Toronto Blue Jays’ Brandon Belt considering retirement, hopes he made his family proud
By Zach Laing
6 months agoIn the world of sports, it’s often easy to look at players, and see just that: Men and women who go out there daily in their respective sports working as hard as they can to be at the top of their game.
What’s often forgotten is that beyond the pitch, these players are people, and Brandon Belt’s comments Wednesday night showed that.
“I was just hoping to make my family proud of me,” he said. “Whn 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 echoed prior comments about his potential playing future, saying this season “could be the end” for him, adding he “enjoyed playing baseball in Toronto.”
The 35-year-old had joined the Jays on a one-year, $9.3-million deal ahead of this season, and did more than enough to prove his worth. Across 103 games, he slashed .254/.369/.490 with 19 home runs — the third-most of any Jays player this season.
His comments after the game come a month after he first questioned how much life was left in his playing days on the Foul Territory podcast.
“I think I might have a few more options next year, but I am getting on up there in age, so it might turn a lot of people off, but I’m still trying to figure out kinda what I want to do,” Belt said. “I’m 35 this year. I got two boys that are getting older, and it’s getting tougher on all of us when I’m gone all the time.“This something I gotta take into consideration and figure out whether I want to keep going or go home and be with my family.”
If this season does mark the end of the road for the 2009 fifth round pick by the San Francisco Giants, what a career it was. He helped the Giants win World Series’ in 2012 and 2014 as an integral player for their franchise for 12 seasons.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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