BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Belle Throws Ball at Heckler in Stands

Cleveland outfielder Albert Belle faces disciplinary action from the Indians and the American League after throwing a baseball at a heckler in the left-field seats during the seventh inning of the Indians’ 2-1 loss to the Angels Saturday.

The ball apparently struck the fan in the chest after bouncing off the top of the left-field fence.

The fan, Jeff Pillar, 33, of Cleveland, told the umpiring crew he was kidding Belle about throwing a keg party. Pillar had a welt where the ball hit him. He was examined at the Cleveland Stadium first-aid station but apparently not hurt seriously.

Belle, who developed a reputation for moodiness and temper tantrums in college at Louisiana State and in the minor leagues, picked up a foul ball hit by Angel catcher Ron Tingley. Belle turned and threw the ball at Pillar from about 15 feet.

Umpire Dale Ford talked with Belle as he came off the field in the seventh inning. “He (Belle) said the guy said something to him and he threw the ball at him,” Ford said.

“If any of us had seen him throw the ball, we’d have had to eject him. I was going back to my position, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something going on. It never dawned on me a big league ballplayer would throw a ball into the stands.”

Ford said the umpires would report Belle’s actions to the American League office. The Indians said they also intended to take disciplinary action, but they did not specify what it might entail.

“I don’t have to answer,” Belle said when asked about the incident. He refused to say anything else.

The Indians issued an apology in Belle’s behalf: “I apologize for my actions this afternoon. I know they are unacceptable. I’m sorry I did it. It will not happen again.”

Belle, who checked himself into the Cleveland Clinic last season for treatment of alcoholism, was suspended last winter in the Puerto Rican League as well as at triple-A Colorado Springs last season for destroying a sink in a lavatory.