Who remembers when then Cleveland Indians Albert Belle flexed his bicep in response to Kevin Kennedy (then Boston Red Sox manager) after he instructed the umpire to take his bat because Kennedy believed it to be corked after he hit a ball crushing homer? Well we are going back, to the 1995 playoffs to be exact, but the Cleveland Indians are immortalizing this moment in time with a bobblehead of Albert Belle flexing his bicep!
Now what is interesting about this giveaway is that Albert Belle has not been back to visit the Cleveland Indians since he became a free agent and signed a $55 million contract with the White Sox. He is also, by some accounts, one of the most controversial players in franchise history. So the fact that the Clevelan Indians will immortalize him in some way is questionable, however there is no denying the impact he had on the team in both performance as well as exposure on the news. He certainly was a catalyst in helping to spur popularity back to the Indians club. Or maybe it has to do with the sadness Albert has experienced in the past months. His twin brother, Terry, was killed in a car accident in AZ in September. Nobody wants to see this happen, and maybe since he was such a pivotal part of the club at one point, this caused the Indians to step back and recognize that they should immortalize him in some way. But I digress…
Albert Belle Flexing his 1995 Bicep
The bobblehead giveaway is happening Sat, Jun 1 at 1:05PM at Progressive Field. It is limited to the first 10,000 fans so show up early! This is almost as cool at the Trout grab bobblehead we posted about earlier!
To purchase tickets to the game when these custom bobbleheads will be given, go to this link. Look for the June 1st game.
Here is a really cool video from MLB in which you can witness this (it is at the :45 second mark):