Texas Rangers announce former fan favorite as newest member of team’s Hall of Fame
The Texas Rangers Hall of Fame will induct Elvis Andrus on Saturday, June 28, before the game against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field.
The Rangers held a press conference Monday for Andrus, who was surprised on the Zoom call by his former teammate Adrian Beltre, a 2021 inductee, who congratulated his friend on receiving the honor.
“It’s an honor for me to have you in this group. You were such an inspiration for me the way you played the game, having fun, playing all those games, the way you lifted our team, our ball club,” said Beltre, “For me and for other guys, I can speak for them too, it was a pleasure having you, so seriously congratulations.”
Andrus played in 1,652 games over 12 seasons for the Rangers, second most in franchise history to Michael Young, from 2009-2020. He explained what the honor meant to him and said he was excited to share this moment with those who made it possible.
“It is an honor. I did not expect this,” Andrus said, “Being in the [Hall of Fame] with you [responding to Beltre], alongside with you, and the rest of the list, it’s just a blessing. it’s an honor for me to be part of that and you know I can’t wait for that day, and being able to see you all in the field that day, so we can share it together, but especially with you, brother, you are probably the reason, the main reason I’m in the Hall of Fame.”
Andrus’s name is littered across the Rangers record books with the shortstop ranking 1st in steals (305),3rd in runs (895), hits (1,745) and seventh in RBIs (636). A member of the Rangers’ 2011 AL Pennant winning team, he left his impact on the playoffs as well holding several records including the most hits (46), games played (42) and steals (9) in team history.
Andrus will be the fifth player from the Rangers 2011 team to be inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame next to Beltre, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton, and praised the players for how they impacted his career.
“You don’t play the game, expecting to be in the Hall of Fame. I think that’s kind of like a consequence of your hard work and I’ve been so blessed, like I say, [on]multiple occasions to have such great role models in my career, Adrian is probably the biggest one, but like I said earlier, you know, Michael Pudge, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Ian Kinsler, I mean, the list goes on, and those guys just teach you the right way to do it.,” said Andrus, “It’s something surreal. It’s something that I don’t think I will believe it even the day that I’m in the ballpark getting inducted.”
Andrus, a Venezuelan native, was signed by the Atlanta Braves to an international free-agent contract at 16 years old and became one of the top prospects in the organization. On the call, he admitted that he almost signed with the Rangers in international free agency before choosing the Braves.
The Rangers acquired Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamacchia,and several minor league pitchers, including Neftali Feliz, from the Braves for Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay in 2007.
Few shortstops in MLB history had more longevity with only Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins having played more games than Andrus at the position.
