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Josh Q. Public: Working My Way Back to You.
Public Service Announcement: Albert Jojuan “Don’t call me Joey” Belle. You remember him, right? That maniac. Bud Black, his Cleveland Indians teammate, nicknamed him “Snapper.” Not for his foundness of fish. Coach Dave Nelson: “Albert’s snapped at me. He’s gone off at other coaches. You never know which Albert’s going to show up.” Yes you do. It’s this guy right here: 
1. LSU. A game against Mississippi State in 1987. Joey chases after a fan who had been screaming names at him, calling him “Buckwheat.” Joey chases him right into the stands, Peter McNabb style. Suspended for the College World Series.
2. Bobby Cox tells his farm director he’d fire him on the spot, if he even thinks about taking Joey in the draft: “If you pick Belle in any round, you’re fired.” Joey: “Back in 1987 when they drafted me. The Indians were the only team interested in taking a chance on Albert Belle, and I made the most of it. Hopefully, they got as much from me as I got from them.”
3. In the minors, he smashes up a bathroom after a rough night with the bat.
4. 1989. It gets out Joey’s a closet drinker. Spends 10 weeks in rehab. Mel Gibson style. In rehab, he changes from Joey to Albert. Same old stuff. Joey: “While in the clinic, I discovered I had problems with concentration, motivation, attitude, and temper. I have found a new way of life through the clinic’s program and a 12-step recovery plan.” 
5. 1990. Cleveland Stadium. Joey hears a heckler: “Hey, Joey, keg party at my place after the game, c’mon over.” Losing his cotton picking mind, Joey picks up a foul ball and fires it into the guy’s chest.
6. 1994. The Infamous Corked Bat Incident. Joey corks his bat. The Indians steal it back after it was confiscated by umpires.
7. 1995. 50 dings/50 doubles. 1st time ever. Before Game 3 of the World Series against Atlanta, Joey screams at reporters to leave the dugout area. Hannah Storm refuses. Joey began a five-minute, profanity-laced, tirade toward Storm. Truly classless. Joey: “The Indians wanted me to issue a statement of regret when the fine was announced, but I told them to take it out. I apologize for nothing.” “It was controversial because everyone just wants to dwell on my negatives. You’d have thought I was an axe murderer.”
8. One week later, a couple of crazy kids egged his house on Halloween. Big deal, right? Wrong. Joey chases them down in his 
truck. He starts to smash into the kid. Joey says this: “As soon as he closes the door, we hear a bombardment of egg shells on my door, so I come outside and chase them. As soon as I caught up with him, I slammed on the breaks and was jumping out of the car and was going to run after him. It was raining and it was kind of mucky back there. The truck kind of skidded , or whatever, and it slid and bumped him. He fell down and as soon as he fell down, he jumped back up and started running. I feel like I was targeted. It’s a shame where people target athletes. If they would have done the same thing to my next door neighbor and had my neighbor chased them, they wouldn’t have filed a report. I made a decision five years ago to live in a community and be involved in the community, and I never expected people to 
harass me.”
9. 1996 Joey throws a ball at a photographer who decided it was a good idea to take a pre-game shot of him.
10. 1996. Elbow smashes Brewers infielder Fernando Viña to the ground, after he had the nerve to block Joey’s way on the basepaths.
11. 1997. Joey smashes the thermostat in the White Sox locker room when his teammates tried to turn up the temperature.
12. 1997. Joey spends his first Kids’ Day autograph session for the White Sox reading the Chicago Sun-Times. In the clubhouse. ”At least it was the right paper,” the Sun-Times reported the following day.
13. 1997. The American League fines him $5,000. He flipped the bird to Cleveland fans after they showered the field with dollar bills and assorted coins.
14. Six weeks later, Joey beats his girlfriend and yanks her phone out of the wall.
15. 1998. Joey gets accused of domestic battery again. On the same day, he was named AL Player of the Week for the second week in a row. And so it goes, and so it goes, and so it goes. Where it’s going, no one knows.
Joey probably has the numbers to go into the Hall:
- AL Home Run leader (1995)
- AL RBI leader (1993, 1995-tie, 1996)
- AL Doubles leader (1995)
- AL Runs leader (1995)
- AL Slugging Percentage leader (1995, 1998)
- AL Outfield Assist leader (RF) (1999-tie)
- Named to Silver Slugger Team (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998)
- All Star (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997)
- First player to ever hit 50 HR and 50 Doubles (1995)
- The Sporting News Player of the Year (1995)
- Baseball Digest Player of the Year (1995)
- Led Major Leagues in the 1990s with 1,099 RBI
- Led Major Leagues in Extra Base Hits in the 1990s with 711
- 4th player ever to have 8 straight seasons with 30 HR and 100 RBI
- Inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (June 2005)
But he won’t. Bill Madden: “Sorry, there’ll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he’s a hurt surly jerk….He was no credit to the game. Belle’s boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers’ Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame.”
For now, Joey’s not going into the Hall. However, he is going to the big house, the brig, the can, the clink, the cooler, inside, the joint, upstate, the pokey, the slammer, the tank,the hoosegow, jail. In.jpg)
February, Joey gets arrested for stalking his ex-hooker/girlfriend. In June, Joey gets himself arrested for the same thing. He denies making these alleged harassing calls. Yesterday, Joey admits to making hang-up phone calls. He also admits to putting a goddammed GPS tracking device on her car. Joey pleads guilty to one count of stalking. He will be sentenced on August 24, to a minimum 90-day jail sentence. Atta boy Joey. You haven’t changed a bit. Maybe in jail, you might want to change your name back. You know, get a frsh start.
“People tried to test me (in 1999) and I came up with some pretty good throws. Everybody on the team calls me ‘Bazooka’ now. That’s kind of like a nickname I gave myself.”
“RBIs win games; and they can make you a ton of money.”
Peace out homies. Six Two and Even!
Contact Us: Public@joshqpublic.com
1/2 game in front of the Wild Card. No-names getting it done. Even with all the cry baby A-Rod stuff, here they are. Boomer, c’mon man, we need you.
2. The White Sox posted a 57-31 mark during the “first half” of the season, but they’re only 2-10 since play resumed after the All-Star break. No other team that was at least 25 games over .500 at the time of the All-Star Game has ever lost 10 of its first 12 games after the break.
gives? How is this happening? How are the Sox only up three? Pitching my friends, pitching. The Red Sox’ 4 & 5 pitchers are awful. Jason Johnson cannot be long for this team. He is a nightmare. Where’s David Pauley when you need him? Wakefield is what he is. An innings eater and not much else. If the Sox had a guy like say, I dunno, Bronson Arroyo, the lead would be insurmountable. So, as King Kong prepares to come back August 15th, and Sheffield, September 1st, Sox fans begin to worry. But call me Alfred E. Neuman. What? Me worried? No way. I say, Sox continue to beat the daylights out of everybody of consequence; and the Bombers, with or without Messrs. Matsui and Sheffield do not make the playoffs for the first time in a long time. 
the Cavs. They win at least 2 in those five.
almost becoming expected.
2. Nomah extended his hitting streak to 20 games, the fifth time in his major-league career that he has had a single-season streak of that length. (Earlier this season, 