Adrian Beltre is apparently the fourth Dominican to be inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. The approval percentage the Santo Domingo-born former third baseman has with his plaque in Cooperstown may be surprising.
Indeed, just hours after the official announcement by the Baseball Writers Association of America, the former luminary of the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, among others, will be enshrined in the temple of immortality with the third most votes of all time and the second most votes among Latinos. .
According to traditional polls by journalist Ryan Thibodeaux, Beltre would enter the Hall of Fame today with 99% approval (50% of ballots). If the trend continues, the winner of five Gold Gloves at third base in the American League will be surpassed only by New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera and former shortstop and Bombers captain Derek Jeter.
The Panamanian, who has the most saves in MLB history (652), is the only player in Cooperstown with a 100% approval rating. Jeter amassed 99.7% of inspections.
In 21 major league years, Adrien Beltre had 3,166 hits and 477 home runs, four All-Star Game selections and four Silver Pads, plus the aforementioned Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves.
