Adrian Beltre showed up to Rangers spring training Saturday. Wait, could it be?
For someone who hated spring training, it didn’t take Adrian Beltre all that long to come back to Texas Rangers camp.
The retired third baseman made a surprise appearance Saturday morning, dishing out hugs and handshakes and laughs during a brief visit before his son, A.J., played a baseball game in Tucson.
Geography, and maybe missing his former teammates, was the primary reason for Beltre’s visit, not a burning desire to be pulled back into baseball.
According to Beltre, who retired Nov. 20, that just isn’t happening. In other words, don’t expect him to pull a Jason Witten.
“Not yet,” Beltre said. “I’ve been busy. I’ve heard that I’m supposed to be feeling some kind of itch, an urge to play, but not yet. I’m not saying it won’t. I’ve just been busy.”
But Beltre does miss his teammates, which was apparent as he made his way through the clubhouse. It actually took him about five minutes to reach the clubhouse from the back door through which he entered.
He spent a big chunk of time talking to Shin-Soo Choo. Beltre asked him about the state of his left shoulder, which Choo assured him was fine and that he was just getting old.
That made Beltre laugh.
He then disappeared into the training room, where he should feel comfortable, and spent time getting debriefed by Elvis Andrus by what’s happening with the team. Beltre was then coaxed to speak to the media, a group session that Andrus interrupted by blaring some profanity-filled 2 Live Crew in the background.
That made Beltre laugh.
“Oh, Elvis,” he said. “Some things never change.”
Beltre also spent time with new manager Chris Woodward, who was briefly a teammate of Beltre’s in 2009 with the Seattle Mariners. Woodward noted the uptick in enthusiasm among the players and he offered Beltre the floor to speak to the players if he wanted.
Beltre can visits as often as he wants.
“We’ve got No. 29 in the building, so a lot of positive energy,” Woodward said. “He can walk through those doors anytime he wants.”
Beltre will for sure be visiting Globe Life Park on June 8 as the Rangers retire his number. He said that he hasn’t spent too much time thinking about the honor, but he is honored that the Rangers are doing it.
They are also making this retirement thing official.
“It’s going to be nice to see my jersey retired,” he said. “That means that I cannot come back.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2019 at 11:18 AM.
