Bret and Albert Belle have a fun discussion on what it's like being in a major league box and the "art" of being hit by a pitch, as Albert gives us a behind the scenes look at a couple of the more known times he got hit...or did he?
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I don't know if I've ever I got hit by a pitch here and there I don't remember ever coming out of a game for a hit by pitch but it seems like sometimes now you get hit by a pitch these guys just walk into the dugout it's just I'm out of here right and you're right MRI negative and then we're gonna miss a few more days it's the injury thing that that drives me crazy and I want to talk but you know what we've got Mike the producer he's gonna queue up speaking to getting hit by pitches it's it's been circulating last couple weeks I don't know was the anniversary of this but I'm gonna have him play this clip for you watching listen to the boom podcast watch it on YouTube check this out this Albert Bell guy getting a hit by a pitch from Hasagawa who is a teammate of mine in Seattle eventually Mike cue it up I love it Albert's last one came three home run day that is in the Cleveland in uniform and Hasagawa came up and in and hit Albert Bell and Albert obviously not pleased or did it hit yeah Ed Hitchcock just saying you've got to go to first base we've seen this in the past there was an occasion where Albert Bell swore he wasn't hit by a pitch and refused to take first base he's saying I'm staying in the box I'm not going I think the ball went off his death but he's not going to first base can't remember exactly who the pitcher was but he didn't he refused to go to first base have to be a bit I want a hit now this could get very vulnerable here now is he and wall bacher in one another's face that's a bad man right there that's a bad man I remember that I remember that dude I was I wasn't scared a lot of people were scared yeah I wouldn't scare you but set that up tell us what's what's the story behind that what was the game you tell it best you told me the other day go ahead okay so that was the you know the turn forward the clock we had these pretty cool future it wrist it you know looking uniforms on and I had hit three home runs that day and so Hasagawa comes in a game and I own Hasagawa and I knew the first pitch wasn't gonna be a strike so I didn't know where he's gonna throw the ball so I just kind of stood there and it just grazes me and and I was like damn I was like I want to hit I say I it's been a while since I had a chance for four home runs like I want to hit four home runs so I tell them up I say I'm not going to first I say just tell him strike one you want to call a ball on strike one I said I want to hit I said I want to hit four homers and wall back kind of comes out and I said wall back you go tell him and I said if you can't speak English you go get your interpreter and tell him throw the ball over the plate I said I want to hit I want this fourth homer in you know I took you know told wall back you know you know fuck off like let's let's do this I say I'm not going for I don't want to go to first let's play some baseball I was like we'll we'll worry about all this other stuff later and so then that's when you know Ray comes out and kind of wonder what's going on and I was like hey I was like you know I want to hit four home runs in a game I want to at least a shot at it and he said he said yeah I know he said you know but you got to go to first and I was like well you know can you you know tell the you know the up like basically you know hey just you know give the guy a strike give the guy a ball whatever I was like I want to stay in the box and you know so he you know we were talking to me obviously no he said he hit you he's like you were the first and I was like all right and so you know you know I get the first and you know so Dan during the game you know I didn't know if we were you know I want you know I wanted one of my pitch to retaliate you know because and then Chuck McElroy comes in and you know you know because he you know I was in center field we make a pitch J comes in he's like you know what don't worry bro he's like I got this and you know but he comes in drills first guy and he stands there on the mountain like they're in the guy's like hey like oh you and so I'm like sprint I didn't know what's gonna happen but I was like okay I got Chuck McElroy's back in case something happened I want to be there so you know the guy just goes to first and nothing happens so I said okay that's fine I said they hit me and we hit them okay we're all squared saying you know back to business so and that's how we policed ourselves back in the day and you know sometimes you know you can or you can't depends on the situation the game but you know sometimes you get some pictures they don't care there's like I don't care what situation is you know we're gonna retaliate we're like okay you know thanks for letting us know we'll be ready because today it is it's so the the umpires take so much control that they're really monitoring the throw like you said in our day it was an eye for an eye and that doesn't mean any any of us are ever happy to get hit but I knew there were certain times where one of my guys drilled their guy and maybe I didn't agree with it because the first thing I'm thinking is man I might be wearing one tomorrow