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If Belle can't play, Orioles still pay
Updated: Tuesday March 06, 2001 5:24 AM
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Albert Belle has just about given up hope of playing for the Baltimore Orioles again. "At this stage, I need a miracle," Belle told USA Today after delaying his long awaited spring-training debut again on Monday. He has missed all four of the Orioles' spring training games because of an arthritic right hip that threatens to end his career. "At any second, it could go," he said. "I've felt more pain the last three days. The leg isn't getting stronger." Shortly before the Orioles boarded a bus to Port St. Lucie, Belle told manager Mike Hargrove that his ailing hip had not healed enough to allow him to play right field in the exhibition game against the New York Mets. Their morning chat has become a daily ritual, and Hargrove has yet to hear the three words he's been waiting for: "I can play." "It's no different than yesterday. The hip was no better," Hargrove said. "He'll try to play tomorrow." Belle, 34, has three seasons left on a five-year contract, $65 million contract. He will receive the remaining $39 million whether he plays or not. The Orioles have an insurance policy that will cover 70 percent of that amount, The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun have reported. But money is not the issue for the Orioles, who need Belle's bat in a lineup that is severly lacking in power. Despite suffering through a second-half slump last season because of his hip, Belle still led the Orioles with 23 homers and 103 RBIs. That's why Hargrove will wait as long as possible before charting plans for a season without his projected cleanup hitter. "Obviously there comes a point in time that common sense says you have to do something," Hargrove said. "But we haven't set a certain date when we'll make a decision one way or another." Hargrove said Sunday the team would like to reach a decision by the middle of spring training. With every passing day, the doubt surrounding Belle's future intensifies.
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