Former Texas Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame

Former Texas Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré is the 59th player in Major League Baseball history to be selected to the MLB Hall of Fame in his first year of legibility.

The last member of the MLB Hall of Fame elected on their first try was David Ortiz was was enshrined with 77.9% of the vote in 2022.

Beltré played 21 seasons during his MLB career batting .286 with 477 home runs, 1,707 RBIs, 1,524 runs scored and 3,166 hits while winning four Silver Sluggers and five Golden Gloves.

Beltré ranks 18th all-time on the MLB career hit leaderboard and no third baseman in MLB history has more hits.

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Beltré attended Liceo Maximo Gomez High School before being spotted by Los Angeles Dodgers scouts at Campo Las Palmas, the team’s baseball academy in the Dominican Republic.

Beltré signed with the Dodgers as a free agent, making his major league debut with the team in 1998 and spending the first seven seasons of his career in LA.

After leaving the Dodgers, Beltré spent the next five seasons of his career with the Seattle Mariners before a one-year stop with the Boston Red Sox.

Following his year in Boston, Beltré signed a five-year $80 million contract with the Rangers in 2011. Beltré spent the final eight years of his career with the Rangers where he became e a franchise icon.

At the time of his retirement in 2018, the Santo Domingo native ranked top ten all-time for the Rangers in hits (1,277), RBIs (699), runs scored (612), batting average (.304) and home runs (199).

Many of Beltré’s most notable career moments came during his time with the Rangers.

One such moment was Beltré’s 3000th hit which he achieved on July 30th, 2017, against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Park.

Beltré hit one of the most iconic home runs in Rangers’ playoff history in game five of the 2011 World Series en route to a 4-2 victory.

Beltré and the Rangers have been intertwined since his career began with the Dominican Republic native’s first home run coming against the Rangers.

Beltré becomes the fifth Texas Ranger to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the first since Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez in 2017 who was also selected on his first attempt.