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Bruce Bochy addressed the media about several topics on Wednesday, and he offered bad news on Brandon Belt. From Henry Schulman:
Belt arrived at the park this afternoon and felt so bad he went back to the hotel, his concussion symptoms worse. It’s clear that he is going to be on the disabled list longer than seven days and likely will get further tests when the team returns to San Francisco after Thursday’s game.
Every time the Giants play the Cardinals now, the TV broadcast shows a supercut of the foul tips that ended Mike Matheny's career. The foul tips aren't exactly innocuous, but they didn't seem immediately damaging, either. They were the kind of foul tips that you see in every game -- just more of them. He never played baseball again.
That isn't to be dramatic about Belt; it's to be dramatic about concussions. They're freaky things, and it's hard to believe that it took until the last few years for fans, teams, and media to take them this seriously. Because there's no way for the Giants to say (or know) that Belt's problems are incredibly serious, this is just about the worst possible news. "Things aren't getting better" is as bad as it gets right now, because the absence of good news is the worst news.
The update tomorrow or next week could be thumbs up and rainbows. Stephen Drew went on the 7-day DL last March, then enjoyed one of his best seasons, winning a championship. Since the 7-day DL was created in 2011, dozens of players have come on and off without concern. But Belt is four days into his head injury, and he isn't able to hang out at the ballpark yet. Baseball is of secondary importance when you read something like that.