Albert Belle: ‘I was just an angry black man.’

Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer caught up with former MLB slugger and volatile human being Albert Belle recently to discuss, among other topics, whether or not the outfielder had ever used steroids during his playing career.

And Belle’s answer was, well, vintage Belle:

“I never did,” said Belle. “I didn’t need to. All you have to do is check the trainers’ weight charts. Every year I’d come to camp weighing 225 to 230 and end the season at about 215 to 220.” I ventured to say that his temper tantrums could have been interpreted as ‘roid rage. Said Belle, “No, I was just an angry black man.”

This might just be the fear of Belle coming to my house to give me the beating of a lifetime talking here, but I actually believe him. After all, he was a very angry black man, as those poor trick or treaters learned on Halloween night in ’95.