by The Associated Press on Friday morning, Belle declined to comment on the case.
"You didn't write a story about my Hall of Fame induction," Belle said. "You guys never report the good stuff that I do."
Belle's next court appearance is set for Feb. 24.
Despite impressive statistics, Belle collected just 40 of the 390 votes needed to reach the Hall of Fame in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America in January. His prickly past was blamed by many for his low vote total.
The police probable cause statement said that Belle's former girlfriend discovered a Global Positioning System tracking device that had fallen off her car on Jan. 26. Believing that Belle was responsible, she called police, who began an investigation.
The unidentified woman told investigators that for several months Belle "had been showing up everywhere she went [the store, on dates, the gym, etc.]," the probable cause document stated. The woman asked Belle if he had placed the tracking device on her car, and he initially denied it.
But on Feb. 3, he left her a message apologizing for "doing all that tracking stuff," the statement said. A later recording had Belle threatening the woman, telling her she needed to hire a bodyguard for protection and that she "would never know what hit her," the statement said.
I have many thoughts on this.
First of all, was Trade Sports or one of those sites allowing you to bet on "Chances Albert Belle gets arrested on stalking charges?" Or would they have to take that bet off the board, like the Money Line on the UT/Rice game earlier this year?
Secondly, what Hall of Fame induction is Belle talking about, that the media didn't talk about? As the article mentioned, he didn't make the baseball HOF...was he inducted in the Indians team Hall of Fame recently? His high school team's Hall of Fame? Or did he just assume that he was voted into the baseball HOF, and everyone around him was too afraid of him to tell him otherwise? That would be an interesting scenario...maybe he'll show up to Cooperstown, and demand to see his plaque.
And what is "all the good stuff" that Albert Belle is doing right now, that the media refuses to report? What, in Albert Belle's world, is the "good stuff"? Not throwing his empty beer cans out his car window while he's driving?
Kudos to the writer, by the way, for finding the perfect spot in the article to work in the fact Belle didn't make the HOF, right between the date of his court appearance and a detail of what was in the police's probable cause statement.
And the article says that, according to the woman, "for several months Belle 'had been showing up everywhere she went [the store, on dates, the gym, etc.].'" Albert Belle was stalking this woman, and it took her several months to call the police? What was she waiting for? Did she think it was just a coincidence? Was she afraid that doing something about it would make him angry?
Also, what kind of woman dates Albert Belle, anyway? Isn't there a certain assumption of the risk there? Shouldn't she have known that things were bound to end badly?
It is like the "Bad Idea Jeans" commercial..."I'm dating Albert Belle. I know he has a bad temper and is kind of nuts, but I think he'll change. And if he doesn't, I'm sure he'll handle the break-up maturely."
The article also says that Belle was following her around "on dates"...which leads to another question. Nevermind what kind of woman dates Albert Belle...what kind of man dates a woman who is being stalked by Albert Belle?
I've been desperate for female companionship at various points in my life...but you know, I think even my brother Ben has never been so desperate that he'd date an Albert Belle stalkee. I'd put "Being stalked by Albert Belle" right between "Has herpes simplex 12" and "Is dead" on my list of desirable traits in a possible mate.
You have to wonder what the guy -- or guys -- she was dating were thinking. Were they just big Indians fans? Were they not real observant...you know, never noticing the menacing form of Albert Belle constantly shadowing them? Did they think, well, she must be something really special to make Albert Belle this desperate to keep her?
And do you think Belle installed the GPS tracker on the car himself? Was he asking the guy at Best Buy which GPS tracker was easiest to install on someone else's car in the middle of the night? Whether there was a special, "stalker model" GPS system that was particularly hard for someone to find on their vehicle? Or did he have one of his flunkies go do it for him?
The mind boggles...