Dodgers: Former LA Star Adrian Beltre Gives Back To His Home Town

Beltre out there doing Beltre things.

Adrian Beltre's 2004 season is still remembered today by Dodger fans. He blasted 48 dingers with a slash line of 334/388/629 and a 1.017 OPS, helping Los Angeles win 93 games and qualify for the postseason. Beltre would have been the National League MVP that season had it not been for a San Francisco slugger with remarkable talents (and performance-enhancing drugs).

Unfortunately, Beltre's time in Los Angeles was limited due to the McCourts' poor track record of putting the team's interests first. They offered a pitifully low contract, whereas the Seattle Mariners did not. Dodger fans have never recovered from this loss.

When he was with the Texas Rangers, Beltre was notorious for his community involvement. Recently, he was seen assisting and providing financial resources for the rebuilding of a baseball stadium in his hometown of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he spent his youth developing as a ballplayer, so he understands the benefit of the facility. His involvement comes as no surprise to baseball fans.

In 1994, at Campo Las Palmas, a Dodgers facility, a 15-year-old Beltre was discovered. While thousands of young Dominican boys aspire to play professional baseball, only a few have the opportunity to actually do so. But Adrian wasn't just another child with dreams of the big leagues, he was good. With career totals of 3,166 hits and 477 home runs, he proved the scouts right and many believe he will be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.

With his love for the game on full display every time he took the field and the numerous times he made entire stadiums smile, it is no wonder why he is beloved by fans of every team he ever played for. What sets him apart from most players though is that he is loved league-wide, even by fans of teams he never played for. There will never be another Adrian Beltre and for Dodger fans, he will always be the one who got away.