With Indians’ Season Over What Becomes of Belle?

Bells jingle in the stands when he steps into the batter’s box. Jacobs Field comes to life for a baseball hero who is beloved in this city, if not in many other places in the major leagues.

“The left fielder, Number Eight, Albert Belle!”

But the Indians’ season is over, and Albert Belle could become a free agent one day after the World Series ends. It will be interesting to see how Cleveland fans will view their hero if he signs with another team this winter.

Belle’s last two seasons in Cleveland are among the best back-to-back power years baseball has seen in decades. He is adored in a town that is short on good news in sports at the moment.

Despite Belle’s turbulent season, he will be among the top attractions of the offseason free-agent market. Where will he end up?

“It’s way too early,” said Belle’s agent, Arn Tellem. “(The Indians) talked about picking things up again after the season’s over, and I assume we will.”

Re-signing Belle is the biggest offseason job facing Cleveland general manager John Hart.

“We’re working on that,” Hart said after the season ended in the first-round playoff loss to Baltimore.

But it could prove difficult. In March, Belle rejected a five-year, $38 million deal that would have made him the second highest-paid player in baseball after Ken Griffey Jr.

Since then, Hart has freed up some additional money by trading second baseman Carlos Baerga to the Mets in July.

An example of why Belle is worth so much came last Friday against the Baltimore Orioles, when he won Game 3 of the best-of-5 division playoff series with a grand slam.

“That’s why he’s going to get the reward he’s going to get here pretty soon,” third baseman Jim Thome said. “It’s swings like that.”

In 1995, Belle became the first major leaguer in history to hit 50 home runs and 50 doubles in a season. With 48 homers this year, Belle just missed joining Babe Ruth as the only player with back-to-back 50-homer seasons. With 148 RBIs, Belle fell just short of driving in 150 runs for the first time since Tommy Davis had 153 RBIs for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962.

Of course, Belle is known as much for his temper as his numbers. This season, his transgressions included throwing a baseball at a photographer, refusing to exchange an autograph for a home run ball and bashing the clubhouse thermostat to smithereens.

For the first time, Belle’s production suffered in the face of controversy. After running into Milwaukee’s Fernando Vina in the basepath on May 31, a tangle that earned him a fine and suspension, Belle batted .222 in June with only four home runs.

Belle served his two-game suspension in late June, started hitting again and stayed out of trouble. He and manager Mike Hargrove talked several times this season about the need to cool off. Both agreed that Belle’s actions were blown out of proportion by the media.

But how long can this great hitter continue to perform under pressure that he mostly brings on himself?

“There are a lot of things Albert does that I don’t condone, a lot of things I wouldn’t do that way,” Hargrove said. “But as long as Albert keeps hitting 50 home runs and driving in 150 runs a year, I think he can probably stay in the game as long as he wants.”