Brandon Belt is a very controversial and polarizing figure amongst Bay Area sports fans. And it makes absolutely no sense to me that he does.
Players have been known to divide sports fans before. Heck, Draymond Green and Jimmy Garoppolo joined Brandon Belt in forming the Triarchy of Travesty their presence seemed to bring to their teams, on-field results and records be damned.
With Garoppolo and Green, some sense can be made from the frustration. The Niners continually were forced to succeed in spite of Jimmy G, but that smile wasn’t going to stop you from believing. And Green’s laundry list of transgressions has soured many a Warrior fan, none of whom though are actually employees of the Warriors. Maybe.
But with Belt, it just makes no sense.
Trying to make sense of it starts with examining what Belt was not. He was never a 30-homer hitter. He was never a year-in and year-out All-Star. He was almost never healthy for a full season.
Brandon Belt was indeed not a lot of things. If you strip away the logos and accomplishments and look purely at his baseball reference page, it is not all that exciting. Average at best. If baseball players were put on a bell curve relative to how good they are, Belt would probably sit right at the top of that curve.
Average. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Brandon Belt may not have been a good baseball player. But he was a good Giant.
What does it mean to be a good Giant? Well for starters, being a two-time homegrown World Series Champion is a great way to get such a distinction, and yes, that absolutely applies to Belt.
There is no moving the goalposts on the contribution to a championship, especially for a player like Belt.
It is not about his postseason numbers, which are actually more respectable than some would want you to believe.
It has nothing to do with his postseason highlight reel, which outside of his home run in the 18th inning of Game 2 against the Nationals in the 2014 NLDS, might not be that flashy.
It has everything to do with why the Giants initially drafted Brandon Belt: they thought he could help them win a World Series. And by golly, Belt did that. Twice.
Sports fandom can be illogical at times. I know this because I routinely yell out pass or run calls at my TV when my Miami Hurricanes are on defense. The noise at the stadium is often too loud for the players to hear me though. We do things as sports fans that do not make sense at times. Some call it the sickness. That is a very good term for it.
But as illogical as the process of fandom is, the goal and reward is simple.
The goal: Win
The reward: Happiness
As a Giants fan, my No. 1 wish every year is above anything else, to see the team win the World Series. More often than not, my wish is not granted. Which is normal in this instance.
But twice, Belt was among a group of Giants players who made that wish come true. And he was a homegrown guy. That was OUR guy, developed by OUR team that helped make those championships happen. He is part of the reason my closet is full of t-shirts and hats that say “Giants - World Series Champions” on them. That is the goal and the reward all in one. And Belt is part of why that happened.
That is what good Giants do. They help the Giants win championships.
But that is not all it takes to be a good Giant. One can endear themselves with the fan base in many other ways. Barry Bonds achieved that by hitting more home runs than anyone in Major League Baseball history. Will Clark played with a passion and drive that resonated with this fan base so much that a generation of Giants fans fell in love with his game.
Barry Zito won two playoff games. JT Snow saved Darren Baker and played a mean first base. Johnnie LeMaster wore “Boo” on the back of his jersey. Fans love players who make them happy.
Brandon Belt not only made fans happy, he represented himself and the Giants in a way that would make fans proud.
What is the worst thing Brandon Belt has ever done? Has he been arrested for drunk driving at two in the morning? No. Has he gone off the rocker on Twitter? No. Did he ever appear in the headlines for dating a porn star? No. Did he ever complain to the media about playing time? No. How about punching a teammate? Nope, unless you count the time he threw a fake snake at Brandon Crawford.
The biggest complains I hear about Brandon Belt are:
1: He doesn’t react after strikeouts
2: He won’t hit the ball the other way.
3: He was always hurt.
These are fair complaints. But to them, I say “two World Series Championships,” because as a Giants fan, that should be what matters most.
It would be awesome if Belt was a future Hall of Famer who hit 40 home runs year after year. It even would have been cool just to see one or two 30-home-run seasons and a few extra All-Star appearances. Or even just consistently healthy seasons. Or even a few bunts down the third baseline to make the defense play more honestly. Or even a few less-called strike threes.
All of those would have been cool. But if all Brandon Belt can say he provided was two titles, that should be enough, too.
Because that is why we are fans, and that is why Brandon Belt will forever be remembered as a good Giant.
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