COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Carlos Beltrán was destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame even before he played a full season in the major leagues. At least that’s what Kansas City Royals great George Brett thought.
On the eve of his induction, Beltrán recounted a story from 1999 when the Royals visited Cooperstown and Brett introduced him to Hall of Famer — and fellow Puerto Rican — Orlando Cepeda.
“I have a baseball and I’m approaching Cepeda for him to
sign my baseball, and George said, ‘Let me introduce you to the next Hall of Famer from Puerto Rico. His name is Carlos Beltrán,’” the nine-time All-Star outfielder said Saturday. “And I’m going like, what is he doing? I haven’t played a game and you’re introducing me as a Hall of Famer. I don’t think that’s a good statement.
“George said, `Well, Carlos, everything is possible in life. If you play hard and if you continue to play good and if you continue to develop yourself, this is an opportunity and this is a chance that you could be here.”
Twenty-seven years later, Brett’s prediction came true. Beltrán will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday alongside Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent, just as Brett and Cepeda were enshrined together as part of the 1999 class.
“Never went through my mind,” Beltrán said. “But I did imagine myself as a baseball player. I did imagine myself as a professional baseball player. I come from a very humble family. I got to see my parents doing a lot of work to push us forward.”
Beltrán was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year with Kansas City and went on to play 20 years in the majors, including seven seasons apiece with both the Royals and New York Mets. He made the Hall in his fourth year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot, securing 84.2% of the vote.
Joining him from the BBWAA ballot is former Atlanta Braves center fielder Andruw Jones, who reached 78.4% in his ninth year. Jones nearly dropped off the ballot after his 2018 debut, when he received only 7.3% of the vote — just above the 5% threshold to get another try.
For Jones, the induction represents the culmination of a patient climb that was supported by his defensive brilliance in center field, where he won 10 straight Gold Gloves from 1998-2007.
And like Beltrán, Jones’ fondest baseball memory came when he was young.
“Just getting that call to make it to the major leagues in ’96. Getting on that plane, flying into Philadelphia and walking into the clubhouse and seeing all these guys that you watch on TV who won the World Series in ‘95 and trying to win another one in ’96,” he said. “That was the best moment of my career, to be honest with you.”
Beltrán and Jones weren’t elected to the Hall immediately during their BBWAA eligibility, but their call eventually came. For Kent, it never did.
A five-time All-Star second baseman, the 2000 NL MVP fell off the BBWAA ballot in 2023 after exhausting his 10 years of eligibility and falling well short each time of the 75% needed for induction. He was elected by a much smaller panel in December 2025, the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
Though his path was different, after speaking with other Hall of Famers this weekend, Kent now knows he belongs just the same.
“I’m walking around, talking to guys and I’m getting hugs and I’m getting, ‘Congratulations,’ and I’m getting, ‘You should have been in a long time ago,’ and all those things,” Kent said. “And I’m seeing in their eyes that they’re not saying it just to be nice to me because they want something from me, or they’re just trying to be nice because the cameras are on and it was real. And that’s probably the first time I was able to relax.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
