SAN FRANCISCO — Only one player compared to Brandon Belt inTony Vitello‘s eyes.
“The easiest way to put it is he and Kershaw were arguably the best two lefties in the state of Texas and, therefore, at the time, the country, too, really,” theGiants managerrecalled from when he recruited the Giants’ beloved first baseman to the University of Missouri.
That’s right: First baseman. And in the conversation with Kershaw.
Belt, 38, put a ribbon on a 13-year big-league career — all but one in San Francisco — with a celebration in his honor before the Giants hosted the Marlins on Saturday. He never officially announced his retirement, but he hasn’t been on a big-league roster since 2023.
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Once such a hotly debated player among fans that the “Belt Wars” were coined, Belt became a core piece of two World Series clubs and a 107-win NL West champion squad, eventually logging more games at first base than anybody in the franchise’s long history besides Willie McCovey.
Before Belt became a standard bearer at first base for the Giants in the modern era, Vitello was more interested in his talents on the mound. Vitello was still rising through the collegiate coaching ranks, as an assistant at Missouri, when Belt was coming out of Hudson High in deep east Texas.
At the same time, Kershaw was dominating high school hitters in the Dallas area. The Dodgers selected the future Hall of Famer sixth overall that spring, and the rest is history.
Belt was equally “incredible” on the mound, according to Vitello. However, shoulder issues eventually put him on his path as one of the most beloved players in modern Giants history.
Back on the recruiting trail, Vitello remembered Belt being “incredibly cordial” even though his Tigers “probably had no chance of actually landing him.” He eventually picked the University of Texas.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
