Or the Complete Story About How I Got to See Another One of the Greatest Milestones in the History of Baseball
Part I: The Introduction
Part II: The Player (you are here)
Part III: The Set-up (January 28)
Part IV: The Letdown (January 29)
Part V: The Moment (January 30)
Part VI: The Aftermath (July 30)
The 31st player to reach 3,000 hits was born on the small island nation of Republica Dominicana, better known in the United States as the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic sits on the eastern half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, an island about the size of South Carolina to the west of Puerto Rico. The island was initially inhabited by the peaceful Taino people, but it was thrown into turmoil with the arrival of Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards in 1492. They dominated the island for 150 years before the French decided they wanted to get in on the action, and soon the island became a site for the continued rivalry between France and Spain. 200 years of revolution and warfare and independence and more warfare followed, and by the late 19th century and the early 20th century the western part of the island was controlled by Haiti which descended from French slaves while the eastern part of the island was controlled by the Dominican Republic which descended from Spanish slaves. Around this time the United States decided to get involved in the economic dealings of the Dominican Republic and the other Caribbean nations. It was during this time that Dominican youth were sent to study in the United States and were exposed to the game of baseball. They brought the game back to the native country, and the game quickly gained popularity.
The most talented baseball players formed themselves into teams. Initially they played the game on an amateur basis, but once the teams found out their games drew thousands of fans, they started charging for attendance, and baseball became professional in the Dominican Republic. By this time the turbulent government situation had stabilized and power had coalesced in the hands of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo didn't care about baseball, but he knew a money-making opportunity when he sees one, and formed his own baseball team and invited players from the United States, including the great Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige. American players soon came down in great regularity both during the summer as well as in the winter, when it was too cold to play in the US. Scouts for Major League teams began to take notice of the baseball talent brewing in the Dominican, as the Dominican National Team began to take part in what was then known as the Amateur World Series in the 1940s and started dominating the American teams. In 1953, the New York Giants signed a promising young player just discharged from the Marines named Osvaldo "Ozzie" Virgil. He grew up in New York, but he had been born in the Dominican Republic. Three years later Virgil became the first Dominican-born player to make his Major League debut. In 1958, Felipe Rojas Alou became the first player scouted and signed out of the Dominican Republic to make his Major League debut.
By that time Major League teams were signing dozens of players out of the Dominican Republic, and many of them went on to have tremendous careers. Felipe Alou went on to lead the National League in hits twice, and on August 25, 1972 he became the first Dominican player to break the 2,000 hit plateau. Juan Antonio Marichal became the first great Dominican pitcher to make the majors. He won 25 games in 1963, one of which was a 16-inning complete game shutout against 300-game winner Warren Spahn, then won 20 games five more times as he finished his career with 243 wins. He then became the first Dominican to make the Baseball Hall of Fame when he was elected in 1983. Felipe's brother Mateo "Matty" Alou became the first Domican to win a batting title when he hit .342 in 1966. Manuel Rafael "Manny" Mota set the record for most pinch hits, and was referenced in the 1980 comedy classic Airplane!. Joaquin Andujar helpd the Cardinals win the World series in 1982, and a year later was the losing pitcher in Steve Carlton's 300th win. Players such as Rico Carty and Cesar Cedeno became All-Star and fan favorites, and more importantly became role models for Dominican youth trying to get out of their country impoverished by the five centuries of economic and political suppression and instability. The players would in turn give back to their former country with time and equipment. Major League teams would also contribute by opening baseball academies in the Dominican starting in the 1980s.
Santo Domingo is the capital and the largest city in the Dominican Republic. It was the first European settlement to be established after Columbus landed on Hispaniola, and over the years it saw its share of strife and conflict. Whenever Dominican Republic gained its independence, Santo Domingo was erected as the capital city. With its convenient location along the seaside, Santo Domingo became the political, commercial, and cultural center of the Dominican Republic. It is also the home of two of the most successful Dominican professional teams: the Tigres del Licey and Leones del Escogido.
Located in the southwestern part of the city, just across the Haina River that separates Santo Domingo from the neighboring city of Haina is a tiny neighborhood by the name of Cafe de Herrera. One of the residents in Cafe de Herrera is a man by the name of Bienvenido Beltre, known to many as "El Negrito" due to his extremely dark skin. El Negrito lived in Cafe de Herrera with his wife Andrea Perez, and spends his days raising roosters to compete in cockfighting matches, which is a legal pastime in the Dominican. His contributions to cockfighting had endeared him to the Alou brothers, Felipe, Matty and Jesus, who still lived in Santo Domingo in the off-season. Felipe's first wife (and mother of his eldest son Moises, who had a successful Major League career and played in Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine's 300th win) was a woman by the name of Beltre, and she may or may not have been related to El Negrito. Nevertheless, Felipe took a liking to the younger man. El Negrito had been a ballplayer back in the day, but while he wasn't good enough to get noticed by Major League scouts, he had hoped his son would become a ballplayer. When El Negrito found out his wife was pregnant sometime in the summer of 1978, he told Felipe when the Dominican legend came back to Santo Domingo. El Negrito's son would be born on April 7, 1979. The couple named him Adrian, a name meaning "dark, like somebody from the Adratic region."
Young Adrian was an athletic kid. The Beltres were not overly wealthy, but they were not living in abject poverty like some other Dominican players such as Pedro Martinez or Vladimir Guerrero. With support from friends like Felipe Alou, who held Adrian when he was a baby and took Adrian to Dominican Winter League games when he was older, El Negrito was able to get Adrian started on the baseball path, and Adrian played ball with his cousins and other neighboring children using tennis balls and broomsticks. While Adrian primarily played baseball, he also played basketball and tennis. He was also noted for having a somewhat bald pate, and he gained the nickname "El Kojak," after the similarly bald television detective portrayed by Telly Savalas. Adrian didn't mind the nickname, but he didn't like the attention paid to his head, and eventually developed a serious aversion to people trying to touch it.
As Adrian entered the pre-teen years, he became more invested in baseball, especially after his younger brother Elvin who was born when Adrian was 12 contracted meningitis, leaving him with developmental delays. During the baseball season, his family would watch a lot of Houston Astros games because their shortstop was Andujar Cedeno, a Dominican native who became a national hero for his charitable contributions in donating equipment and money to aspiring Dominican ballplayers. While Cedeno was the national hero, Adrian couldn't help but notice the Astros' third baseman Ken Caminiti who made play after play at the hot corner. However, Adrian and his father both believed that his future was as a middle infielder. Adrian was only of average height, and he had the athleticism best suited for playing shortstop or second base. When Adrian was 11 he enrolled in the nearby Santo Domingo Savio School Home, whose baseball coach Franklin Rodriguez was a pretty good player back in the day. While working with Rodriguez one day, Adrian swapped positions with a teammate who wanted to play second base, and Adrian took over at third. His destiny was set.
Adrian's skills developed while working with Rodriguez, and it became evident that he was going to be a great player. In spite of his average height and lean physique, he had the arm strength and power to play well from both sides of the plate. Legends state that Adrian was a student at the Liceo Maximo Gomez, and was good enough to be working out at the Dodgers Dominican Academy at Campos Las Palmas where he caught the eye of a couple of Dodgers scouts, who signed him on the spot. What seemed to have happened instead was that Rodriguez told an old acquaintance Pablo Peguero about his young pupil. Peguero was a catcher who played in the minors in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He never made the majors, but the Dodgers were impressed enough by his baseball knowledge that he became a scout with the team. Rodriguez had applied for a job as a scout with the Dodgers, but while he didn't get the job, he still kept in touch. Peguero was skeptical, but after some resistance he went out to the Santo Domingo campus to watch Rodriguez's protege in early July 1994. Adrian dazzled the old scout, who was so afraid that another team would swoop down and claim the prized prospect that a few days later, on July 7, 1994, Peguero returned to Cafe de Herrera and signed Adrian for $23,000. Adrian was excited to be able to be competing against and showing off his talents against some of the best players in the Dominican and possibly the world, while El Negrito was excited that his dream of having a ballplayer son was about to come true. At some point somebody mentioned the fact that Adrian was still only 15 years old, younger than the minimum age of 16 for signing international free agents. Peguero assured the Beltres that he and his boss, the legendary Dominican scout Ralph Avila would handle it.
