[Mick]

In this regard, I've long regarded Belt as a poor man's Darrell Evans. Evans was better defensively, and a fly ball hitter who hit more home runs and fewer doubles than Belt. Plus Evans was much more of a walk machine than Belt. I remember my dad groaning about Evans' refusal to swing at pitches that weren't in his zone.

When Evans retired, he had the 8th most walks in history.  .361 career OPS, despite a .248 batting average.  He was the oldest player to lead the A.L. in HRs with 40 at the age of 38.  He was terrific in the field, usually among the NL leaders for putouts and assists by third basemen.  His Giants teammates called him "Hoover."  And in 21 seasons in MLB, he was never -- not once -- on the disabled list.  He played in 92% of the SF Giants games.

His secrets to longevity?
 1) 8 hours+ of sleep every night.
 2) No weightlifting during the season.
 3) Limit daily BP swings to 10 max after age 30.
 4) Run 3-5 miles a day, six days per week in a serene location. (he was U.S. Marines Reserve during Vietnam).

Evans said he read Ted Williams' "The Science of Hitting" at least 10 times.  Bill James called Darrell Evans the "most underrated player in history."  First player to hit 40 HRs in a year in both leagues, 414 HRs pre-steroids, Evans also had far fewer strikeouts than Belt.  Evans' grandfather (maternal) Dave Salazar played for the SF Seals.  And he hit the longest ball I'd ever seen, way up in the 3rd deck at the stick.  

And lastly, he and his wife saw a UFO in summer of 1982.  Hovered over his neighbor's house, appeared like a flying wing, triangular, green and redlights on the sides and white on the back.

He was a the same country club in the east bay with my uncle Eric, who said that Darrell was a terrific guy, a gentleman and fun to be around.

[Mick]

In this regard, I've long regarded Belt as a poor man's Darrell Evans. Evans was better defensively, and a fly ball hitter who hit more home runs and fewer doubles than Belt. Plus Evans was much more of a walk machine than Belt. I remember my dad groaning about Evans' refusal to swing at pitches that weren't in his zone.

When Evans retired, he had the 8th most walks in history.  .361 career OPS, despite a .248 batting average.  He was the oldest player to lead the A.L. in HRs with 40 at the age of 38.  He was terrific in the field, usually among the NL leaders for putouts and assists by third basemen.  His Giants teammates called him "Hoover."  And in 21 seasons in MLB, he was never -- not once -- on the disabled list.  He played in 92% of the SF Giants games.

His secrets to longevity?
 1) 8 hours+ of sleep every night.
 2) No weightlifting during the season.
 3) Limit daily BP swings to 10 max after age 30.
 4) Run 3-5 miles a day, six days per week in a serene location. (he was U.S. Marines Reserve during Vietnam).

Evans said he read Ted Williams' "The Science of Hitting" at least 10 times.  Bill James called Darrell Evans the "most underrated player in history."  First player to hit 40 HRs in a year in both leagues, 414 HRs pre-steroids, Evans also had far fewer strikeouts than Belt.  Evans' grandfather (maternal) Dave Salazar played for the SF Seals.  And he hit the longest ball I'd ever seen, way up in the 3rd deck at the stick.  

And lastly, he and his wife saw a UFO in summer of 1982.  Hovered over his neighbor's house, appeared like a flying wing, triangular, green and redlights on the sides and white on the back.

He was a the same country club in the east bay with my uncle Eric, who said that Darrell was a terrific guy, a gentleman and fun to be around.