Suspension Of Belle Was Ding-Dong Move

At this rate, pretty soon A.L. president Gene Budig will issue a formal apology to Albert Belle, pay him $1 million for mental anguish and nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At least, that’s how it looks these days, doesn’t it?

Belle and the players’ union make a threat, Budig and baseball backed down. The last time someone got knocked so flat, it seems, was Fernando Vina.

By cutting Belle’s suspension from five games, to three to two, Budig has invited criticism from all sides, and now no one is satisfied.

Indians fans are flooding the all-sports radio station in Cleveland, calling in to complain about “Dr. Butt-head.” Vina is still upset that the union tried to get him to change his story - as in, it wasn’t so vicious, was it?

Milwaukee manager Phil Garner is angry, and so are Belle’s teammates. Even Belle isn’t completely placated, saying he’d already hired lawyers to continue the fight.

The only ones entirely happy are probably the folks at Fox, who are televising Saturday’s game at Jacobs Field between the Indians and Yankees. Because Cleveland played a day-night doubleheader Friday, that took care of Belle’s suspension and made him eligible to play on national TV.

Of course, this whole problem could have been avoided if it had been handled correctly from the start.

Belle, love him or hate him - there’s no in-between - should never have been suspended in the first place.

Yes, his behavior has been boorish at times, on and off the field. No, he’ll never be mentioned in the same sentence, not in a good way, with Ken Griffey Jr. or Cal Ripken.

But, all that said, what he did to Vina did not deserve a suspension.

Vina planted himself right in Belle’s path, rather than trying to sideswipe him with a tag. The first time in the game that Vina tried it, Belle took it easy. The second time, Vina paid the price.

“I just think he should’ve gotten out of Albert’s way,” admitted Milwaukee coach Jim Gantner, a tough second baseman for 975 games in the majors. “He was in the basepath, and while Belle may have cheap-shotted him, Fernando’s got to tag him and get out of the way. He’s young. He’ll learn.”

Sure, Belle’s hit was a bit excessive, even though he didn’t come up with a flying forearm. Instead, it was a straight shot. Nothing worse than what happens to catchers when they get barreled over while blocking the plate.

In the NFL, players are occasionally fined - but not suspended - for hard hits on quarterbacks when there was no penalty flag on the play.

In Belle’s case, he was not ejected. If baseball wanted to fine him for a questionable hit, OK. A suspension, no way.

Of course, none of this would have occurred if hadn’t involved Belle. Had it been an aggressive runner like Lenny Dykstra or Paul Molitor, many may have seen it as hard-nosed baseball. But when people saw Belle, it raised a red flag.

No doubt, baseball saw that same flag. It realized that Belle creates an image problem for the sport, and took all of his past problems into account in handing down a five-game suspension.

Yet while baseball was privately patting itself on the back for acting so quickly, issuing the initial penalty three days after the incident, it should have been more focused on making the right call.

That’s what umpires do - no matter how much a manager or player is arguing, they always try to get the call right. Joe Brinkman and crew made the correct decision that night in Milwaukee, not ejecting Belle.

Budig and his associates should have done the same thing.