Former SF Giants star first baseman says, 'This could be the end for me'
Thirteen seasons. Two rings. But now the former captain of the SF Giants is thinking about hanging up his spikes.
The Toronto Blue Jays lost their American League Wild Card Series to the Minnesota Twins in two games, scoring just one run. Belt had a rough series, going 0-for-8 with five strikeouts, but no one on the Blue Jays did much at the plate.
After the game, Belt spoke to reporters, telling them "This could be the end for me."
"I don’t know what I’m going to do," Belt said. "I don’t know. I just don’t know yet. It’s something I need to talk to my family about and see what their thoughts are on it and see how I feel about it in a couple of months, then go from there."
After twelve years with the Giants, Belt signed with the Blue Jays in January and enjoyed a bounceback year. Playing primarily at designated hitter, Belt slashed .254/.369/.490 in 103 games, and hit 19 home runs, the second-most of his career. He finished second in All-Star voting at DH, and even talked smack (sarcastically) about Shohei Ohtani.
If this is the end for Belt, he finished his career with 194 home runs and 627 RBIs, with a slash line of .261/.357/.460. He's tied for tenth on the all-time Giants list for home runs, tied with Jeff Kent and one behind Will Clark. He's seventh in walks and tied for tenth with 267 doubles. That's 23 fewer than Brandon Crawford, something that must really irk Belt.
Belt was always a controversial figure with Giants fans. Part of it was his habit of taking strike three. Part of it was his ungainly appearance, which earned him the nickname "Baby Giraffe" from broadcaster Duane Kuiper. (Later, he got a giraffe named after him.) Belt's most impressive skill was his on-base percentage, which is decidedly not sexy. He also hit a lot of doubles, but not a ton of home runs.
Still, Belt was an above-average hitter all but two years of his Giants career. He's easily one of the best homegrown players in recent Giants history. And when he unexpectedly made the team out of spring training, the clip of Bruce Bochy telling an emotional Belt, "If you need a beer, grab a beer" became legendary.
Belt made the All-Star team in 2016, and came through with one of the biggest homers in team history against the Washington Nationals in the 18th inning of Game Two of the 2014 NLDS.
He had a huge wild-card game in 2014 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, reaching base four times and driving in three runs.
Belt also walked to set up a different Brandon's grand slam.
Belt had a huge year in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slashing .309/.425/.591 and finishing 16th in the MVP voting. He kept it going in 2021, slashing .274/.378/.597, with a career-high 29 home runs in just 97 games. And, he declared himself the team captain, eventually fashioning a homemade "C" to put on his jersey.
But after captaining the Giants all year, his season ended with a broken thumb, suffered when Belt tried to bunt a week before the end of the season. Late in his career, Belt got very good at bunting for hits against the shift. This time it kept him out of the Giants' series with the Dodgers.
It's one of a series of improbable injuries that dogged Belt in his career. He got a concussion when he got hit in the face with a throw during batting practice. Belt had his thumb broken with pitches twice, as well as multiple concussions, one suffered while sliding into second base.
Belt also made some strange baseball history with the longest at-bat in recorded history (since 1988) when he saw 21 pitches against Jaime Barria in 2018. He fouled off 16 pitches before flying out to right, after being at the plate for 13 minutes.
As if to rub it in, Belt singled on the eighth pitch of his next at-bat, which was Barria's 72nd pitch of the game, two batters into the third inning. And in the fifth inning, Belt homered on the ninth pitch he saw from reliever Blake Parker. Afterward, he was remorseful.
"When I'm in the field I hate it when a batter keeps fouling pitches off," Belt said after the game. "I'm like 'Dude, just put it in play. It's not that hard. Let's go.' So I basically had to apologize to everybody after that."
Belt spent the last two years fighting through injuries. He had a knee problem that required surgery last year, and back problems limited him this season. While Belt said he would make a decision on playing again in a few months, Wednesday he was talking like a guy preparing to retire.
"I’m very thankful to have won two World Series, an All-Star Game. That’s pretty cool for me. I think the biggest part for me is that I was just hoping to make my family proud of me. When I look at my boys and see their smiles when I come off the field and when they get to come to the ballpark, that makes it all worth it for me."
Belt left Giants fans with a lot of smiles. That's pretty cool for them.