now if I did I was hitting the butt and and I understand and I respect that side it's like that's what I would want my guy to do to have my back so I wasn't necessarily happy about it but at the time I thought all right we're square I for an eye it's over and it's squash now if it continues on you know we might have a brawl whatever happens but that's how we monitored each other back then it wasn't people think oh these managers give you know I don't know if some do the managers I played for state advocate it was those guys in the bullpen and usually they didn't tell you about it they just were talking in the bullpen and they kind of have their own little group where they took care of business when they deemed it was their time that was my experience was yours any different it's not like the manager calls and says we're gonna drill somebody usually those pitchers get together as a staff and kind of you know behind closed doors they they decide on their own when they're gonna take care of their guys and and or be taken care of yeah you know most of the time the pitchers are get together with the catchers or something and you know they didn't really let position players know it was between yeah you know the the catchers in the in the pitchers but I remember getting hit in Cleveland Jose Mesa hit me and it was in that bad I knew he was gonna come hard and in and you know he hit me and stuff and I was like okay you know but I you know I didn't want to leave the box I was trying to stay in there and you know Tony Peña was behind the plate he said you know he was just you know he you know Mesa he wasn't trying to hit you know I said yeah I know I said but but I you know I'm following this way so we didn't get a chance to hit anybody that day so Jim Parquet you know he was just rookie he comes up to me the next day and he was like what do you want me to do and I said well I said remember now if you hit somebody and they charge you got to make sure you handle him because you know he wasn't very big and he's like okay I'll hit Omar I said okay perfect because Omar was pretty much closed inside so you know first good bad he drills Omar he stands there wait for him and Omar didn't charge them out and that was pretty much it you know they had hit me on a you know one day and and you know went over to White Sox we came back and hit Omar the next day and that was pretty much it you know rep you know nobody issued any warnings but every you know Cleveland was coming you know they hit me we're gonna hit somebody and you know you know Parquet I just told Parquet you know just hey you know pick on somebody your side because if somebody charge them out and they're too big you know then it's gonna be you know not good for you at least you're gonna handle Omar you know while you know waiting till we get there yeah these these back in force and and you know what I see now because I'm sure you get this a lot too there'll be a brawl I don't know where we'll turn on a game somebody's getting drilled for some reason we don't know why and everybody wants to jump jump to conclusions and say oh well he shouldn't have hit him this and that I said wait a minute wait a minute there's always a back story right and we we as non-players ex-players we're not privy to that on the ground in the club house where those guys know what's going on it and and my rec it could be from a B game in spring training this year where something went down that pitcher that hitter knows exactly the circumstances but us as fans and just watching the game we're hey why did he drill him you know he shouldn't have drilled him in that situation well we don't know it could be some it could be two guys from the Dominican that one guy was dating his sister and they had a bad date it could be as much as that we don't know and everybody likes to jump to conclusions I always say listen there's always a back story we just don't happen to be privy to what that back story is I found that a lot to be the case well here's another interesting thing and I remember in spring training with the Indians the pitchers would set up it would look like a cushion silhouette of like a hitter and they would work on you know pitching inside and like you know you know hitting you know they had to hit a you know hit a batter you know it's like throwing a big cushion and you know so you know we kind of take a break and the pitchers be like hey watch this I'm a drill this guy he's like boom you know he drills a little cushion and we just thought it's a big thing and they were like okay let's switch the guy over you know it's like a reversible you can make him a left-handed hitter and then you know he drilled a left-handed guy so that it was an art that they worked on and they didn't want to do we didn't do head hunting you know it was pretty much you know you know shoulders ribs you know down you're like the knees and and I know we played a game with men against the twins and Dennis Martinez one ball got away from me and he hit Kirby in the head and I think Kirby end up going blind I mean he wasn't trying to hit him at all and we definitely weren't trying to hit Kirby in the head but one just got away and but but other than that most of the time when when our pitchers hit somebody it was pretty much like in the ribs or in the back and but that one just got away so it's an art it you know I see these guys