Quiet star:
Hall candidacy is popular fodder, but he won’t engage
Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre has Hall of Fame credentials, but he doesn’t want to talk about it.
The first thing Adrian Beltre needs is a new campaign manager.
“I don’t like to talk about the Hall of Fame,” he said before a recent Texas Rangers game in Anaheim, Calif. “I don’t think I have the numbers.”
But almost every time Beltre plays on national television, someone in the broadcast booth is floating his balloon toward Cooperstown, N.Y.
The beat intensified when Pedro Martinez landed there July 26 and pointed out he was the first native of the Dominican Republic to get inducted since Juan Marichal in 1983.
Martinez nominated Vladimir Guerrero, the dominating right fielder, as the next Dominican to make the Hall of Fame. Beltre is 36 and just this week, he hit for the cycle in the first five innings of a game. He has no plans to retire. He thinks it’s a premature subject.
Regardless, the talk is shining an overdue light on his accomplishments as a reliable righthanded hitter and one of the best defensive third basemen in modern times.
It also calls attention to the difficulty of the position and the fact that Beltre’s numbers do not look inappropriate next to the third basemen who have made it to Cooperstown.
Beltre has played 2,425 games at third base. Only Brooks Robinson has exceeded that. Beltre also has played more games than any other Dominican except Julio Franco.
Although the 400-homer mark is no longer a credential for Hall of Fame inclusion, Beltre has 403. Chipper Jones, thought to be a lock for the Hall of Fame in 2019, has 468. Only two current Hall of Fame third baseman have more 500: Mike Schmidt (548) and Eddie Mathews (512).
Beltre’s .336 on-base percentage might be considered a little
light, but his .476 slugging percentage is topped only by those of Schmidt, Mathews and George Brett among current Hall of Famers. Those three are the only Hall of Fame third basemen who finished with more than Beltre’s current 1,411 RBI, including four seasons topping 100.
Defensively, Beltre has been Cooperstown-caliber for his entire career, which might be one reason he has held on to the position since breaking in with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998.
That’s the thing about the position; only 11 full-time, big-league third basemen have made the Hall of Fame.
The reason is that more is expected out of third basemen than any other position.
TOUGH POSITION
Catchers and shortstops have challenging defensive responsibilities, but they are not expected to swing an authoritative bat. Any team that does not have a powerhitting third baseman is trying to get one, but there’s no reason to apply if you can’t throw, react and demonstrate great footwork.
Between 1995 and 2002 the Chicago Cubs had a new third baseman every season. Aramis Ramirez finally brought stability there. The Dodgers have had eight predominant third basemen since Beltre left as a free agent in the winter of 2004, with Justin Turner, known as a utility man, emerging this season.
The only third basemen to win the American League MVP Award since 1980 are Brett, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez. The only ones to do so in the National League since 1991 are Jones, Ken Caminiti and Terry Pendleton.
The challenges of third base has chased a lot of high-quality players to other positions, such as Ryan Braun, Kevin Mitchell and Albert Pujols.
“You have to work harder to stay there every year,” Beltre says. “The body is not the same. But I haven’t felt the age factor. People talk about it and say I should expect it. But I do my workout based on getting ready for the season. People might say my range might not be the same, but I haven’t really seen it.
“I grew up there at that position. I love it, so it’s not really difficult for me. I love every part of it, because it’s reaction. You don’t have time to think. You have to have a really good idea of what you’re going to do before the pitcher throws his pitch. I even like the bunt plays when you have to charge hard and make that throw. I’m glad that’s the only position that I’ve played.”
Beltre did not sneak onto the scene. With a 100-RBI season at high Class A Vero Beach (Fla.) in the Florida State League, he fed the Dodgers hype machine that had warned the world to look out for Jose Offerman, Jose Gonzalez and other eventual flameouts.
His father, Adrian Sr., had a distinguished career in the Dominican Republic and put all of his chips on Junior making it in the majors. He became a solid not spectacular third baseman for the Dodgers in the early 2000s but dealt with periodic trade rumors.
Finally, general manager Dan Evans sat next to him in the dugout and told him, “You’re hearing this from me. You are not being traded.” Evans called Beltre’s agent, Scott Boras, to repeat that, and Beltre had one of the great seasons in Dodgers history in 2004. He slammed 48 home runs and had an on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) of 1.017 with a .334 average. He also finished second in MVP balloting and led the Dodgers into the playoffs.
Coincidentally, that’s what got him out of Los Angeles. The Seattle Mariners beat out the Dodgers to sign him to a free agent contract that paid him $64 million over five years.
But the faraway fences of Safeco Park bothered Beltre, as did the expectations that came with the money. He did hit 25, 26 and 25 home runs his second through fourth seasons in Seattle.
“I think 70% of the players are going to struggle when they go to another team the first time,” Beltre says. “It’s tough with a different league, different teammates. Because of the contract, I was trying to prove that I was worth it. It didn’t work well.
“After the first year I just came to terms with it and said, ‘Hey, I just had to play the game.’ But nobody wants to go through that, go through a struggle. I have no regrets what I’ve done in my career. Everything is a learning experience, and that actually helped me deal with the highs and lows of the big leagues.”
Beltre then went to the Boston Red Sox in 2010 and had the first of three consecutive 100-RBI seasons, the last two of which came with the Texas Rangers. He helped the Rangers reach their second consecutive World Series in 2011.
In 2012, he hit 36 home runs with 102 RBI. In 2013, he led the AL n hits. In 2014, he hit .324. But this season has been a bit different, with eight homers and 27 RBI entering Monday.
The last two years haven’t been promising from a team standpoint; the Rangers have retooled and endured pitching injuries.
For most of the first half, they were competitive, even without ace Yu Darvish. They added an- other potential ace in Cole Hamels at the trade deadline.
Beltre wants to be a part of the Rangers’ revival, and they apparently agree. Texas could have voided its commitment to pay Beltre $16 million in 2016, the last year of his free agent contract. Instead the Rangers upped it to $18 million and guaranteed it.
“It’s a first-class organization,” Beltre says. “It’s the one I want to play for the rest of my career.”
Will Texas provide the hat Beltre wears into Cooperstown? Beltre has ground out the numbers without dominating. Playing for four teams won’t help him with some voters preferring short brilliance to long consistency.
Fortunately, Beltre has a generation of fans and writers who can testify, even if he won’t.