Having signed a professional contract, Adrian Beltre started out training at the Dodgers training academy at Campos Las Palmas. While every team now has a Dominican academy, the Campos Las Palmas operated by the Los Angeles Dodgers was one of the first of its kind. Located in San Antonio de Guerra an hour east of Santo Domingo, the facility has seen numerous players that would become Major League stars, including pitcher Ramon Martinez and his younger brother Pedro Jaime, Raul Mondesi, and Pedro Astacio. American players in need of more seasoning like Michael Joseph Piazza also spent time at the academy. Adrian spent the rest of 1994 getting trained in more of the fundamentals of the game as well as learning English in preparation for a career in the United States. In 1995 he participated in the Dominican Summer League where he performed well for a player most believed was 17 years old. With his sparkling performance, the Dodgers felt that Adrian was ready to face more advanced competition in the United States mainland.
In 1996, Adrian Beltre left his native country for the first time and reported to the Dodgers spring training facilities in Vero Beach, Florida. From there he was impressive enough that he was not sent to the rookie leagues like most young prospects from the Dominican, but instead to the Class A South Atlantic League, where he played for the Savannah Sand Gnats. The Sand Gnats were operating for the first time under the Dodgers having been a Cardinals affiliate for a dozen seasons. Adrian was the youngest player on the team, but he still thrived, hitting .307 with a team leading 16 home runs and 59 RBIs in only 68 games. He received a mid-season call-up to the Class A+ San Bernardino Stampede, but not before he was voted as the Best Batting Prospect, Best Power Hitter, Best Defensive 3B, Best Infield Arm, and Most Exciting Player in the South Atlantic League by Baseball America. Adrian's batting average in San Bernardino fell to .261, but he still hit 10 home runs and drove in 40 runs in 63 games. His 99 RBIs were the most for any Dodgers minor leaguer in 1996, but the team was more excited about his defense at third base. In 1997, Adrian was named as the #3 prospect in the Dodgers and the #30 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. He was sent to the Dodgers' other Class A+ team the Vero Beach Dodgers in the Florida State League. He struggled somewhat in the field, making a career high 37 errors, but he more than made up for it with his bat. He hit .317/.407/.561 with 26 home runs and 104 RBIs, numbers even more impressive considering he was still one of the youngest players in the league. He even got his first taste of the majors that year, when he was one of the Dodgers prospects selected to join the team when they played the Hall of Fame Game against the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers clobbered the Padres 16-8. Adrian saw some action at third, and got up close and personal with Ken Caminiti, the man he watched on TV in the Dominican Republic a few years earlier.
By the start of the 1998 season, Adrian Beltre was one of the game's top prospects. Baseball America ranked him as #3, behind only future Rookie of the Year winner Ben Grieve and future ALCS MVP Paul Konerko. They assigned him to AA San Antonio Missions after spring training that year with the assumption that he'd spend that season in the minors and then make his major league debut in another year. After all, they thought he was only 20 years old, and they didn't want to rush him too quickly. Even though he was was one of the youngest players on the team, Adrian had a hot bat from the start. He wait hitting .321/.411/.581 in only 64 games by June. By that time the parent club, who had post-season aspiration after signing pitcher Kevin Brown for a record 7 year, $105 million contract, was floundering. They had a sub-.500 record, and had already traded away superstar catcher Mike Piazza for outfielder Gary Sheffield, outfield/third baseman Bobby Bonilla, and catcher Charles Johnson in an effort to reignite their lineup. It didn't work as the Dodgers fell further behind in the standings after the trade. They fired their manager Bill Russell (replacing him with Glenn "brother of future Hall of Famer Trevor" Hoffman) and GM Fred Claire. Their top prospect Konerko was also not producing. After watching Adrian tear up AA pitching for months, the Dodgers brass finally decided that it was time to bring their other top prospect in the fray.
Ramon "brother of future Hall of Famer Pedro" Martinez was another Dominican star, and he was having coming back from a rotator cuff injury in 1998. He was having a strong season when he reinjured his shoulder in early June. He was trying to avoid shoulder surgery, but after consultations with three specialists, he finally agreed to surgery. The Dodgers placed him on the 60-day disabled list on June 23, 1998, and to fill his spot on the roster they called up their "20-year-old" third base prospect Adrian Beltre. At the time the Dodgers were in the midst of a four-game inter-league series against the Anaheim Angels. They had lost the first game and were on the way to dropping the second on the 23rd. Super-prospect Konerko started both games at third, but he was more comfortable at first base, where the job was already taken by 1992 Rookie of the Year winner Eric Karros. When manager Hoffman made his starting lineup for the third game in the series on June 24, 1998, he put Karros at first batting fourth, Konerko at left field batting sixth. And at third base hitting eighth in front of the pitcher was their new prospect Adrian Beltre.
The Dodgers were facing the Angels' veteran left-hander Chuck Finley, who was having a resurgent season. He was 7-4 with a 2.74 ERA going into this start, and was making a third attempt at his milestone 150th career win. Finley had no problem sitting the Dodgers down in order in the first, and Cecil "father of future All-Star Prince" Fielder gave the Angels a 1-0 lead with a home run in the second. In the second, Finley got two quick outs, and it seemed young Adrian wouldn't get his first plate appearance until the third. However, Konerko walked on four pitches, and the number seven hitter Charles Johnson lined a single to left. So up stepped Adrian Beltre, making his first Major League plate appearance, fulfilling the dreams that his father had for him. The Angels didn't have a scouting report for the youngster, so catcher Matt Walbeck called for a fastball outside. Finley threw, but missed the target as the pitch went towards the middle of the plate. Adrian knows a hittable pitch when he sees one and lined it down the left field line. Angels left fielder Darin Erstad made a valiant attempt to make a diving catch, but caught it on a hop before letting the ball get away when he hit the ground. Konerko came around to score the tying run while Adrian hustled into second with a double for his first major league hit and RBI. Legendary announcer Vin Scully lauded the "19 year old" and his aggressive hitting. Adrian came up three more times in the game and flew out each time, but made two assists on the field on a sacrifice bunt by Garret Anderson and a forceout on second baseman Justin Baughman. At the end of nine innings both teams were tied 5-5. In the 11th, Adrian came up for his fifth plate appearance against reliever Greg Cadaret with the winning run on second. He hit a soft grounder towards Baughman that he was able to beat out to put runners at the corner. The next batter lined a single to left and Adrian Beltre's first major league game was in the books.
While Adrian's Major League debut was successful, pitchers quickly found out they were able to use his aggressiveness against him. By the time Adrian was on his third plate appearance in an interleague game against the Texas Rangers on June 30, he had gone 1 for 16 (.063 batting average) with six strikeouts against only one walk. Facing Rangers pitcher Rick Helling, who would go on to win 20 games in 1998, Adrian lined a fastball into deep center field for his first major league home run, showing off the power that was part of his promise. As he rounded the bases, perhaps Adrian thought that no matter what happens, at least he'd be able to hit in Texas. He brought his batting average back up to .200 by the time he left Arlington. Adrian spent most of the rest of the season alternating the starting third baseman role with the veteran Bobby Bonilla, who served as somewhat of a mentor to the young rookie. He also trained with Dodgers coach Manny Mota to get a better feel of Major League breaking balls.
