ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dominican Adrian Beltre will officiate the first pitch ceremony at the All-Star Game at the home of his first team, the Texas Rangers, five days before he is inducted as a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee.
Beltre will be joined by former Rangers Hall of Famers, pitchers Fergie Jenkins and Nolan Ryan, as well as catcher Ivan Rodriguez, Tuesday night at Globe Life Field. Beltre will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday in Cooperstown.
Beltre, 45, played the last eight of his 21 seasons with the Rangers, making his only World Series appearance in his first year in Texas in 2011.
He was a four-time All-Star and won five Gold Gloves, finishing with 3,166 hits and 477 home runs. His 2,759 games at third base are fewer than Brooks Robinson’s total. He hit the cycle three times, the last time at age 36.
Beltre’s 3,000th home run came on July 30, 2017, just minutes after Rodriguez finished his Hall of Fame induction speech in Cooperstown.
Rodriguez and Beltre are ambassadors for this week’s All-Star Game, and the Dominican was the manager of the MLS team in the Futures Game over the weekend.
Beltre is about to join Rodriguez and King Ryan as the only members of the house to wear Rangers caps on their badges. Jenkins sports a Chicago Cubs cap.
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