"My Stats Are Better Than His" - Albert Belle Says The Hall Of Fame Is A Popularity Contest And Makes His Case That If Mike Trout Gets In, So Should He
Ohhh Albert. Buddy I don't think this is a road you want to go down. Belle was on Chris Rose's podcast and they got to talking about the Hall of Fame. Me thinks that Albert has been sitting on this take for a little too.
They talk about Mike Trout and how he just got done his 13th season, Belle says that he played 12 seasons and has better numbers then him, therefore stating his case that if people think Trout is a Hall of Famer right now that he should be too. To quote Tony Romo "ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh idk Jim!". The hip injury essentially ended his career way short of what it should have been, but he did put up some solid numbers while in the bigs.
I pulled the stats and while Albert is not lying, some of his numbers are better. Played in more games (both missed a TON of time due to injuries), more plate appearances, more hits, more home runs, and more RBI. That is it. Everything else goes to Trout. Just look at the bWAR, Trout is DOUBLE what Belle is, that is a tough one to fight.
Albert Belle was an incredible player, a truly gifted athlete. But his body broke down and to be quite frank, he was an asshole. Multiple situations where he showed his true colors and it sucks but HOF voters take that shit to heart. Again, with that being said, I think Belle was a good player but he isn't Mike Trout. He was never Mike Trout. Unless Mike Trout gets hit by a bus he's going to pass Belle in all those stats relatively soon.
And I know the question was about everyone saying Trout is a HOFer right now, but that isn't how it goes. We know Trout is a HOFer right now because his impact on the game and how he played it and how incredible he was, he's got a few years left here too.
Here are Trout's accolades:
Here are Belle's:
Albert had 5 All-Star appearances, 5 Silver Sluggers and a MLB Player of the Year award, something Trout also won. That's it. Baseball is about awards as well as stats, and Belle does have some damn good numbers. But bottom line is he wasn't as well liked by the writers as Trout is and he's right, it's a popularity contest. Always has been. It's why David Ortiz who failed a PED test is in the Hall and Barry Bonds isn't.
Belle's numbers do look nice compared to Trout at this stage, but the thing is Trout is going to keep adding to his. Legit chance he ends up near 500 home runs, Belle's numbers are all set. He ain't getting to Cooperstown even though his numbers suggest he should have had a legit shot. He had the corked bat scandal too, another reason he won't get in. He did make one of Cleveland's workers go THROUGH THE VENTS in the roof to get the corked bat back, that probably rubbed writers the wrong way.
With all that said, the guy could hit bombs like no one else, but that temper flared up a little bit too. He was damn good, but think Cooperstown was always a pipe dream for him. I also wouldn't tell him to his face that he isn't as good as Trout, I don't want that action.