Adrian ended the 1998 season hitting .215/.278/.369 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs. He didn't exactly set the baseball world on fire, but he held his own for a 20 year old. At least that's what his agent Scott Boras told him during spring training in 1999. When Adrian heard what Boras said, he did somewhat of a double take and told his agent, whom he hired when he was still in the minors, that he wasn't 20 yet, but still only 19. Adrian told Boras that he was born in 1979 and not 1978 that was reported all over the game. He wasn't the third youngest player to play in the Majors, but the youngest by almost a year. Boras went to the Dodgers and told them what Adrian reported, and asked for this mistake to be fixed along with some additional compensation for being the youngest player to make his Major League debut since A-Rod in 1994. The Dodgers laughed him out of the office, and Boras opted to take the case public to the Los Angeles Times and Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball launched an investigation into the Beltre signing, and what they found was one of the most bizarre international signing scandals, and one that would change the signing procedures for international amateur free agents.
It was fairly common for Caribbean amateur free agents, especially ones from the Dominican Republic, to falsify information when signing. This was their ticket to a better life, and they wanted to do whatever it takes to get ahead. Players have been known to fudge their ages and sometimes even their identities (as the Indians found out the hard way when their former ace Fausto Carmona turned out to be another player named Roberto Hernandez.) Normally players would make themselves younger to make themselves more attractive. When the Expos signed Vladimir Guerrero they thought they were getting a 17 year old, but late in his career he revealed that he was a year older than previously thought. Bartolo Colon took two years off his age when he signed with the Indians in 1993. They were able to get away with it because the examination process for new signings aren't closely reviewed. And teams are usually duped when this happens, or so they claimed. The Adrian Beltre signing was different. The Dodgers were so impressed by Adrian's potential that they were willing to make him older to sign him. They didn't want to wait nine months for news of the hot young player to spread to other teams. The birth certificate that came with his contract was changed to reflect a year of birth of 1978 instead of 1979. And the investigation also showed that the Dodgers not only knew about the change, but they were the ones orchestrating it. This led MLB to force the Dodgers to halt their scouting activities in the Dominican, including at Campos Las Palmas, for a year. Both Ralph Avila and Pablo Peguno also received one-year suspensions. In addition, MLB established an office in Santo Domingo to have closer vetting of prospect signings (although players were still able to get around it sometimes.) Boras tried to get Adrian a release from the Dodgers to allow him to become a free agent, but that request was declined.
Nevertheless, Adrian was more focused on preparation for the 1999 season. He was tabbed to become the starting third baseman for a Dodgers team looking to rebound from an off year on 1998, with Konerko having been traded to the Reds and Bonilla having been traded to New York Mets. And Adrian performed admirably. He got off to a hot start, and was still hitting over .300 as of June, and he finished the season with a .275/.352/.428 slashline, a huge improvement over his rookie year. His defense left more to be desired, as he led the league in errors. However, later analysis showed that his defensive season wasn't that bad. He finished fourth in putouts and fifth in assists, and his total zone rating, which ranked him on runs saved compared to the average third baseman based on plays made, ranked third. His defense could use some work, but it was above average. Adrian finished the year ranked second on the team in Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement (bWAR), behind only the multimillionaire Kevin Brown. However, the Dodgers finished third again, with a disappointing 77-85 record. Adrian took a step forward with the bat and the glove in 2000. He improved his batting numbers again, hitting .290/.360/.475 with 20 home runs and 85 RBIs despite missing time to injuries in early June. The Dodgers improved to 86-76, but couldn't keep up with the division winning Giants or the Wild Card winning Mets.
Still, most analysts were predicting a breakout for Adrian Beltre in 2001. He was only 22 and already had two full years of Major League experience. However, while spending time in the Dominican Republic in the off-season, Adrian noticed some pains in his abdomen. He went to the local emergency room under the recommendation of Dodgers trainers. The doctors did a physical exam, but the ER wasn't equipped with a CT scanner, and there were no major signs there was anything serious, so he was sent home and told to return if the pain got worse. The pain eventually did get worse, and Adrian went back two days later. By then it was clear something was wrong, and Adrian was taken for an emergency abdominal surgery. Once inside, surgeons found that Adrian's appendix had ruptured, and the fluid was causing an infection his abdominal cavity, a condition known as peritonitis. Surgeons took out the appendix and washed out his abdomen, then kept him on antibiotics to fight the infection. If Adrian had waited any longer to return, the peritonitis would have killed him. He was in the hospital for three weeks, and while the infection eventually cleared enough for him to leave the hospital the surgical wound hadn't closed. He still couldn't eat solid foods and he had to wear a colostomy bag to catch fluid leaking out of the wound. Nevertheless, he was determined to make it to spring training on time. He flew to Florida and worked out with the colostomy bag and an IV port for fluids and nutrients. Adrian had lost 20 pounds from his already-thin body. When the wound just wouldn't close even after a month, he opted for another surgery to repair the appendectomy wound. With all of his medical problems, Adrian didn't make his 2001 debut until May 12, which was a minor miracle in itself but was a testament to his will and determination. While his batting line suffered (.265/.310/.411), Adrian made up for lost time in other areas. He blasted 13 home runs and hit 22 doubles, with 60 RBIs, numbers that weren't too far off from his 1999 season. It was still a far cry from what could have been. The Dodgers ended the season with an 86-76 record identical to the year before, but they finish 3rd while the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks, behind Curt Schilling and 300-game winner Randy Johnson won the division, the pennant, and eventually the World Series title.
Adrian went back to the Dominican Republic in the off-season and started working out. He regained the weight he had lost and felt stronger than ever. And when the regular season started, he played in all but three of the Dodgers' 162 games. And he set a new career high for him with 21 home runs. However, while Adrian had always been an aggressive hitter, he became more set in his free swinging ways. He was always trying to pull the ball to left field, and ended up getting himself out or striking out. His slash line of .257/.303/.426 was not much of an improvement over his injury-marred year the year before, and the Dodgers ended up on the outside after a tight NL West race despite a 92-70 record. The 2003 season was more of the same at the plate for Adrian. He established a new career high with 23 home runs, but he also struck out 103 times, and his batting average had sank to .240, and that was even after he finished with a strong September where he went .305/.342/.543 with seven of his 23 home runs. People didn't even notice that Adrian was spectacular defensively, leading the league in Total Zone Runs for the first time. The Dodgers finished second again with an 85-77 record. While the Dodgers gave him a raise to $5 million, they were also running out of patience for their young prodigy, the one they broke the established rules to sign.
Adrian didn't need anybody to tell him that he had a lot riding on the 2004 season, and it wasn't just that he was due to become a free agent at the end of the season. He could tell that he wasn't playing up to his abilities, which undoubtedly bugged him to no end. It was not that he wasn't trying. He was working out and taking extra batting practice. He even honed his English to the point where he could give interviews without translators. Still, he was not living up to expectations. Several things happened in the off-season that would change Adrian's life. He had gotten married to a woman named Sandra from Pasadena earlier in 2003. By the off-season she was about to give birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Cassandra. Adrian was no longer playing only for himself and his parents. He was now a father and had to assume the responsibilities that came with it. Additionally, during the off-season the Dodgers hired a new hitting coach, Tim Wallach, to revitalize a straggling offense. Wallach was a veteran third baseman who had a productive 17-year career. He had been with the San Bernardino Stampede in 1996, the same year as Adrian, and he has certainly seen the young third baseman from afar. During spring training 2004, Wallach advised Adrian to stand with a more closed stance, where he'd be at an angle with his back more towards the pitcher, which would allow him to take a longer look at a pitch. He also trained Adrian to hit the ball the other way to right field, instead of pulling the ball to left all the time. This way pitchers won't be able to get him out with outside pitches, which are harder to pull. And he taught Adrian how to watch video and study pitchers.
