40th birthday latest milestone for Beltran
As a model of preparation, slugger still going strong in his pursuit of first title ring
CLEVELAND — Throughout the final weekend of his 30s, Carlos Beltran was met by reporters at his corner locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Tropicana Field.
Naturally, most of the conversations regarded his age — 40 in baseball, after all, is a milestone to be celebrated.
“It’s a lot of springs in life,” he said at one point. “That’s good, especially in the game of baseball.”
On Sunday evening, hours after he kickstarted a two-run 10th inning in the Astros’ 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, Beltran
boarded a flight for New York City. The team’s day off allowed him to spend his 40th birthday Monday with his wife, Jessica, and their three children at their Manhattan home before he had to rejoin the Astros on Tuesday in Cleveland.
When he plays Tuesday night at Progres
sive Field, Beltran will be the first to play for the Astros at 40 since reliever Doug Brocail at the end of the 2009 season. The team hasn’t had a 40-plus position player since Hall of Famer Craig Biggio’s final game in 2007. Beltran will be one of eight active majors leaguers 40 or older. Ichiro Suzuki, 43, is the only other position player.
Beltran is 17 years and nearly five months older than his youngest Astros teammate, 22-year-old shortstop Carlos Correa. He has four years and eight months on his next-oldest teammate, 35-year-old outfielder Nori Aoki. Two major league managers — Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash and San Diego’s Andy Green — are younger than Beltran.
Yet coming off an AllStar season at age 39, one of the best players of his generation appears to have plenty to offer. The Astros are paying him $16 million to play for them this season, more than any other player on their 2017 payroll. He’s long been noncommittal on how many more years he wants to play but looks like he could continue a couple of more seasons if he desires.
“It’s pretty remarkable,” said the Astros’ 42-yearold manager, A.J. Hinch, who played with a 23-, 24-, and 25-year-old Beltran in Kansas City in 2001 and 2002. “Just given I know what it’s like to be in your 40s, I can’t imagine physically going through what he goes through to play every day, yet it doesn’t seem to faze him.
“Part of it is genetics, I’m sure, but most of it is just his preparation and his ability to prepare himself to play in the big leagues. His hands are quick. His eyes are still good. He’s defying Father Time in so many different areas, and he still looks like he has plenty of time left, which is the hard-to-believe part.”
Early in his second goround with the Astros, the switch-hitting Beltran has been an influential presence in a clubhouse of young stars and a stabilizer in the middle of a potent lineup. Three weeks and 70 at-bats into his 20th season, he has amounted to essentially a league-average producer overall but has shown signs of heating up since he was given a game off Wednesday.
Could pass for younger
Beltran homered Thursday against the Angels and Friday against the Rays and opened Sunday’s two-run 10th inning with a walk. His running from first to third in Friday’s game elicited jokes from Hinch, who told Beltran he looked more like a 30-yearold than a 40-year-old.
His three recent appearances batting out of the No. 2 hole recall the first of his nine All-Star seasons, when he starred in the No. 2 spot for the Royals and then the Astros.
“Sometimes I look around, and I see the younger guys, and I see the abilities that they have and the speed and all that. But I don’t feel like I’m far behind them, because I’ve got
the experience,” he said.
“Being in the game, being able to go through ups and downs, how to deal with those and how to stay calm and continue to work, I believe in ‘trust the process.’ Sometimes when you’re young, you don’t trust the process. For me, trusting the process is very good because it’s allowed me to understand that I’m controlling the things that I need to control.”
Climbing the lists
With every hit and RBI, Beltran moves up the alltime lists. His next extrabase hit will tie him with hit king Pete Rose (1,041) for the third most among switch-hitters. With seven more RBIs, he will match Fred McGriff (1,550) for 46th place all-time.
Only Adrian Beltre (2,720 games) and Ichiro (2,514) have played more games than Beltran (2,475) among active players, and only Albert Pujols (101.0 wins above replacement) and Beltre (90.2) have accumulated a higher WAR than Beltran’s 70.3.
That World Series ring eludes him, though.
“I spent a lot of time with him on the phone this winter, and he wants to win in the worst way,” Hinch said. “I’m sure he recognizes where he’s at on a lot of lists and the Hall of Fame credentials and things that are built over a 20-year career that he’s had. But his single focus was to join a team that was going to win.”
Beltran has “a ton of wisdom, but he’s still got a young soul,” Hinch said.
He connects well with younger players and takes immense pride in his mentor role in the clubhouse. He loves talking about baseball and constantly seeks to share with teammates opposing pitchers’ tendencies.
“You always have something to learn from him,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “He’s always talking about baseball. He’s always looking for something that can help you.”
Beltran’s ability to physically withstand the rigors of so many seasons begins with his preparation each offseason. He said he learned to make better dietary decisions as his career advanced and makes sure he gets enough sleep.
He doesn’t feel 40, he said.
“I’m blessed and fortunate to be in the game and be able to play baseball at 40,” he said. “I never thought that when I first got to the big leagues I was going to be able to play as long as I have.”