nowadays I was like how are you that bad where you're hitting guys in the helmet like that's what I mean like that's hard to do and but but these guys just don't have any control and that's when you're max effort and you know you don't know where the ball's going so but I saw a interview with with Glavin and you know it really bothers him now the way they teach in these pitchers he says well instead of you know throwing a hundred percent all the time why don't you throw the ball like 90 percent of what you can and work on hitting your spots because that's how you're gonna pitch longer to the game and that's how you're gonna have more success and I was like you know I know the pitchers back then they they repeated that all the time but you know it they just keep doing the same thing and they keep max effort and they keep having arm troubles and and you know people are having Tommy Johns left and right I'm just trying to think when we play like who's the first guy that I really knew about they had like Tommy John surgery I'm just trying to think you know we went into the new statement as 94 95 96 I don't recall hearing anybody having Tommy John surgery it's every other day now I mean it's it's unbelievable the amount of injuries and I think today with the rosters and and yeah let's not the talent the physicality of the play they're every bit what we were they just go about it a different way but today with the playoffs you know being 12 spots and and a lot more teams make it to the playoffs it becomes so crucial that your team whoever that team is is healthy and I just see the guys today having a real tough time consistently pitchers with the Tommy John but also on the hitter side of just staying in the lineup to get to that to get to the end of the season to get to the tournament in the postseason right and you know what it's it's you know when you look at it right now it's second half of the season it's kind of hard to predict like what's gonna happen because these guys you know and I'm sure you know the next couple weeks in July we're gonna see guys going down like flies whether they're actually ended or faking injuries they just they're you know they're just tired and they don't want to grind and you know it's the dog days of summer and this is when you have to be mentally tough and you know they just need a vacation you know we you know they have the Mike Trout where he's talking about happy for the July why he's hitting off a tee like bro like you turned a three to four week injury into like three to four months so like what are you coming back you know Jacob the grown you know when is he coming back you know Kershaw said he's coming back and in July but you know he's gonna have a setback and one of his rehab starts and but all these guys like they're ready to play in like September after you you know missed a bunch of games in July and August so it's hard you know and I look at like the Cleveland Guardians and they have probably had the least amount of injuries and you know that explains their record so it's a matter of like who's gonna stay the healthiest but they're pitching staff those guys are basically going about five innings you know every now and then they'll go six but when your relievers have to go four innings and and through July and August that's gonna catch up which is especially by the time you get your playoffs so you know some of these starting pitchers they're just gonna have to suck it up and start at least going six innings maybe seven and and start uh keeping these bullpen guys fresh because you're gonna you know you're gonna wear them on the playoffs because you're gonna start you know soon as some habits in third in and you know you got two guys you know about the match up and the third and fourth in and because you know the manager's panicking and savor the savor match of guys are telling them what to do so you know so I just I just know like whoever's the healthiest is gonna make product make the playoffs Take your business further with the smart and flexible American Express Business Gold Card. It offers flexible spending capacity that adapts to your business. You can also earn up to $395 in annual statement credits on eligible purchases at select business merchants. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply learn more at americanexpress.com/business gold card. Yeah without a doubt I mean health I think more than any time in the history of the game is at a precedent or at a it's most important at this stage in 2024 in major league baseball. Getting drilled. Do you ever worry? People ask you as a hitter all the time. Did you worry about getting drilled? I said you know I never it never bothered me. I never thought about it. I laugh when people in the game talk about oh Bob Gibson if you look at him wrong he'll knock you down. Roger Clemens you know I got knocked down I got Roger hit me in the head my first the first starter ever had against Clemens and I didn't worry about it like I used to laugh at people when they knock knock me down because all I thought in my mind is that's ball one I'm a head of account and and the fact that they think they could intimidate you as a hitter it may be laugh you come up and I know you're probably going down and away so the last thing I was was ever intimidated Albert Bell. Do you ever worry about getting hit could anybody get you in a frame