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Last week Adrián Beltré said he had done plenty of work and experienced plenty of stress over his Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech.
This being Beltré, his speech on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y., came off without a hitch, just like his career with the Texas Rangers.
Celebrated for his talent, being a great teammate and his eccentricities, he talked about joining the ranks of baseball’s greatest players during his speech, part of which he delivered in Spanish.
“And the best part was I loved it,” he said. “I loved baseball. And I had so much fun playing the game.”
The past week Beltré has geared up for this moment. He coached the American League team in the MLB Futures game last Saturday. He threw out the first pitch for Tuesday’s All-Star Game alongside three Rangers who are already in Cooperstown — Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodriguez and Ferguson Jenkins. On Saturday in Cooperstown, he and his family rode in the annual pre-induction parade and he signed dozens of autographs.
He saved some of his kindest words for Rangers fans on Sunday.
“Like they say, everything is bigger in Texas, and you showed me big love,” Beltré said.
Several of his Rangers teammates joined him Cooperstown, including Elvis Andrus, Robinson Chirinos, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Colby Lewis and Mitch Moreland. Former Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was also in attendance.
“You’re not going to see another Adrian for ages,” Andrus said to MLB Network.
During his speech, Beltré jokingly called Andrus a “pain in my butt.”
