CHICAGO - Albert Belle's new contract is staggering enough. But think about the kinds of numbers he and new teammate Frank Thomas can put up in the same lineup.
That's what the Chicago White Sox were thinking Tuesday when they made Belle baseball's highest-paid player. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, urged by Thomas, outbid the Indians and Florida Marlins with a package worth $55 million over five years.
''It's not about the most money,'' Belle said. ''I'm sure I could have shopped around and got more money. You got to look at the personnel, you got to look at the organization and the direction it's heading.''
In 1995, Belle became the first player in major-league history to hit 50 doubles and 50 homers in the same season. Last year, he hit 48 homers with a league-leading 148 RBI.
Belle and Thomas are the only active players to drive in 100 runs in each of the past five seasons. Belle has 234 homers and 711 RBI the last six years; Thomas has 215 homers and 698 RBI over that span. Belle will bat cleanup behind Thomas.
''This was the shot we needed,'' Thomas said. ''It's an early Christmas present.''
But baseball management didn't feel as festive about the signing, which ratcheted the market upward when many owners are crying poverty.
'''When you look at what Ken Griffey Jr. is getting, about $8 million a year from Seattle, we just didn't feel comfortable with what Belle was talking about,'' Marlins general manager Dave Dombrowski said.
Belle will stay in the same division as the Indians, for whom he drove in a league-leading 148 runs last year.
''Some people are saying it's a slap in the face for me to go to a competitor, but it also was a slap in my face that they would go out and trade for Matt Williams, especially when my situation was unsure,'' Belle told USA Today.
Belle's contract could grow, because it reportedly includes a promise that Belle will be among the top three salaried players for the life of the deal.
Belle was often controversial in Cleveland, where he was suspended five times during eight often tempestuous seasons.
''I'll continue to be Albert Belle,'' he said. ''I'm not going to change my personality.''
Reinsdorf said if the Chicago fans could accept the antics of Dennis Rodman, they could certainly do the same with Belle. Rodman was once a hated member of the Detroit Pistons but is now one of Chicago's most popular figures with the Bulls.
''I think the people have shown in the case of the guy with pink hair if you're playing for us and play your heart out, we're going to embrace you,'' Reinsdorf said.
Reinsdorf, also owner of the Chicago Bulls, now has the highest-paid players in two sports, Belle and Michael Jordan.
''He liked the idea of playing with Frank Thomas and seeing if the two of them could do in baseball what Jordan and (Scottie) Pippen have done in basketball with the Chicago Bulls,'' Belle's agent, Arn Tellem, said.
Published Nov. 20, 1996.