Adrian was an astute student and a quick learner. He felt good going into the 2004 regular season, and he got off to a hot start. He had two hits in the season opener against the Padres, and the next day he got three. By the end of April he was hitting .353/.367/.647 with seven home runs. People were waiting for him to fall back to earth, and he did cool off a little bit in May, hitting only .283/.315/.481. Yet just as people were preparing to write him off, he showed that he was able to make adjustments and got as hot as ever. He hit .338/.419/.750 with ten home runs in July, and in August he punished National League pitchers to a tune of .362/.422/.750 with 13 home runs. Pitchers found that he wasn't chasing bad balls, and he was hitting with more power and authority. When the season ended, he had a slash line of .334/.388/.629. He reached the 200-hit plateau, and finally showed off his power with a league leading 48 home runs to go along with 121 RBIs. He was also productive on the field, finishing in the top 10 in the NL fielding percentage for the first time. He also led all NL players in Total Zone Runs. More importantly, the Dodgers went 93-69 and were able to capture a division title for the first time since 1996, when Adrian was still playing in Savannah and San Bernardino. Adrian got his first taste of the post-season when the Dodgers faced off against the St. Louis Cardinals, who went an amazing 105-57. He got a hit in his first post-season plate appearance, but the Cardinals pummeled the Dodgers pitching to an 8-3 victory. In the end the Dodgers won only one game, on a complete game shutout by the late Jose Lima. Adrian had four hits and didn't hit a single homer. Nevertheless, 2004 was still a season to remember for Adrian. His overall bWAR was a career high (even to this day) 9.5, and he finished second to only Barry Bonds who had his crazy year with 232 walks and would have had a .608 OBP even if he went up without a bat. Adrian's May swoon kept him from being an All-Star, but he won his first Silver Slugger award. And when the MVP voting was tabulated, Adrian finished second behind Bonds, picking up six first-place votes to Barry's 24. And Adrian later revealed that he was playing with some bone spurs in his left ankle, which he had surgery to remove shortly after the season ended. Adrian may very well become the superstar people were predicting.
Adrian went into the 2004 off-season full of optimism as he prepared for his first year of free agency. He was the top free agent that year, and his agent Scott Boras says he was hoping for something similar to the 7 year, $100 million contract that the Dominican-born superstar Albert Pujols of the Cardinals signed before the 2004 season. Adrian was privately hoping for a shorter deal, and he wanted to remain with the Dodgers. Yet the Dodgers were slow to offer a precise contract. He received some good contract offers from some other teams, but he preferred to wait for the Dodgers. The Dodgers finally came out with a backloaded six year contract worth just under $60 million, with an option for the 2011 season. Adrian was somewhat shocked. He just had the best season by a Dodger in years (since Sandy Koufax in 1966 according to bWAR), yet the Dodgers waited for weeks before present a contract offer, and even then was much smaller than what almost other teams were offering. In the end, Adrian turned the Dodgers down, and on December 16, 2004 he announced that he was signing a five year contract with the Seattle Mariners worth $64 million.
The Seattle Mariners were a baseball powerhouse in the late 1990s, with superduperooperstars such as Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, and Ichiro Suzuki. They climaxed with 116 wins in 2001, yet by 2004 they had fallen into last place in the AL West, even below the lowly and disgraceful Texas Rangers. One of their major problems was the lack of offensive production from their third basemen. Their third baseman in 2004 was Scott Spiezio, who had hit a pathetic .215/.288/.346. They were hoping Adrian could be their third baseman of the future and lead them back to glory. The 2005 season was big for Adrian for a couple of reasons. On June 5, he singled in the ninth inning off of Rays reliever Chad Orvella for the 1,000th hit of his career. In August, the Mariners called up their exciting young starter Felix Hernandez, who would eventually become one of Adrian's closest friends and who would come to find out that Adrian hates having his head touched. And in September he welcomed his second child and first son Adrian Jr. into the world. However, his bat took a giant step backwards. His slashline fell to .255/.303/.413 and his 19 homers were 29 fewer than what he hit the year before. People didn't really take note that Adrian was solid defensively. They blamed him for the Mariners' 69-93 record and second straight last place finish. Adrian couldn't tell why he hit so badly. He had dealt with some injuries, but he was the last person to blame everything on being hurt. Most felt that he was coasting after getting his big money deal, which irritated Adrian to no end.
Adrian's bat improved over the next couple of years. He improved his slashline to .268/.328/.465 in 2006, and he hit 25 homers to go with 39 doubles. A year later, he hit .276/.319/.482, and he hit 41 doubles to pass 40 for the first time, and hit 26 home runs to go with 99 RBIs. In 2008, he hit .266/.327/.457 and hit 25 home runs for the third straight year. He still struck out too often and didn't walk enough, and most people felt it wasn't worth what the Mariners is, but it was still adequate. His signature moment with the Mariners came on September 1, 2008. Facing the pitiful Texas Rangers in Arlington, where he had hit his first Major League homer a decade earlier, Adrian homered in the second, then singled in the fourth. After another single in the sixth, he came up to bat in the seventh and doubled on a curveball. His left knee hit the ground while reaching for the pitch, which he tended to do against breaking balls. People around the ballpark knew that Adrian was only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, where a player gets each of the different types of hits in the same game. The triple was usually the hardest hit to get, and while Adrian had 25 triples in his career including six in 2006-07, he hadn't hit a triple as of yet in 2008. Still, Adrian got another plate appearance in the eighth. Reliever Josh Rupe got ahead of Adrian 0-2, but then threw a fastball outside that crept out over the plate. Adrian was able to knock it the opposite way to right center over the head of center fielder Josh Hamilton and rolled to the wall. Adrian motored around the bases and slide safely into third. It was his second five-hit game as a member of the Mariners (he had another one on July 6, 2007) and of course his first cycle.
With Adrian contributing more with the bat, people were paying more attention to Adrian's superb defense. He has the athleticism and reflexes to allow him to get to balls that seem like they would get through, and his keen baseball knowledge helps him position to right where the ball was going to go most of the time. His strong throwing arm helps him throw out baserunners even from deep in the hole. Earlier in his career he had a lot of throwing errors because he had difficulty aiming the ball, but by the time he got to the Mariners his throw have become deadly accurate, thanks to developing a rather unconventional style where he'd stop before catching the ball, which is the opposite of what most coaches teach young infielders. His specialty is charging bunts and throwing while falling. He hones his craft with hours and hours of fielding practice. In 2006, fielding analyst John Dewan of Baseball Info Solutions introduced the Fielding Bible Awards, which serves as an alternative to the Gold Glove awards where voters are journalists and analysts and make use of some of the data available. There is also only one winner to the Gold Glove's two (one in each league.) Adrian won the inaugural Fielding Bible Award at third base, and while he lost it in 2007 he'd win it again in 2008. He would win the traditional Gold Glove awards in 2007 and 2008. Despite Adrian's offensive and defensive contributions, the Mariners would finish last in 2006 and 2008, and finished six games out from a Wild Card spot in 2007.
