SAN FRANCISCO — As Brandon Belt dined on a burger and deviled eggs at Cooperage American Grille, Haylee Belt, Brandon’s wife, received a text from Madison Bumgarner’s wife.
Belt was an All-Star. The Final Vote was over, and a three-day process that the Giants first baseman didn’t sweat over until the end had rewarded him. Fans who messaged Belt, telling him their thumbs were numb from voting, had rewarded him. An All-Star-worthy season had rewarded him, a season that Belt’s realized his potential as a hitter after five streaky years.
“I’ve put in a lot of work,” Belt said, “and the coaching staff and my teammates have put a lot of work in me.
“This is for them as much as it is for me too. There’s a lot of people working hard to make you be successful.”
With 10.4 million votes, Belt barely edged out Pirates outfielder Starling Marte to claim the National League’s final All-Star spot. He rounds out a four-man contingency of Giants that will be in San Diego next week, along with Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto. All three have been All-Stars in the past, but this is Belt’s first bid. MLB.com called it one of the closest Final Votes in the 14-year history of the competition, and Marte was even leading Belt in a Friday morning update on the standings.
“I was pretty nervous there toward the end,” Belt said. “…I knew it was going to be close but I had faith in our fans.”
One of those was his manager, Bruce Bochy, who admitted to texting in a couple votes. Thousands of votes originated from Angelina County, a neighboring county of Belt’s hometown in Texas. More than 95 percent of the voters in Angelina County staked their support for the Giants first baseman. As for Belt’s home county in Nacogdoches? Only 51.6 percent of voters casted Belt’s name.
“Honestly, I thought I meant more to you than that,” Belt said in jest.
Belt also received the least Canadian support of any NL Final Vote candidate, a surprise to him considering Shania Twain, one of Belt’s favorite singers, is a native.
“Canada hates me, and I love Canada,” Belt said.” I don’t know what the deal is, but the do not like me. I’m not sure what happened.”
This much did happen: Brandon Belt is an All-Star.
