Adrian Beltre Landslide, Texas Rangers Legend Elected to Hall of Fame

Texas Rangers legendary third baseman Adrian Beltre is the latest first ballot Hall-of-Fame selection from the franchise.

It is official.

Adrián Beltré became the latest Texas Rangers player to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

The results, announced during a special on MLB Network, saw Beltré get more votes than any other player on this ballot and become the Rangers’ third first-ballot Hall of Famer, joining Nolan Ryan and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

He will be inducted with the rest of the class on July 21 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Beltré received 95.1% of the vote, the 17th highest percentage of all time. Of the 385 ballots cast, Beltré was on 366 of them.

Beltré has been tracking toward a landslide first-ballot induction since voters with the Baseball Writers Association of America began making their ballots public in December. He was listed on all but two of 160 public ballots. Players need 75% of the vote in order to be elected.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Rockies first baseman Todd Helton join him in the Class of 2024. Former manager Jim Leyland was elected in December by the Hall of Fame’s Eras Committee.

Beltré retired after the 2018 season. He signed as a free agent before the 2011 season and spent the final eight seasons of his career with the Rangers. With the Rangers, he was a .304 hitter with 199 home runs and 699 RBI. He made three All-Star Game appearances and won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. He also finished in the top 15 of American League MVP voting in each of his first six years with the club.

He was a member of the Rangers’ 2011 World Series team, which was his only Fall Classic appearance.

Adrián Beltré greets his family after collecting hit No. 3,000 in July 2017 / Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Beltré’s No. 29 has been retired by the Rangers and he was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame shortly after his retirement. He is a member of the 3,000-hit club, as he finished his career with 3,166 hits. He is No. 18 all-time and one of 33 players with 3,000 hits.

He was a career .286 hitter with 477 home runs and 1,707 RBI in a 21-year career, breaking in with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998. He also played for the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox. He made four career All-Star Game appearances and won five Gold Gloves and four Silver Sluggers.

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