Texas Rangers: Do We Underappreciate Adrian Beltre?
By David Hill
Very quietly, Adrian Beltre has put together a stellar career. Does the Texas Rangers third baseman get enough credit for his place in baseball history?
Almost every time Adrian Beltre steps on the field for the Texas Rangers these days, he gets closer to another historical milestone. The other day, he passed Willie McCovey for 37th in RBI in MLB history. He is on pace to get his 3000th career hit sometime next season, and still plays a Gold Glove caliber third base, even at age 37.
In fact, with 438 career home runs, it is not out of the question that Beltre finishes his career with more than 500 homers. If he reaches that level, he would join a list of only five other players who had 3000 hits, 500 homers, 1500 runs and 1500 RBI – Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Eddie Murray. Regardless of the legitimacy of those numbers for Palmiero and A-Rod, it is still quite the impressive list.
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Yet, despite the potential to reach those numbers, Beltre has been overshadowed throughout most of his career. While Beltre was a hot young phenom with the Dodgers, his ill-fated signing with the Mariners left him flying under the radar. Although he has long since resurrected his career, he remains overlooked due to the influx of great young talent, and more colorful older players such as David Ortiz and the recently retired A-Rod.
Nonetheless, Beltre has just continued to plug away. In the lineup virtually every day, Beltre has been remarkably consistent, making contact and showing a solid batting eye. In fact, should he go on a bit of a power surge, Beltre could finish the year with thirty home runs and thirty doubles, doing so for the fifth time in his career.
If Beltre was to retire right now, he would have a career worthy of the Hall of Fame. He is currently in the top 50 all time in hits, RBI, home runs and WAR. His 584 doubles are 20th in MLB history. Defensively, Beltre has been just as great, ranking 13th all time in defensive WAR and is sixth with 139 runs saved at third. He has been a stellar all around player virtually everywhere he has been (sorry Seattle).
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In every generation, there are a few great players that end up being overlooked. Adrian Beltre is one of those for this generation.