Adrian turned 30 in 2009, the last year of his contract, and he was hoping for a strong year. He was encouraged by his steps forward in his offense in the previous years, and hoping to build upon those successes. However, Adrian had some shoulder pain near the end of 2008 season, and it was discovered he had bone spurs. He had them surgically removed late in the season and that kept him on the bench. He thought his shoulder problems were over, but he continued to have significant pain, and it was found that the bone spurs had returned. Adrian tried playing with the shoulder pain, but that ended up sapping a lot of his power. By the time June 4, 2009 rolled around, Adrian was hitting only .244/.275/.355 with only four home runs. (He also had only 1,634 career hits at the time, having gotten number 1,500 on June 24, 2008 with a single off of Claudio Vargas.) Adrian finally agreed to have surgery at the end of the month. He returned in August and started to hit better, but on August 12 he suffered his most mortifying injury. Adrian has played without a protective cup his entire career, finding it constricting. The Mariners faced the White Sox that day, and the game was scoreless in the 9th. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez hit a hard bouncer to third, and as Adrian charged the ball, it took a bad hop and hit him in the groin. He picked up the ball and threw it away. Despite being in tremendous pain, Adrian stayed in the game and singled and scored the game's only run in the 14th. He had an examination after the game, and was found to have severe testicular bleeding, with the testicle swelling to the size of a grapefruit. Adrian didn't need surgery, and he returned by September when most thought he'd miss the end of the season. Still, he struggled upon his return, and when the painful season ended, Adrian was hitting .265/.304/.379 with only eight home runs. While the batting average was respectable, Adrian's home run totals, RBI totals, walk totals, slugging percentage, and OPS were all the lowest since his rookie season in 1998.
Adrian's contract expired after the 2009 season, and he declined the Mariners' salary arbitration offer, making him a free agent once again. His years in Seattle were seen by many as a disappointment as his slashline of .266/.317/.442 was barely above average. According to some analysis he more than made up for his large contract with his solid defense, but offense resonates more with fans. Still, Safeco Field was one of the biggest pitcher's parks during 2005-2009, and Adrian knew that his offense was somewhat suppressed. While agent Scott Boras says Adrian wanted another multi-year deal, Adrian thought that he could go with a one year deal if the team would allow him to show what he can really do. While Adrian received a couple of multi-year offers, he was most intrigued when the Boston Red Sox came calling. The Red Sox were hoping to sign a third baseman to replace their incumbent Mike Lowell, who had gotten thumb surgery in the off-season. Adrian knew the Red Sox play in Fenway Park, which was a hitter's heaven for right-handed hitters like him, thanks to the Green Monster, the left field wall that is 37 feet high but sits only 310 feet from home plate. He ended up signing a one year, $9 million contract that could become $10 million if he gets over 450 plate appearances. It also contains a player option for 2011 if Adrian chose to remain with the Red Sox.
The Red Sox by 2010 were no longer the cursed team that hadn't won a World Series from 1919 through 2003. They had won two more World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, and were looking to get their third. They had a monstrous lineup that featured the power hitting catcher Victor Martinez, the Greek God of Walks Kevin Youkilis, and their most popular player of all-time, fellow Dominican and Adrian's good friend David "Big Papi" Ortiz. The Red Sox signed Adrian mostly for his defense, but he knew he could contribute to the bat as well. He started the season with somewhat of a power outage, going homerless in April, but he was hitting .338, and he knew that with time his power stroke can return. And return it did, as he went on to hit 13 home runs to go with a .330 batting average by the end of the first half, as he made his first All-Star team, as a reserve behind starting third baseman Evan Longoria of the Rays. He got into the game in the ninth against closer Jonathan Broxton and struck out. Nevertheless, he continued his hot hitting in the second half. By the time the season ended he had his best numbers since 2004. He hit .321/.365/.553. He slugged 28 home runs, and he hit the ball hard on balls that didn't go out of the park, blasting a league-leading 49 doubles. He also contributed with his superb defense. And near the end of the regular season, his wife gave birth to his third child, daughter Canila. Sadly, while the Red Sox finished 89-73, they still finished third, six games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card. Nevertheless, it was still a successful season.
If there was one other negative besides missing the playoff, it was how his teammates started targeting his head, to the point where it became a point of conversation among baseball fans. Adrian's dislike of his getting his head touched possibly dates back to his childhood, when his family and friends kept talking about his head. When he was with the Mariners, he had let his good friend Felix Hernandez know that he didn't like having his head touched. King Felix would playfully touch his head, much to Adrian's wrath, but this usually happened in private. When Adrian went to the Red Sox, Felix or one of his other former teammates let his new teammates know about Adrian's pet peeve, and the hunt for Adrian's Head was on. Players such as chief tormentor Victor Martinez would remove Adrian's helmet after plate appearances in the dugout and touch him in the head. Adrian would often react violently, sometimes with a hard punch. Nevertheless, the teammates would keep doing it.
Perhaps because of this reason, or perhaps because Adrian had shown the baseball world he was still capable of a solid offensive year, Adrian declined the Red Sox's player option for 2011. He had a lot more suitors, one of whom was the Texas Rangers. The Texas Rangers spent almost 50 years as hapless losers (dating back to their years in Washington as the new Senators a la Cleveland Browns) before finally breaking through and winning a pennant and going to the World Series in 2010, where they lost to the Giants. They still had a strong young team that included MVP Josh Hamilton, incumbent third baseman Michael Young, second baseman Ian Kinsler, right fielder Nelson Cruz, and a young shortstop from Venezuela named Elvis Andrus, but they wanted somebody that could put them over the top. Michael Young was a veteran hitter who provides strong at bats, but his defense left more to be desired. Adrian Beltre became one of their top off-season targets, alongside Cliff Lee who had pitched them into the World Series. Despite their best efforts to woo the pitcher, Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies instead. The Rangers then turned their focus on Adrian. Adrian was intrigued. He had always liked hitting in Texas. It was where he hit his first home run in 1998, and where he hit for the cycle ten years later. And they were coming off of a World Series appearance. The negotiations proceeded quickly, and on January 5, 2011, they came to terms on a six year, $96 million contract.
The baseball world had mixed feelings about the deal. Adrian was coming off of a great year, but as several people noticed he's had only two solid years of offense, and they both came in years before free agency. (Of course they conveniently ignore how poorly he hit in 2009 when he was suffering from shoulder pain and a testicular contusion.) He was also 32, and long-term deals for players in their 30s were usually risky as players fall apart. Commissioner Bud Selig even allegedly heaped criticism on the Rangers at a private owners meeting, calling it a signing of "undue risk." Adrian either didn't know about or didn't care about Selig's comments, and he was there to play. While he missed parts of July and all of August due to a left hamstring strain, when he did play he continued where he left off in Boston. He hit .296/.331/.561, and increased his home run totals to 32 despite over 100 fewer at bats, and also drove in 105 runs. He also reached a few personal milestones in 2011. On September 4, he singled against his former teammate John Lackey to record his 2,000th career hit, the 10th player from the Dominican Republic to record that many. A week later, he blasted two home runs against the Oakland Athletics, of which the first one was the 300th of his career. Adrian made his second All-Star team (his first as a starter), won his third Silver Slugger award, his third Fielding Bible Award, and his third Gold Glove Award. Rawlings, the company that gives out the Gold Glove awards, also introduced the new Platinum Award, which uses fan vote to determine the best of the nine Gold Glove winners in each league. Adrian walked away with the inaugural AL Platinum Glove Award.
