League Puts Finger on Ways to Protect Belle

The Cleveland Indians and the American League will beef up security for Tuesday’s All-Star game at Jacobs Field in hopes of thwarting any incidents involving Albert Belle.

The former Indian was fined $5,000 by the league after making an obscene gesture at jeering fans on June 13 when he returned to Jacobs Field with the Chicago White Sox.

New York Yankee Manager Joe Torre, who will manage the AL team, said he was aware that Belle wasn’t “received pleasantly” in June but “I tried to pick a team of deserving players and not be influenced by things on the periphery. Belle was worthy of selection. I can’t let fan reaction enter into it.”

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Belle was one of only two outfield reserves initially picked by Torre, who also picked two first base reserves--Mark McGwire and Frank Thomas--behind Tino Martinez. However, a rib injury prompted Thomas to decline, and Torre made a partisan choice as his replacement Saturday. He picked Yankee outfielder Paul O’Neill rather than Detroit’s Tony Clark or Cleveland’s Jim Thome, two first basemen with better statistics than O’Neill.

Torre seemed to be catering to O’Neill’s whining after he had been bypassed by his manager’s initial selections. All-Star rosters are expected to be expanded from 28 to 30 next year, but the addition of Arizona and Tampa Bay, and the rule requiring every team to have at least one player, will take care of one of the two new spots.

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The Yankees were left in an awkward situation by the collapse of the trade that would have sent Kenny Rogers to the San Diego Padres. They want no part of Rogers, whose departure would have helped create a roster and rotation berth for Hideki Irabu, scheduled to make his debut Thursday.

Now, including Irabu and Rogers, they have seven potential starters. The others: Andy Pettitte, David Cone, David Wells, Dwight Gooden and Ramiro Mendoza. That was Abner Doubleday who was saying you can never have too much pitching.

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Quotables:

--On the inconsistency of his defending West champion Rangers, Manager Johnny Oates said, “I’ve never been through something that lasted so long that I ran out of things to say. I’ve run out of cute things. I’ve run out of unique things. This is the worst we’ve played since I’ve been here, the worst stretch I’ve been part of as a manager, and I am just so tired talking about it.”

--On interleague play, Minnesota Twin Manager Tom Kelly said, “The bottom line is entertaining the fans, and watching some of our pitchers hit is pretty funny.”

--On the 1.65 million votes he received to be the AL’s All-Star starter at second base in the lingering aftermath of his spitting incident with umpire John Hirschbeck, the Baltimore Orioles’ Roberto Alomar said, “I think the fans saw how I handled the situation and know that everybody makes mistakes in life. The fans like to see what I can do on the field as a baseball player.”

--On comparisons to highly respected Montreal Expo Manager Felipe Alou during their interleague series this week, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Cito Gaston said, “[I’ve won] four divisions, two [American League] championships, two World Series rings, compare what you want.”