How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part thirteen is about young first baseman Brandon Belt.
Brandon Belt was born on April 20, 1988, in Nacogdoches, Texas. He attended Hudson High School in Lufkin, Texas, and in 2006, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the eleventh round, but he chose not to sign with them, moving along to San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas. In his freshman year of college, he was again drafted in the eleventh round of the 2007 draft, this time by the Atlanta Braves, but he again chose not to sign. He transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, and in his junior year, he was drafted a third time, in the fifth round of the 2009 draft by the San Francisco Giants. Belt signed this time, but closed out 2009 in college. For 2010, he entered the Giants farm system, beginning with the Class A Advanced San Jose Giants of the California League. He played a majority of his season here, making seventy-seven appearances at first base, while hitting to a .383 batting average, ten home runs, and sixty-two runs batted in. He jumped up to the Class AA Richmond Flying Squirrels of Richmond, Virginia, in the Eastern League, where he expanded his fielding repertoire to include both left and right field. With the Flying Squirrels, he posted a .337 batting average, nine home runs, and forty runs batted in. He closed out the year with the Fresno Grizzlies in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, where he hit .228 with four home runs and ten runs batted in a short thirteen game trial. Overall, his 2010 season saw hit hit .352, with twenty-three home runs and 112 runs batted in. He made the San Francisco opening day roster in 2011, and made his debut on March 31st. His first at bat was a single off of Clayton Kershaw, but besides the next day, when he hit his first home run, his first major league stint was a disappointment. He went to went down to Fresno again on his twenty-third birthday. He stayed there for the rest of the month and most of May, but returned for two games at the end of May. He suffered an injury in the second game, a hairline fracture, and was placed on the disable list. He returned to the Giants after rehabilitating his injury in San Jose and Fresno on July 19th, but was sent back to the Grizzlies after August 2nd. He continued his ping-pong-resembling season by returning to the Giants on August 13th, and the next day he hit two home runs. He stayed with the San Francisco Giants for the rest of the season. In the majors, he had a .225 batting average, nine home runs, and eighteen runs batted in, while in Fresno he posted a .309 batting average, eight home runs, and thirty-two runs batted in. He also earned the nickname "The Baby Giraffe" during the season, in regards to his style of fielding fly balls. In the 2012 season, Belt spent the entire year in San Francisco, compiling a .275 batting average, seven home runs, and fifty-six runs batted in. He easily made the postseason roster as the starting first baseman, and sat out only one game during the playoffs, the October 18th game in the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. He was mostly ineffective against the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series, but hit a timely home run against the Cardinals in Game 7 en route to a 9-0 victory, as well as a triple in the clinching game of the World Series to start the scoring to sweep out the Detroit Tigers. In only his second major league season, Belt gets the honor of being named a World Series Championship, and his clutch hitting helps him hold the honor in its fullest.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
No comments :
Post a Comment