of mind where you were a little tentative? No I I love the crowd to play and you know the way my stance it looked like you know it's crowd in the plate I didn't have an elbow pad but the you'd have one now. What's that? Would you have one now? Everything now. Yeah everything and multicolored. Yeah you know so I never had an elbow pad I just you know I'm just like I'll dare anybody to hit me and you know obviously when you're lifting weights you know I'd get a hit in the triceps and then I just go to first base and I'd start flexing my triceps I was like you see this horseshoe right here you can't hurt this horseshoe this is a horseshoe right here you know I'm showing the horseshoe though but there is a small part like right above your elbow there's like a little tender part and if it hurts if you get hit there but most of the time you know it's up here off the horseshoe but a couple times you get hit on that that tender part and it hurts but you know with the adrenaline going and stuff you know I was you know not coming out the game you know you had to ice it you know a couple times but there was one time in the playoffs we were playing Seattle and Norm Charlton hit me he threw a split finger and it hit the top of my right foot and it's like right on the the part where there's no there's no you know not a lot of you know a lot of skin and I was like I mean I was like please don't be a broken foot do not break these bones and I was mad and but I wouldn't let him know it hurt because that was like one of the really like vulnerable parts of your body is right on the top of your foot and you know I walked the first and I mean I was cursing up a storm and you know a good thing the adrenaline was going because as soon as the game was over and I you know kind of came down to earth I mean it was it was it was painful and I know I ice like two times you know in the in the clubhouse and then I got home I ice the ice the next day and it was it was sore like I couldn't that was like a playoff game that I missed we were in we were in Cleveland and I missed that game but we end up going back to Seattle and Randy was picturing I was like there's no way I'm missing this game I am not missing playing against Randy and you know we end up beating Randy that game and game six and end up going into World Series yeah pretty cool Mike Mike the producer he wants to do he's in my area he goes he got to ask Albert about getting hit by David Wells is there a story about David Wells because there's something he said he's got another video he's been watching is that when he was with Toronto I don't know okay he hit me and when we were in Toronto somehow another we hit one of their players I can't remember who we hit and so I was like the first guy up and I was like okay is he gonna hit me or is he just gonna go after the young guy maybe or told me right so you really don't know and he comes out boom he hits me you know first pitch in the tire okay all right I get it you know so I go to first boom still second right and I you know Roberto's covering second and he wasn't really close to the bag because I went in hard and then I got another good lead stole third and you know so I was pissed and then somebody come up behind me and get a base in I score and I was like you know that was it that was the end of the the situation you know we hit one of their guys they hit me that was it but you know I understand what David Wells is coming from is like hey you know you hit our guy I don't care who you are right and he was probably mad at me because I owned David Wells like I had really good success off of him but he was like he was like kind of I saw the ball real well out of his hand and he threw strikes and you know he could move the ball around and stuff but he really liked to power his own with fastballs and I was like well I'm not gonna sit there and let all these fastballs go and and you know the first chance I got I was jumping on fastballs and you know the guys behind me they were like you know he because he beat us twice in 96 in Baltimore we had a losing record against left-handed pitching and first game we faced David Wells and I'm over here getting two hits in the home run and and he just mowed us down and you know they were like you know I can't pick up the ball and I was like oh well it looks like a you it looks like a softball coming up there and and then we faced him again and I think it was game five and he beat us again and you know we're going home you know after we won 100 games in 96 and Baltimore ended up doing pretty good in the playoffs. David I was teammates with him for a minute. I tell you the one thing about David Wells he's a big game pitcher. I mean he's a you know I talk about big game it's not necessarily how good your stuff is but there were so I'll tell you what Jamie Moyer I play with Jamie Moyer couldn't couldn't break a plane of glass but I'll tell you what I want him out there in a big game because he's not scared of you and if he gets beat it's not going to be he got beat because he was scared and nervous he got beat with his best stuff and that's baseball sometimes you win sometimes you lose. David Wells was a big he was big time he wasn't scared of you. He didn't have the greatest job in the world yeah but he was he's a guy I'd want as a teammate on the big stage. 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