How Texas outfielder Max Belyeu's first career home run ball helped a grieving brother

Over the first two months of this baseball season, Texas sophomore Max Belyeu has hit the first 11 home runs of his collegiate career.

Three of those homers were hit in a game last month against Baylor, which made Belyeu just the eighth Longhorn in UT's 129-year history to accomplish that feat. He has crushed a baseball over the right field fence at Minute Maid Park in Houston. He went deep in three different games at Texas Tech in March.

Then there was Belyeu's first homer, which was an opposite-field shot to left at UFCU Disch-Falk Field on Feb. 24.

If you're Belyeu, you don't forget your first home run. And neither will Fernando Martinez.

Martinez is the Texas fan who snagged Belyeu's home run. But for the Austin native, that baseball was more than a Saturday souvenir. Martinez believes it was a sign from his late brother, Edward.

"This is from him," Martinez said while holding the ball at a UT baseball game on March 5. "He was a true Longhorn."

A friend remembers: 'He was always smiling'

Martinez said his brother passed away in October 2023 due to complications of a stroke. He was 68. Martinez described his brother, who was a Longhorns fan, as "a dedicated man to everything he did. Work, family, sports, his friends. ... The kindest gentleman you'll ever meet."

"He was great," said Bobby Lopez, a friend and fellow UT fan. "He was there to help anybody who needed help, he would help them. He was always smiling."

Edward Martinez also could play a little baseball. He was an all-district honoree at Johnston High School in the early 1970s. As a senior in 1974, he hit .317 for the Rams and boasted the district's fourth-best batting average. His .315 average in 1973 ranked among the city's best.

And he loved to root for the Longhorns. Years ago, Fernando said the brothers would jump on top of trucks parked outside of Disch-Falk to watch baseball games from afar. But in all that time, Fernando had never caught a home run.

One pitch, one hit, one baseball to remember

That changed in the fourth inning of a 6-0 Texas win over Cal Poly on Feb. 24. Belyeu smoked a Steven Brooks pitch over the fence in left field. The ball bounced into the hands of Martinez, who had been hanging out on the grassy berm beyond the stadium.

"I was an outfielder, centerfielder. I read that right off the bat and I just smoothly walked up to it," Martinez said. "I picked it up, looked up in the sky, kissed it, I said, 'Thank you, brother. I'm here and I know this is what you wanted.'"

Trying to chase down the home run ball

Inside the ballpark that day was Brandon Hoog, who is Belyeu's cousin. Hoog is a UT graduate and first-time season ticket-holder who has seats by the sign in Section 108 that honors Burt Hooton's retired jersey number. Belyeu's parents couldn't make it to the game that day, so Hoog was texting on-scene reports about the home run.

After the game ended, Hoog wandered out to the tailgate area to find the fan who had caught the ball. If the conversation went well, Hoog was willing to talk about buying it. But after meeting Martinez and hearing his story, Hoog knew that ball was not meant to be a family keepsake. At least not for his family.

"I'm obviously not going to cheapen, degradate this man's just jubilation about this home run," Hoog recalled. "I left there fired up. I was already fired up because of Max's home run, but it was this crazy combination of a young man's first home run for the University of Texas with this man being reconnected through baseball to his deceased brother."

For his part, Belyeu is fine with not having possession of the ball. He even signed it for Martinez. Hoog joked that after he told Belyeu's mother, Diane, the story, she said that "He probably would have just thrown that in a bucket with a bunch of other balls."

Said Belyeu: "I was just really, really happy for the guy. Anytime I can make an impact in someone's life like that, it's really special to me. I was really happy for him."

Max Belyeu is making an impact

Belyeu recorded just 20 at-bats last year as a reserve outfielder. But in the leadup to this season, Texas coach David Pierce announced that Belyeu had "earned the right to start in right field" because of his offseason growth. Heading into this week's home series with BYU, Belyeu is tied for the team lead in home runs. He's hitting .316 with 28 RBIs, 29 runs scored and a Big 12-best .758 slugging percentage, and he's also made a few nice plays defensively in right field.

"He’s worked hard not only on the offensive side of the ball, but he’s made himself a very good outfielder," Pierce said. "All of that has happened because of his desire to be in the lineup, his ability to come to the park every day and put in his work and to learn more about the game. And he’s still learning a lot about the game and instinctive baseball."

And as he enjoys his breakout season, Belyeu has earned a new fan in Martinez. Belyeu and his family were even invited to a memorial that was held outside of Disch-Falk on March 23 in Edward's memory.

"I said (to Hoog) I would do anything in the world to give you this ball, but I truly believe that this ball was meant for me, and I apologize," Martinez said. "But my belief is Max's going to hit another for y'all."

This week's series

BYU (11-14, 4-8) at Texas (18-11, 6-3), Thursday-Saturday, UFCU Disch-Falk Field, LHN, 1300

Pitching matchups: Thursday (6:30 p.m.) — Texas RHP Lebarron Johnson Jr. (1-2, 4.72) vs. BYU RHP Ben Hansen (3-3, 6.31); Friday (7:30 p.m.) — Texas LHP Ace Whitehead (2-0, 3.29) vs. BYU RHP Bryce Robison (2-2, 3.97); Saturday (2:30 p.m.) — Texas RHP Max Grubbs (4-0, 1.87) vs. BYU TBA

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas outfielder Max Belyeu connects with baseball fan over homer