Will Beltre’s last home game come next weekend? If so, here are some of his top moments at Globe Life
The Texas Rangers are in San Diego, which is the best setting for an MLB game in baseball.
Petco Park has its quirks, but it’s in the Gaslamp District, San Diego Bay essentially is across the street, and it’s about only 10 minutes from San Diego International Airport. It can get chilly at night there, but the weather is hard to beat from sunrise to sunset.
The winter meetings were in San Diego in 2014, followed by the All-Star Game in 2016, when baseball writers overwhelmingly determined that all MLB events should take place there.
Alas, the Rangers will return to Arlington on Monday for their final six home games of the season. First up are the Tampa Bay Rays, who have given life to The Opener, for three games and then the fading Seattle Mariners next weekend.
Here’s hoping Sunday’s game is a sellout. Why?
It could be the last time Adrian Beltre plays at Globe Life Park.
As all Rangers fans know by now, the third baseman is contemplating retirement. His two-year contract expires after this season, which for the Rangers expires Sept. 30. He has said that if he doesn’t retire, he will play only for the Rangers in 2019.
But if this is the end, it’s been a terrific eight-year run, plus dozens of games as a visiting player. Here are eight of his top highlights in game played at Globe Life Park (one of them was not with the Rangers).
1. The first one is the No. 1 highlight of his career. On July 30, 2017, with Ivan Rodriguez having just been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and with Yu Darvish 24 hours from being traded, Beltre sent a hard grounder down the left-field line for career hit 3,000. After Beltre eased into second base, the game against the Baltimore Orioles was paused as his three children ran from right field to greet him to celebrate the moment on the field.
2. One of the first highlights of his career came at Globe Life Park on June 30, 1998, in only the sixth game of his career and the first road game of his career. He launched the first home run of his career off Rick Helling. It was a two-run shot with two outs in the sixth inning of an eventual 4-1 Los Angeles Dodgers victory. Beltre was 19 years, 84 days old, and he is still the youngest player to ever homer at Globe Life Park.
3. Beltre had already hit for the cycle twice in his career when the Rangers faced the Houston Astros on Aug. 3, 2015. Beltre tripled the first inning, doubled in the second inning, singled in the third and homered in the fifth to complete his third career cycle. He became one of only four players in MLB history to collect three cycles and first since Babe Herman (two in 1931, one 1933). Bob Meusel (1921, 1922, 1928) and Long John Reilly (two in 1883, one in 1890) are the others. Beltre is the only player to did all three times in the same ballpark. His first was in 2008 with the Seattle Mariners. The second ...
4. ... came Aug. 24, 2012, against the Minnesota Twins during what rated as one of the best seasons of his career. He tripled in the first inning, doubled in the second, homered to start the fifth and singled in the seventh as the Rangers rolled to an 8-0 win. Beltre batted .321 in 2012 with 36 homers, 102 RBIs and a .920 OPS that season and won his fourth career Gold Glove award. Additionally, he won the Platinum Glove as the best defensive player in the American League. Two days earlier ...
5. ... on Aug. 22, 2012, Beltre collected the only regular-season three-homer game of his career, against the Baltimore Orioles. Beltre started the second with a homer off former Rangers teammate Tommy Hunter and started the Rangers’ nine-run fourth with a two-run shot off Hunter. Beltre then capped the big inning, in which Mitch Moreland hit a grand slam, with another two-run homer. This time he connected against Kevin Gregg. Josh Hamilton singled ahead of both homers.
6. Beltre isn’t one to celebrate milestone moments. Even the hoopla surrounding his 3,000th hit left him a tad uncomfortable, or so he said. So, he treated career home run No. 400 as just another blast in his career. It came against Cleveland Indians left-hander Bruce Chen on May 15, 2015. Beltre has hit 74 more, entering Saturday, and with two more will pass Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for 30th all time with 476 homers.
7. Beltre pulled a double feat Aug. 15, 2016, with one swing of the bat. He connected for a grand slam off former Rangers pitcher Ross Detwiler in a 5-2 victory over the Oakland A’s. It was career grand slam No. 10 for Beltre and home run No. 100 at Globe Life Park. Beltre has 118 homers at Globe Life Park, which ranks second to Alex Rodriguez (130), and 111 with the Rangers at the Globe, one shy of Juan Gonzalez for second all time.
8. What else could possibly go wrong in a 22-10 loss in which Yu Darvish, five days before the 2017 trade deadline, allowed 10 runs in his final start for the Rangers? Well ... Beltre was on deck, though not in the on-deck circle, in the eighth inning. Plate ump Pat Hoberg noticed where Beltre was standing and didn’t care for it. Crew chief Gerry Davis, from second base, barked for Beltre to stand in the on-deck circle, so Beltre bent over and dragged the on-deck circle to him. Davis gave Beltre the thumb. Ridiculous, as no batter ever stands in the on-deck circle.