Belt reveals which milestone he most wants to achieve with Giants originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Brandon Belt has accomplished a lot with the Giants as a two-time World Series champion, but there are some milestones he still hopes to achieve during his time in San Francisco.
The team’s longtime first baseman sat down with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Carmen Kiew for the latest edition of “Summer Sunday,” where he shared what feats he’d like to achieve in a Giants uniform — and some classic Belt jokes along the way. made .
It was a tough question, he said, because he doesn’t really know his stats by heart. Of course, his teammate Brandon Crawford recently hit his own milestone of 1,500 games played with the Giants.
When Kiew asked if reaching 2,000 total career bases was a milestone, wanting to cross off his list — he’s just 29 bases shy — Belt gave a funny response.
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Though I had no idea I was close to that until you just told me,” Belt said to Kiew. “That’s the hardest. I don’t know anything I’m close to right now.”
Still, Belt could think of a few milestone achievements he was on the cusp of: Getting “closer” to 200 home runs, he noted, and counting 1,500 hits would be “pretty cool.”
Belt has had 1122 hits in his career so far and will need 28 additional home runs to reach 200. He signed a $18.4 million one-year contract with the Giants ahead of the 2022 season after accepting the team’s qualifying offer and will be a free agent next year, so it remains to be seen if and when he will do that in San Francisco. can do.
But there’s one clear milestone Belt wants to achieve as a giant, and that’s consistent health.
“I honestly think the biggest milestone for me would just be” [to] stay healthy and stay on the field,” he told Kiew. “If I can do that, I’ll be happy with what comes next.”
Belt played in 156 games in both 2016 and 2019, but has dealt with various injuries and ailments in other seasons during his career. He missed 23 games this season due to an inflammation of the right knee and back from his IL stint mid June.
While it’s clear that staying healthy is at the top of Belt’s list, Kiew had to ask, what about a Willie Mac Award?
Belt has provided much inspiration to Giants fans and players alike over the years, most notably his recent Captain titlebut his mischievous nature may not please him when it comes to earning his teammates’ votes for the award, he joked.
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“I think that’s something every Giants ball player is working towards, so I’m working on it,” he said. ‘Who knows if I’ll get there. I think I’m wearing out my teammates too much for them to want to give it to me, so. But we all have a lot of fun.”
With the giants almost half way through the seasonthere are still plenty of games left for Belt to work towards those milestones.
And if he is able to reach the number 1 priority on his list, he will certainly have a better chance of reaching the others in the end.
You can watch Belt’s full interview with Kiew on “Summer Sunday,” which airs at 12:30 p.m. PT Sunday on NBC Sports Bay Area.