This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.
San Francisco Giants veteran first baseman Brandon Belt didn’t want to play in last night’s game against the New York Mets.
Hours before the first pitch he found out his grandmother had passed away that morning from COVID-19 and he just couldn’t see himself playing a baseball game after such a devastating personal loss.
Back when Belt was in high school and trying to live out his dream of becoming a major league ballplayer, his grandmother, Margaret Peterson, and grandfather would help out financially so he could go to showcase tournaments where scouts could see him play.
He said his grandmother loved bragging about her grandson, who has since gone on to win two World Series with the Giants.
After texts and calls with his family yesterday Belt decided to play against the Mets. His dad told him his grandmother would want him to take that field and do his job.
So he did.
And then he went 4 for 5 from the plate with two homers, all this coming after he had gone 2 for for this last 30 coming into the game.
His first was an absolute blast to centerfield in the first inning, which must have felt pretty damn amazing.
Big Apple Belt 🍎 pic.twitter.com/7C2LEdjuHL
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 24, 2021
“I’ve kind of been in a daze all day. I was just glad I could come out here and do that for her.”
And he had this emotional postgame interview in which he dedicated the game and the season to his grandmother.
Brandon Belt is dedicating the rest of the season to his late grandmother, who passed away this morning 🧡 pic.twitter.com/6kjeSNz5mw
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 25, 2021
Making things even more special is that his second homer was his 19th of the year, which is a career high.
His manager, Gabe Kapler, said: “I couldn’t help but feel like something powerful was at play there when he hit that first home run.”
Sports, man.
We send our best to the Belt family.
Quick hits: What is this Alliance?… Colts mascot nails ‘Milk Crate Challenge’… Tony La Russa berates rookie catcher Seby Zavala… And more.
– Jason Kirk looks into what exactly the ACC, Pac-12, and Big Ten are trying to pull off with this whole Alliance thing.
– The Colts mascot successfully completed the “Milk Crate Challenge,” which is something that looks like has left a lot of people in pain this week.
– Tony La Russa berated rookie catcher Seby Zavala in the dugout and cameras picked it all up.
– Charles Curtis has six QB sleepers to be looking at in fantasy football this year.
– Charles McDonald explains how the Jaguars can survive without rookie running back Travis Etienne, who is now out for the season with a foot injury.
[mm-video type=video id=01fcxnb6ewtah1rsjn44 playlist_id=01f09p3bf720d8rg02 player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fcxnb6ewtah1rsjn44/01fcxnb6ewtah1rsjn44-af3b1ac72a99046768d465b958291094.jpg]