Speaking of Albert Belle ... my wife and I used to make the trip to Winter Haven for spring training every year. There were always lots of Indians' players out and about after games. In those days, the place to go in Winter Haven was a sports bar called Beef O'Brady's where you'd see all kinds of players, announcers, reporters, etc. This one evening, we were sitting in a booth, when Albert walked in with 3 women who were straight out of a ZZ Top video - they were knockouts, and dressed to kill. (I don't think they were expecting Albert to bring them to a burger-and-beer joint.) Anyway, they sat right next to us, and I said Hi, and he nodded and smiled, said hi back. I said "how you doin' tonight?", and he looked at the girls and then back at me, and said "Pretty good.". The look on his face was like an inside joke between us ... "how's it look like I'm doin'?". I laughed to myself and thought "that was a dumb question.".
Belle had a great smile and was pretty personable - its too bad he didn't show that side of himself more to the fans. He could have been a sports legend in this town, even with the occasional bad behavior.