Adrian also served as a clubhouse leader. Even though he was the new player on the team, he mentored the younger players such as his infield partner Elvis Andrus. He welcomed rookies and gave some constructive criticism when necessary in both Spanish and English. The Rangers wound up going 96-66, their best record in franchise history, and won the AL West handily. Adrian had another chance to shine in the post-season, and he made the most of it. The Rangers' Division Series opponent were the Tampa Bay Rays. Adrian scuffled in the first three games, getting only one hit. Still, the Rangers overcame a shutout performance by Rays rookie Matt Moore and two other relievers to win the next two games and take a 2-1 lead going into Game 4. Adrian broke out in Game 4, homering in his first two plate appearances against Rookie of the Year to be Jeremy Hellickson. The Rangers were up 3-2 in the seventh when Adrian came up for his third plate appearance. On the mound was Matt Moore, in a relief role to keep the game close. Even though Adrian had 22 other two-home run games in the regular season, he never hit three homers in a game before. Still, Adrian blasted the first pitch to deep left field, and it went over the wall for his third home run of the game giving the Rangers a 4-2 lead. He was only the sixth player to hit three home runs in a post-season game, joining an illustrious group that includes legends such as George Herman "Babe" Ruth, George Howard Brett, and Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson. (It also includes such forgotten players as Bob Robertson and Adam Kennedy.) The home run turned out to be huge as the Rays scored another run in the bottom of the 9th. Thanks to Adrian's three home runs (and another from Ian Kinsler), the Rangers hung on to win 4-3 and advance to the ALCS.
The Rangers faced the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. The Tigers were a fearsome team that featured star players such as future Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, Adrian's old teammate and tormentor Victor Martinez, and the MVP and Cy Young to be Justin Verlander(p). Adrian didn't contribute much in Game 1, but the Rangers managed to topple the Tigers ace. In Game 2, both teams were tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the 11th. Adrian hit a single sandwiched between singles by Young and catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli. Nelson Cruz then drilled the first walk-off postseason grand slam that was not eventually reduced to a single for failure to touch home plate. Adrian didn't contribute much in Games 3-5 as the Rangers dropped two of three, but they still had a 3-2 series lead going into Game 6. The Rangers went to town against the Tigers' young future ace Max Scherzer. Adrian joined in on the fun, hitting an RBI single in the nine-run third inning, then hitting a leadoff double in a two-run sixth. The Rangers led 15-5 when the Dominican closer Neftali Feliz induced a popup to Michael Young to seal the win and the pennant. The Rangers were going back to the World Series, and Adrian has another chance for the title!
The Rangers' World Series opponent were the St. Louis Cardinals, who Adrian played against in his first playoff appearance. They were not the 105-win juggernaut that they were in 2005, having won a Wild Card spot in the last game of the season with a 90-72 record, but they still topped the 102-win Philadelphia Phillies (led by the late great Roy Halladay and the former Rangers ace Cliff Lee) as well as the 96-win Brewers. The Cardinals won Game 1 behind the pitching of Chris Carpenter despite Adrian's two hits. The Rangers were close to dropping Game 2 as well before they scored two runs in the ninth to pull off the victory. Adrian knew he had to step up his game if the Rangers had any chance of winning the title, and he did so in Game 3. He knocked four hits, including a double, and scored two runs. It was a good performance. However, the Cardinals' Dominican-born superstar first baseman Albert Pujols stole the show by blasting three home runs, matching Adrian's feat, as the Cardinals cruised to a 16-7 victory. The Rangers shook off the loss and won the next two to put them one win short of the title. Adrian had a key contribution in Game 5. Facing Carpenter again with the Rangers down 2-1, he drove a curveball to left for a game-tying home run. The force of his swing drove his right knee to the ground, and with the exposure from it happening in the World Series this would become the distinctive Beltre swing. The series shifted back to St. Louis as the Rangers tried to clinch the title in Game 6.
Adrian's bat had been quiet in the first six innings of Game 6, as he struck out, grounded out, and grounded into a double play. He led off the seventh with the game tied 4-4. Lance Lynn had come in as a reliever. Lynn allowed two of Adrian's four hits in Game 3, and in this game he tried to throw a 1-0 fastball past Adrian, but Adrian reached out and hit the ball the opposite way to right center field to give the Rangers a lead. Nelson Cruz followed with another home run, and by the end of the inning the Rangers had a 7-4 lead. The Cardinals got a run back in the eighth, but the Rangers went into the ninth with a two run lead needing just three more outs to secure the victory. Neftali Feliz allowed a double to Pujols and a walk to Lance Berkman, the former Astro who also criticized the Beltre deal earlier in the year, but he also struck out two and had the Cardinals' third base counterpart David Freese down 1-2. Feliz tried to blow a 99-mph fastball past Freese, but Freese lined it to right field. Nelson Cruz was playing somewhat shallow and ran back, but the ball got over his head and the Cardinals tied the game. With the running run on third, Feliz got catcher Yadier Molina to line out to end the inning. In the tenth, Andrus single, and Josh Hamilton blasted a home run to center field to put the Rangers up by two once again. Adrian grounded out to end the inning, but the Rangers had a lead and needed to get only three more outs. The Cardinals had two left-handers coming to the plate, so manager Ron Washington replaced Feliz with left handed reliever Darren Oliver, who held left-handed hitters to a .227/.269/.318 slash line in the regular season. However, this was the post-season and Oliver couldn't get either of the hitters out. Pitcher Kyle Lohse sacrificed the runners to second and third for the first out. Former starter Scott Feldman came in and got Ryan Theriot to ground to Adrian for the second run, although one run scored. With Albert Pujols up, Washington opted to walk him intentionally to face Berkman. Feldman got to 2-2 on Berkman, but Berkman hit the fifth pitch to center to drive in the tying run. The Rangers couldn't get anything started in the 11th. David Freese led off the bottom of the 11th, and blasted a walk-off home run off of reliever Mark Lowe to stun the Rangers and force a Game 7. Adrian and the Rangers were so only one strike away from the title on two occasions. Game 6 would go down to be one of the best games ever, but the Rangers came out on the wrong side of history. The Rangers could still come back to win Game 7, but Chris Carpenter came back on three days rest and shut down the Rangers for the title. Adrian went hitless in the game, and went to the off-season thinking what could have been.
The bitter taste of defeat still lingered as Adrian and the Rangers went into the 2012 season, but the Rangers still had most of their nucleus intact, and they had gotten the prized free agent commodity Yu Darvish from the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. There was plenty of optimism, and the Rangers proved the point by storming in front out of the gate. Josh Hamilton was the star performer early on, with a four-home run game on May 8 and seemed like a serious threat for the Triple Crown through mid-May. Adrian was having a spectacular season of his own. He contributed a home run of his own in Hamilton's four-homer game, and through the end of June, he was hitting .328/.360/.534 with 14 home runs. The Rangers had sped out to a 50-29 record and had a 6.5 game lead by the time June ended. Both Adrian and the team went through a bit of a swoon in July, but they picked themselves up in August with the team going 19-10 and Adrian hitting .333/.384/.622 with seven home runs. Adrian had a pair of signature performances in August 2012. On August 22, he duplicated his feat from the previous October by hitting three home runs. In fact, he had three home runs in four innings and he could have joined Hamilton in the four-homer club, but he couldn't muster up a home run in his final two plate appearances. Two days later Adrian had a second cycle. He started out with a triple to get that out of the way, then added a double, a home run, and finished it off with a single. Adrian turned in another strong performance in September, going .345/.390/.700 with 11 home runs. However, the rest of the team started to struggle, and they allowed the Oakland A's to catch up. Still, the Rangers had a five-game lead with nine left to play on September 24. It would take an unprecedented collapse to lose a lead like that. However, the Rangers managed to do it, going 2-7 in the last nine games and losing five of them against the A's. In particular, the Rangers blew a 5-1 lead against the A's on the last day of the regular season when a win would clinch the division. Even worse, the go-ahead run scored on an error by Hamilton when he dropped an easy fly ball. Adrian went 3 for 5 in that game, but it still wasn't enough.
