On Friday night, Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre hit the 400th homer of his criminally underrated career.
After the homer, Beltre came back to the dugout, and was congratulated by his teammates…who then proceeded to touch the hell out of his head, a pet peeve of Beltre’s that has resulted in numerous tiffs with Elvis Andrus in the past.
Beltre’s Hall of Fame case in a few years should be a no-brainer, but it won’t end up that way. The man has 400 homers, and will likely cross the 3,000 hit mark sometime next season. Plus, just for the hell of it, he’s taken home four Gold Glove awards.
When all is said and done, Beltre will be at least fourth (maybe third) all-time among third basemen in homers, and at least third in hits. The only third basemen in baseball history definitively better than him? Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, Wade Boggs, George Brett, and Chipper Jones – four Hall of Famers and a guy who will go in on the first ballot when he’s eligible.
This isn’t rocket science. Congrats, Adrian – and here’s hoping you don’t get your head rubbed when you head to Cooperstown.
