3,000 HITS: A Tribute

I strain to lift the rock up over my head. As I slowly raise it up the light peaks out and a nice breeze wafts in front of my face. It smells nice, kind of sweet with a tint of sea air. As I pull my way out of the hole I start to see what I have been missing. While I was under a rock, turns out that I missed Adrian Beltre get his 3000th HIT!

Okay, now that I'm done trying to be witty it is time to get down to the nit and gritty. What does 3000 hits mean? How important is it? Is Adrian Beltre the new "GOAT" or whatever"? I'll answer all of these questions and more below. **HINT: He's not the new "GOAT" or whatever"**

Who Has 3000 Hits?
I'm a sports blogger so I have to give you the answers first. 31 players have gotten 3000 hits. Yes, that's right. ONLY 31 players over a span of about 130 years of baseball. That is an incredibly selective club to be in and it is a real testament to the quality of player that gets to put their name into this bunch.
Now for some information on these big boys. Adrian Beltre, with 3,001 hits, just entered a hyper elite club. The least amount of hits on the list is the famous Roberto Clemente at 3,000 hits exactly. You may remember him as the man who won twelve consecutive Gold Glove awards and was an all-star 15 times in an eighteen year career. He also happens to have an award for community involvement named after him that is super famous. Wade Boggs (3,010), Lou Brock (3,023), and Ichiro Suzuki (3,060) are also on this list. Ichiro and Adrian are the only two in the 3,000 club who are still playing today. Blah, blah, blah the list of Hall of Fame players goes on and on, but what does this mean for Adrian Beltre? That is the interesting part of this.
Adrian Beltre is 38 years old and 1,253 hits behind Pete Rose for the most hits in a major league career. AKA, he isn't going to be breaking that record. What will be interesting, thought, is seeing how close he can get. As I said, only 31 players have made this list and he has the opportunity to pass some big ones on this way towards retirement. Heck, 10 more hits will move him three more spots up this list. There should be no question that Beltre should get a Hall of Fame bust after his retirement. While the man hasn't proven himself to be the best baseball player of all time, not even close really, he has shown that he has been one of the most CONSISTENT hitters to play the game. That is really the main statistic that matters on this list. Baseball is a game of slumps and bumps where players have great years and terrible years and make their earnings based off of a few months of greatness (Look at Shelby Miller and Greinke). The reason why Beltre is great isn't because he has had the best bat of all time, but because he has produced consistently over the course of almost two decades, a rare feat. For that he deserves a round of applause.

Adrian Beltre, the Hidden Hitter
So unless you follow baseball closely or are a huge Texas Rangers fan, you might only vaguely know of this guy. As I mentioned before, he isn't a Sportscenter's Top 10 athlete or a Home Run Derby champion. He isn't the biggest or best or most paid athlete to play and he plays on a team that has never won a World Series. Let's take a look at Adrian Beltre and see why a man who is top 30 on career hits isn't that much of a household name in the major leagues.
Back in 1998 Adrian Beltre made his debut with the LA Dodgers and half a season later he ended his year with 13 errors, 7 home runs and a .215 average. Beltre would stay with the Dodgers for 6 years (the full amount of team controlled years), averaging .265 and 18 home runs per year, before having a career year in 2004 and earning a big contract with the Mariners. In 2004 Beltre helped lead the Dodgers to their first Division title in nine years with a .334 AVG (200 hits), 48 home runs and 121 RBIs. While he somehow didn't win the NL MVP award that year (losing to a certain druggie whose name is similar to Larry Fonds), he did prove that he could perform and lead a team.
Never batting over .300 and hitting a high of 26 home runs, Adrian Beltre sunk back to a more mediocre form over his tenure in Seattle. He broke a few team records (like hitting the first inside-the-park home run at SafeCo field) but never really came out as a big-shot player in Seattle. The Mariners never won a division title with Beltre and still to this day have yet to win a World Series. The only big award of Adrian's time in Seattle was in 2007 when he lead all major league third basemen in errors but managed to win his first Gold Glove Award. He entered free agency at the end of 2009 and signed a one year contract with the BoSox for 2010.
Despite having a career year with the Red Sox in 2010 they failed to make the postseason, coming in 3rd in their division. Beltre and David Ortiz both hit over 100 RBIs that year and Beltre hit .321 on the season. Beltre might have been responsible for the Sox woes that year, though, colliding with Jocoby Ellsbury AND Jeremy Hermida breaking their ribs. Jeez, I thought I had bad luck, but breaking 2 teammates ribs in the same year is pretty bad!
Trying to continue the success of 2010, he signed a five-year deal with the Rangers in 2011. Having another big year with 32 HRs and an average just under .300, Beltre helped to lead the Rangers to the 2011 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rangers tried to win their first World Series ever, but lost a heartbreaking 7 game series to the birds. Beltre finished the postseason with five home runs and nine RBIs. The next three years he tore it up, hitting over .300 and posting an average of 28 home runs every year from 2012-2014. All in all, Beltre has gone to three All-star games over seven years with the Rangers and has won three gold glove awards there. He also has two silver slugger awards at third base while with the Rangers.

All that being said, Adrian Beltre seems to have had a very long, productive, but not necessarily eye-catching career. Lots of players hit over .300 every year and many can hit over 30 home runs in a year, so sadly our 3,000 hit hitter isn't looking to special in those stat categories. Beltre has yet to win any MVP awards or win a World Series. In fact, in his 18 year career he has only been to one World Series and had 5 playoff appearances (4 with the Rangers). The real key to his career has been his hitting consistency. The only time over his career that he started the season and had less than 120 hits was in 2009. He has been within ten hits of 200 in a season three times. Those numbers help to explain how he accumulated 3,000 hits. Staying healthy and having a bat that hasn't ever dipped below a .250 average over a full season shows a very capable player that any team would kill to have. A player that is under-admired and probably worthy of a Hall of Fame nod. Definitely worthy of a Hall of Fame nod. He may not be A-rod with the multiple 50+ HR seasons, or Derek Jeter hitting over 200 hits a season consistently and leading a Yankees team to tons of rings, but Adrian has been a consistent, productive and quietly dominant player that, if put on the right team, would have tore open the face of the sport just the same.

I salute you Beltre. The baseball world salutes you. I hope you play long enough to see a ring. I'll be there watching.


----For more insights into the 2017 baseball season keep checking back at "Off the Bench". Hope you enjoyed! Please comment your opinions and I'll see you in the next blurb.-----