The Rangers finished with a 93-69 record, tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the best record among non-division winners (and with a better record than the AL Central-winning Detroit Tigers.) However, this was the first year of the Wild Card Game, a play-in game between the two best non-division-winning teams (although they would still have had to play a tie-break game even if there wasn't a Wild Card Game.) The Rangers got to host the game as they won the season series against Baltimore. However, the team's listless play continued in the Wild Card Game. The Rangers hitters couldn't get anything started against the Orioles' southpaw Joe Saunders, while the Orioles nicked Rangers' star rookie Darvish and a series of relievers for a 5-1 win. Adrian went 0 for 4, putting the ball in play each time but right at defensemen. The 2012 season still stands as Adrian's best with the Rangers. He had a solid season with the bat, hitting .321/.359/.561 with 36 home runs and 102 RBIs. He also had a fantastic year defensively, and won a second straight Fielding Bible Award, second straight Gold Glove, and the second straight Platinum Glove. He also finished third in MVP voting, behind the winner Miguel Cabrera (who ended up being the one to win the Triple Crown) and rookie sensation Mike Trout. It was his highest placement since finishing second in 2004. And yet the year was also disappointment, with the Rangers' early exit from the postseason.
Adrian was determined to turn things around and help the Rangers get to a title in 2013. The team had a slightly different composition, having lost Hamilton to free agency and Young to a trade with the Phillies. However, they still had Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinsler, and welcomed a promising rookie starter named Martin Perez. Adrian's fortunes were up and down just like the team. He got off to somewhat of a cold start in April, but then turned it up in May before struggling again in June. He was red-hot in July and August, but slowed down in September. Similarly, the Rangers traded first place with the Oakland A's all year. They did have an exciting period in the end of July when they won three straight games on walk-off home runs, with Adrian doing the deed in the third of the three walk-offs. The Rangers were in first as late as September 4, but went into a swoon after that where they lost nine of ten. By September 22 they looked to be out of the race entirely as they were behind the Rays and the Cleveland Indians. However, they went on a seven-game win streak at the end of the season to tie the Rays for the Wild Card Spot. A year after appearing in the Wild Card Game, the Rangers had to play a tie-break game just to get to that stage.
The Rangers got to host the tie-break game as they won the season series against the two teams 4-3. The Rangers started their young rookie Martin Perez as their ace Darvish had pitched the day before just to get to the tie-breaker. The Rays went with their ace, David Price. Adrian went into the game leading the league with 198 hits. As the tie-break game counted as a regular season game, he could potentially get to 200 hits for the second time in his career, after his magical 2004 season. He doubled in the second with the Rangers down 1-0 to give him 199 hits. However, he was stranded at second, and the Rays extended their lead to 3-0 an inning later. The Rangers could never catch back up, just as Adrian couldn't get that 200th hit. The Rangers season ended with a 5-2 loss, with Adrian stuck on 199 hits. Adrian had another solid year, as in addition to his 199 hits he hit .315/.371/.509 with 30 home runs and 92 RBIs. His fielding slipped and he lost both the Fielding Bible Award and the Gold Glove to Orioles rookie Manny Machado, but Adrian still got some MVP votes. He didn't particularly care, as the Rangers couldn't even advance to the playoffs.
By 2014 it was clear that the Rangers' investment in Adrian Beltre was a solid one, even in spite of all the criticism. He had contributed with both a strong bat and an airtight glove. Adrian had continued with his free-swinging ways, but he had cut down on his strikeouts, and his on base percentage had increased every year. In some ways 2014 was Adrian's best season of offense while with the Rangers. He missed some time early in the season due to a left quadriceps strain. However, he came back hitting as good as ever. He ended the season with a slash line of .324/.388/.492. His power had dropped, possibly from the leg injury and as a result his slugging percentage fell below .500 for the first time since 2009, but his batting average and on base percentage were the highest since his 2004 season. He walked 57 times, which was the most since he walked 61 times as a 20-year-old in 1999. He also reached an important milestone on June 25, 2014. Facing the Tigers, Adrian bounced a single up the middle off of starter Drew Smyly for the 2,500th hit of his career. However, while Adrian had a solid season, the rest of the team did not. The Rangers made news by trading their slick-fielding second baseman Ian Kinsler for power-hitting first baseman Prince Fielder. Prince turned out to be a bust. The rest of the team succumbed to injuries in unprecedented numbers, including Darvish who had to go for Tommy John surgery due to a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament. The team that had been competitive for years fell to a 67-95 record, and fell to last place, even behind the Astros who had gone 51-111 the year before.
One of Adrian's hallmarks was a remarkable ability to play through pain. His legendary toughness comes from an insatiable desire to play, and this was first evident to many observers when he tried to practice with a colostomy bag following his botched appendectomy in spring training 2001. He had his shares of muscle strains and tears throughout his career, but he always seemed to come back from these injuries earlier than had been predicted. For example, he came back from his contused testicle in 2009 in only two weeks when some were thinking he'd miss the rest of the season. The 2015 season became a showcase for his ability to come back from injuries and play through pain. Both Adrian and the Rangers were falling short of expectations through an afternoon game against the Boston Red Sox on May 31, 2015. Adrian was hitting .251/.289/.404, his worst numbers through the end of May since his dreadful 2009 season, although he did hit his 400th home run on May 15. The Rangers were also sitting at .500 and in third place behind the Angels and the surprising Astros. However, just because his numbers were poor didn't mean Adrian wasn't playing hard. He still had an internal desire to succeed, and he showed it in that game. In the first with the Rangers down 1-0 and a runner on third, Adrian gutted out an eight-pitch at bat and drove in the run with a groundout. When he came up again in the third, the Rangers were down again 2-1, Adrian singled to tie the game once again. Adrian led off the fifth with a single. The next batter Mitch Moreland hit a grounder that could have been turned for a double play, but Adrian slid hard into second to break it up. The double play failed, but in the process Adrian jammed his left thumb against the first base bag and had to leave the game. The Rangers came back to win the game on a walk-off double by prodigal son Josh Hamilton.
The initial reports was that Adrian strained a ligament in this thumb and would be out for two weeks. However, what was not revealed until the end of the season was that the ligament was torn almost completely off the bone. Nevertheless, Adrian was itching to return and was back in the lineup at the end of June. By then the Rangers had moved into second, but they were still four games behind the Astros. Adrian struggled to kick-start his offense, but by the end of July and beginning of August he was starting to get his groove back. This turnaround was highlighted by a game on August 3 against the division-leading Astros where he hit for the cycle for the third time. Once again, he started out with a triple, before adding a double and a single by the third inning. He'd have multiple opportunities to get the home run, but he preferred to get it done quickly, hitting one out in left in the fifth. He was the fourth player to record three cycles, and the first since Babe Herman, who played from 1926 to 1937 with a cameo in the war year of 1945. The cycle sparked a hot streak when the Rangers went 36-21, including eight straight against the Astros. By the time the dust had settled, the Rangers had clinched their first division title since 2011 with an 88-74 record, which wasn't bad considering they were under .500 in August. Adrian's hitting stats had gone down due to the thumb injury, as he went .287/.334/.453 with only 18 home runs, but he was still the top player on the team when factoring his defense. It also helped that several other players with poor years in 2014 had turnarounds, including Prince Fielder and the Indians import Shin-Soo Choo, and the Rangers also made a successful trade with the Phillies where they got their ace Cole Hamels and reliever Jake Diekman.
