Adrián Beltré was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame last week. In his first year of eligibility he received votes on 95.1% of the ballots cast. That is tied for the 17th highest percentage ever. Tied with two guys named Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner. The greatest player of all time, Willie Mays, only got 94.7% of the vote. Granted that was in a different era and there were some writers who wouldn’t vote for Willie Mays because he was, hang I need to check my notes, oh yes , here it is, black. Regardless, Beltré is in rarified air, and some national baseball pundits have stated they are amazed that the percentage was not higher, or even unanimous. That assessment may be slight hyperbole, but only slight. Beltré is the only third baseman to have both 3000 hits and 400 home runs. He also won multiple Gold Glove awards for his defense. By any measure he is one of the best third basemen to ever play in the major leagues.
On the morning of June 21, 2003 the Dodgers had played 72 games and Adrián Beltré was batting .201 with five home runs and 22 RBI. In today’s game an average that low is often overlooked if you offset it by mashing copious amounts of homers (looking at you Kyle Schwarber) and generating a lot of runs. In 2003 an average that low was not as easily forgiven, even if it accompanied massive power numbers. And for Adrián Beltré those numbers, at a corner infield position where offensive productivity is expected, were disappointing, and after almost five years in the majors he was facing a career crossroads.
It wasn’t all his fault. He was still working his way back to full strength following a botched appendectomy and subsequent serious infection that almost killed him and caused him to lose fifty pounds. He was also young for his age, a by-product of the dirty cheating Dodgers faking his birthdate in order to sign him to a contract before it was legal, but you can read more about that in the 16 volume manifest The Dodgers are Dirty Dirty Cheaters.
Back to June 21, 2003. That day happened to be the bachelor party of a good friend. A good friend who has the misfortune of being a Dodgers fan. Following a morning surf (for those who surfed, of which I was not one) in the June gloom of Redondo Beach we headed to Chavez Ravine to watch a ballgame between the Dodgers and their cross-town rivals the Angels. During the pregame introductions I was talking to another friend, hereby known as Gallagher. Now a little bit about Gallagher. He’s a surfer and soccer player, but not a baseball fan. I’m 98% sure that if I were to hand him a bat he would know which end to hold, but 58% sure that if I asked him to get me the key to the batter’s box he would go off in search of a non-existent opening implement. Needless to say he’s not someone whose opinions about baseball would typically carry much weight. When the announcer gets to the sixth spot in the Dodgers batting order Gallagher turns to me and says, “Theis, that’s the guy. Beltré, he’s going to have a huge game. Listen to the name, Beltré, it just sounds like he’s a ballplayer.” I promptly told Gallagher he was wrong, but he would not listen to reason.
According to Baseball Reference Adrián Beltré had three hits in four at-bats including a three-run home run and the Dodgers won four to two. My personal recollection has him with at least four hits, but I had spent my waking hours drinking warm Tecate and doing shots of Patron so I will defer to the online box score. At the end of the 2003 season Beltre had 23 home runs, 80 RBI, and had raised his average to .240. Not quite superstar numbers, but a dramatic improvement from where he stood that June morning. The next year was the first time when it all came together. In 2004 he batted .334, drove in 121 runs and led the National League with 48 home runs on his way to a second place finish in the MVP voting, and a big contract with the Seattle Mariners who have never been called dirty dirty cheaters, at least not by me. A few uneven years in Seattle led to one big bounceback year in Boston before he headed to Texas where he really cemented his legacy and earned his induction to Cooperstown.
Over the years Gallagher has not been shy about reminding me of the events of June 21, 2003. Any time I have expressed doubt, whether it’s been his team choices during our World Cup pools, or his questionable Fantasy Football selections, he’s been quick to point out, “don’t doubt me Theis. Remember that time with Beltré.” And I have always given him proper credit for it.
In August 2017 we loaded up the van for a week’s vacation to San Diego, and made arrangements to meet the Gallagher family at a local park on our way through Carlsbad. While the kids played and wives kept an eye on them Gallagher and I were catching up whilst drinking some Pizza Port beers out of red solo cups like a couple of delinquents. Naturally the conversation drifted towards Adrián Beltré, and I pointed out that he had just gotten his 3000th career hit and was a lock for the Hall of Fame. “Wow, I really was right about that guy,” mused Gallagher. I hope there is a Gallagher out there for all of us. When you have doubts, or face obstacles it would be nice to know that out there is someone who has no idea who you are, but believes in you.
