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Brandon Belt Represents UT on Baseball's Biggest Stage

Updated: Thursday, October 25 2012, 08:38 PM CDT
The Longhorns are no strangers to baseball's biggest stage. Texas has played in the College World Series more times, 34, than any other program. But when it comes to the "real" World Series, UT's history book is a bit thinner.

Brandon Belt's appearance for the Giants in game one of the World Series Wednesday is just the second for a former Longhorn in the Augie Garrido era.

"All the credit belongs to him," said Garrido. "His respect for the game of baseball and his work ethic is why he's there."

Belt, the second-year first baseman for the National League champs, played two seasons at Texas before being drafted in the fifth round of the 2009 draft. It was the third time he'd been drafted by Major League Baseball - and on each occasion he was picked in the 11th round or higher.

"You know it's tough to find a harder worker than B-Belt," said Brandon Loy, Belt's teammate at Texas in 2009. "He was always in the cage, always doing something to get better. He just loved to have fun and play the game hard."

There are people that spend more time on social media in one week than Brandon Belt did in the minor leagues. And Taylor Swift's Facebook page is the only thing that got more hits than Belt during his first year of pro ball. Promoted from Single-A to Double-A to Triple-A in one season, Belt hit a combined .352 in 2010. But his career could have been thrown for a curve, had Belt not switched positions at UT.

"Coming out of high school, he was the number one ranked pitcher in the state in his class," said Drew Bishop, Belt's teammate at Texas in 2008. "I guess it worked out the other way and I don't think he would care which way - he's in the big leagues."

That choice paid off, except for opposing pitchers. And now, Brandon is four wins away from giving the Longhorns - a program with six national titles, a world championship Belt.Brandon Belt Represents UT on Baseball's Biggest Stage