Rangers' Beltre proud of new status as all-time games leader among Dominican players
Adrian Beltre doesn't like to waste time talking about his personal accomplishments in the game. He'd much rather talk about the team, winning, and other topics not related to his many individual exploits on the field.
And yet, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News pointed out over the weekend, there is at least one accomplishment Beltre considers worthy of attention: the fact that he is now the all-time leader in games played for players from the Dominican Republic.
Grant noted that Beltre was informed a little less than two weeks ago that he was approaching Julio Franco's record of 2,527 games played and actually admitted that he felt pretty good about it. Grant quotes Beltre as saying the following when told about his impending record: “I’m proud of it. I’m accomplishing things I never even thought about. It means I’ve been healthy and able to compete for a long time. But the numbers, I don’t think about the numbers. I just want to a win a World Series.”
Former Ranger and current Seattle Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz was also impressed by Beltre's feat, as quoted by Grant: “Wow, really? I’m not surprised he’s going to end up being the leader, but I’m surprised he’s doing it now. He’s still kind of young. Julio was, what, like 50 when he retired?"
Beltre, 36, is having another solid season though his batting average is down a tick (probably due to the thumb issue he had earlier in the year). Entering play Monday, he's hitting .266/.307/.408.
As Beltre told Grant, he's proud to represent the Dominican Republic in the sport of baseball and he also takes great pride in the accomplishments of fellow countryman Pedro Martinez, who was elected into the Hall of Fame last month. Said Beltre: “We are proud and we have always been proud of representing the Dominican. Pedro’s speech made me proud. We all grew up playing the game with whatever we had, a baseball, a tennis ball, any kind of ball, a sock even. We find a way to play. I’ve never forgotten that we played just for the fun of it. I try to never forget to have fun.”
It's not hard to imagine Beltre up there at the podium in Cooperstown himself, once his career winds down. Maybe then he'll be more open to talking about his many personal milestones.
(h/t Dallas Morning News)
