On June 13, 2018, during the second game of the series between the Texas Rangers and the LA Dodgers, 39-year-old Adrian Beltre, batting cleanup for the Rangers, hit a double to center field in his second at-bat. This hit marked his 3,090th career hit, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki’s record of 3,089 hits for the most by a foreign-born player. Beltre celebrated by adding two more hits that day, finishing with 3,092 career hits.

On November 21, Major League Baseball announced its 26 nominees for this year’s Hall of Fame. Among them, the standout candidate is Adrian Beltre from the Dominican Republic, considered one of the greatest third basemen of the 21st century, and highly likely to be inducted on his first ballot.*

* *Players become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration after playing at least 10 seasons in MLB and being retired for at least five years.

He blossomed later in his career, earning the nickname "FA-loid"* during his 20s due to inconsistent performance, but he became a reliable force in his 30s, consistently hitting .300 with 20 home runs and averaging a 5.4 WAR**, solidifying his role as the Texas Rangers’ ace.***

* FA-loid: A portmanteau of "Free Agent" and "steroid," used to mock players who perform exceptionally well only during contract years to secure higher salaries.

** WAR (Wins Above Replacement): A statistic that measures a player's total contributions to their team in wins. A WAR of 2.0 is considered starter-level performance.

*** In 2015, the Texas Rangers honored Adrian Beltre as one of the four greatest players in franchise history, alongside Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodriguez, and Michael Young, making him the only active player at the time to receive this recognition.

Beltre’s consistency culminated in his retirement in 2018, with the record for the most hits by a foreign-born player (3,166 hits). Achieving this required averaging over 150 hits per season for 21 years, placing him 17th all-time among approximately 20,000 MLB hitters.

"I was lucky to get the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues for a long time, and hard work was part of it too,"
- Beltre's interview about his 20 seasons in MLB career

Beltre’s outstanding talent and cheerful personality earned him the nickname "Mr. Smile" in the Major Leagues. Unusually for a foreign player, he was named captain of the Texas Rangers, demonstrating his leadership.

"After much thought, I decided to retire. Playing in the Major Leagues for 21 years was a blessing. I'm so satisfied with my decision that I don't think I'll shed any tears. That's why I didn't bring a handkerchief,"
- Beltre's interview at his retirement press conference.

Beltre retired just 23 home runs shy of becoming the first third baseman in MLB history to achieve 500 home runs and 3,000 hits. His final season’s 3,095th hit ball can be found at the E-Land Museum.