Naturally, Indians’ Belle Hits Homer to Beat Angels

It was a scene stolen out of Hollywood. If producers from “The Natural” were in the stands Monday night at Cleveland Stadium, Albert Belle would have been sued for plagiarism in a 5-4 victory over the Angels.

This theatrical moment belonged to Robert Redford, the All-American hero; not some onetime renegade from Cleveland.

Yet, there Belle was in the eighth inning, standing at the plate with a full count and looking at his bat in disgust. It was his favorite, and now it was splintered ever so slightly. He walked slowly back to the dugout and ordered the Cleveland batboy to find him a new one.

Belle grabbed the bat, caressed it with pine tar, strolled back to the plate with 10,057 fans watching and hit the next pitch toward the left-field fence. Belle flicked his bat aside, stood at the plate and watched Angel outfielder Luis Polonia drift back to the fence . . . leap . . . short of the ball, which went for a two-out, three-run homer.

Hello, heartbreak, the Angels are back in town.

“That was a tough one, a real tough loss,” said Manager Buck Rodgers, whose team has lost four consecutive games. “It will be forgotten once we win one, but for now, it will linger.”

Angel reliever Julio Valera, pitching for the first time in nine days, inherited a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning when he replaced tiring Mark Langston. Valera retired the first two batters, but then surrendered consecutive hits to Kenny Lofton, Thomas Howard and Carlos Baerga. Cleveland cut the lead to 4-2, and with runners on first and third, Belle stepped up.

“The thing is, I threw him the pitch right where I wanted,” Valera kept saying, over and over. “It was a forkball, down and in. I mean, I was happy with it.

“What can you do?”

That phrase is being uttered throughout the American League this season while Belle has been terrorizing pitchers. Belle, who hit two homers with four runs batted in Monday, leads the major leagues with 10 home runs and has 27 RBIs.

In case anyone was wondering, Belle’s home run pace is ahead of Roger Maris’ 61-homer season. It took Maris 40 games before he hit his 10th homer in 1961; Belle has done it in 25 games.

“It’s a little early for that kind of stuff,” said Belle, who also hit a solo homer against Langston in the seventh, “but I know what I’m capable of doing. I know I can change the complexion of the game in one swing.”

Belle, who has been suspended twice in the major leagues and was kicked out of the Mexican League for his behavior, suddenly has become Cleveland’s goodwill ambassador. Instead of slamming down bourbon and rum and becoming a menace on the streets, he attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and is a regular at Bible study classes.

“I was on an emotional roller coaster,” Belle said. “I mean, I was going through hell. My family and friends didn’t know what to expect, much less my teammates.”

And now, as his teammates can attest, he’s a new man.

“He can carry a team, and that’s what he’s doing right now,” said Derek Lilliquist (1-0) who rescued Cleveland from a none-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth and pitched two scoreless inning for the victory. “I feel sorry for the pitchers who have to face him. You can go up there and fool him with one pitch, but if you try it again, he’ll hit it four miles.”

The Angels’ worst sin Monday, Rodgers said, was not giving up homers to Belle, but not breaking open the game themselves. They came to bat eight times with runners in scoring position and produced one single, hit into three double-plays and failed six times to get the ball out of the infield.

“This is the first touch of adversity we’ve had,” Rodgers said. “There’s going to be some frustration, some bat throwing and helmet throwing. I just hope nobody breaks their hand or knee while they’re doing it.”