The Rangers' opponents in the Division Series were the Toronto Blue Jays, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 1993 and were one of the best teams in the American League, with a 93-69 record. Still the Rangers knew that they could win. In Game 1, Adrian walked before Prince Fielder hit a slow bouncer to second. Adrian slid hard to break up the double play, but he was unsuccessful, and even worse he strained his back on the play. Despite the pain, Adrian stayed in the game, getting steroid shots between innings. In the third with the Rangers up 1-0 and rookie outfielder Delino DeShields on second, Adrian lined a single to second. Delino came around to score, but Adrian was in clear discomfort when he jogged to first. He tried to come out for defense in the bottom of the inning, but the training staff had to take him out of the game. The Rangers ended up winning the game and the next game. However, the Rangers lost Game 3 at home, and Adrian knew he couldn't stay on the bench. He came back in Game 4, but even though he singled twice he couldn't keep the Blue Jays from winning 8-4. It all came down to Game 5. Adrian insisted on playing again, but he contributed only a harmless single in the third. The Rangers nevertheless took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th on a controversial obstruction play that led to a lengthy delay. When play resumed, the bottom fell out for the Rangers. The Rangers made three errors on three routine grounders, two by the normally sure-handed Elvis Andrus. This allowed the tying run to score on a misplayed pop-up, and then Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista iced the game with a three-run home run punctuated by an emphatic bat-flip. The Rangers down weakly, with Adrian grounding into a force-out in his last plate appearance, and the season was over. Still, Adrian had to be optimistic about how the 2015 Rangers came back from oblivion to win the division.
Adrian had proven to be one of the best and most popular players in Rangers history in his first five season. His contract signed before the 2011 season was set to end after 2016. However, Adrian enjoyed it in Texas. Plus, the Rangers had a promising crop of young players including DeShields who came over from the Astros as a Rule 5 draft pick, three-true-outcome savant Joey Gallo, and fellow Dominican Nomar Mazara. He expressed interest in extending his contract. The Rangers were also more than happy to reciprocate. They had discussions during spring training, but while they couldn't get a deal done by the time the season started, negotiations continued, and by April 15, 2016 they had put the finishing touches on a two-year, $36 million contract extension. By that time Adrian was off to a decent start, hitting .283/.340/.522 with two home runs and nine RBIs, and the Rangers were tied for first with the Angels. With the contract talks behind him, and having his thumb and back healed up, Adrian went out and had another great season. He ended the season hitting .300/.358/.521, and more importantly after two seasons where he hit only 19 and 18 home runs respectively, his home run total went up to 32 and he drove in 100 runs for the first time since 2012. Adrian also took a major step towards an important milestone on August 24, 2016 against the Reds. With the teams tied 5-5 in the eighth, Adrian doubled with a runner on second to drive in the go-ahead run. It was also the 2,900th hit of his career.
The fans in Texas had a front row seat for Adrian's brilliant play for years, but he never seemed to be quite as well-known on a national level. Part of it was that he spent the majority of his career in teams with a relatively small fanbase such as Seattle and of course Texas. Another was that for most of his career he had the unfair (and untrue) label of performing well only in contract years. People that had the temerity to suggest that Adrian was a future Hall of Famer was usually greeted with laughter and derision. However, in 2016 he started to become a more popular figure in the game through his playfulness. Adrian has always played with as much unbridled joy as he did with intensity, and it never shined more than in 2016. He had his moments with his intense dislike of head touches, and his swings that send him kneeling, but fans around the country started noticing his many other antics. He would do things such as a dance with his feet on close inside pitches, throwing a ball against the chest of the opposing team's third base coach, dancing on the basepaths, playing a form of pat-a-cake with an opposing infielder, gently push baserunners off the bag, walking to the plate with his batting helmet on backwards. He also forced a special big brother/little brother relationship with his infield neighbor Elvis Andrus. Elvis had taken over the job as chief tormenter on Adrian's sensitive head. Adrian would get him back by mimicking catching pop flies. Elvis would return the favor and back and forth it goes. Fans had no shortage of entertainment when watching Adrian Beltre play. And along the way they got a sense of his great play.
The 2016 Rangers finished the season with a 95-67 record and they cruised easily to a second straight division title. Analysts were skeptical about the team as they only scored eight more runs than they allowed, but Adrian was going back to the playoffs. Once again their opponents were the Toronto Blue Jays, who was the Wild Card team an inferior 89-73 record, but had a +93 run differential, and they won the season series. The two teams had a contentious regular season following the controversial Game 5 the year before. It climaxed in a game on May 15. Rookie Matt Bush (who was a previously 1.1 draft pick drafted as an infielder who converted to pitcher and signed after serving three years in prison for a hit and run.) hit Bautista in the arm. Former Ranger Justin Smoak hit a grounder to Adrian, who threw it to second baseman Rougned Odor. Bautista tried to break up the double play with a hard slide. Odor didn't like it, and the two started getting at it. Odor shoved Bautista, and then threw a right hook that connected with Bautista's cheek. Adrian was there to hold Bautista up and keep him from getting at Odor. The image was played on repeat on sports channels for most of the day. Now the two were post-season opponents once again. The Rangers knew they had the potential to win, but that wasn't the same as winning. They lost Games 1 and 2 at home by scores of 10-1 and 5-3. Adrian contributed only a single in Game 1 and a double in Game 2. The series shifted to Toronto with the Blue Jays having a chance to sweep. The Blue Jays got out in front 5-2, but the Rangers came back to take a 6-5 lead. The Blue Jays came back to tie in the 6th, and then in the 10th the Blue Jays scored the winning run on a throwing error by Odor while trying to complete an inning-ending double play. Adrian's season came to an end short of a title once again.
Adrian Beltre headed to the 2017 season getting ready to turn 38 years old. He was still capable of playing at a very high level, and he was only 58 hits away from reaching 3,000 in his career. He has had an epic career that was full of twists and turns, starting from a heralded prospect before becoming a disappointment and his eventual redemption and transformation into a cult hero and one of the best players of all time. There was no question that the 2017 season would be a big one for Adrian Beltre.
Sources: I thought my Randy Johnson biography back in 2009 was long, but it was only 6,000 words. Since I am writing this a week before it posts I am able to go all out on frivolous details, and now I have this 13,000-word behemoth. Once again, the majority of the resources came from Baseball Reference, which has everything from minor league stats to monthly splits to play by play. I also reviewed certain plays on MLB Video at times. I used a lot of contemporary accounts about things such as contracts and injuries from sources like ESPN and the Los Angeles Times. The JockBio biography for Adrian Beltre was a good source of information about Adrian's early minor league years. The Baseball America 1997 Almanac that I got 21 years ago when I was 12 also came in handy for some information about Adrian's days as a prospect. Jorge Arangure Jr.'s Sports on Earth report on the Beltre signing was a great article about the controversies and the consequences. Alan Shipnuck's Sports Illustrated article about Beltre's 2004 season was a handy reference for the changes that happened and some glimpses into his private life. Tyler Kepner's New York Times article about Beltre's unorthodox fielding was a good resource about his fielding. Jonah Keri's Grantland article about Adrian Beltre was also a good reference.
Adrian Beltre is an intensely private person and it's hard to get information about his early life and about his family. The JockBio had some information about his early days, and Gerry Fraley's Dallas Morning News article about Felipe Alou's connections to the Beltre family gave some detail about Beltre's birth. The information related to his schooling and eventual signing seem kind of suspect, so I ended up Googling stuff trying to find any viable-looking information. I finally found some Dominican articles, one about his childhood home at Café de Herrera and another about Pablo Peguero that seem to present a more credible story. I did have to rely on Google Translate to understand them, so who knows if the information is accurate.
The information about Santo Domingo and the Dominican history were largely taken from Wikipedia articles, one on Dominican history and the other on Sports in the Dominican Republic. And with that my work on Part II on this accursed series is done. From now on I will be looking mostly at my own personal experiences, which makes it easier to write for me, but may make it more boring for you.
Anyways, have Adrian Beltre's Greatest Goofs
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