Adrian Beltre becomes all-time hits leader by Dominican-born players
With his first inning single off Sonny Gray on Thursday afternoon (TEX 7, OAK 2), Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre became the all-time hits leader among players born in the Dominican Republic. His 2,591st career knock moved him past Vladimir Guerrero.
"It means a lot. I had no idea what was going on until I was told in the middle of the game. To be up there with one of the greatest hitters I have ever seen in Vladdy, I'm proud of that," said Beltre to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. "I never think about those kind of things. I love the game, I love to play hard, but thinking about leading all Dominican players in hits, I never thought about it."
Video of Beltre's record-breaking hit can be seen right here. Here is the all-hit hits leaderboard among Dominican-born players:
Belte - 2,591
Guerrero - 2,590
Julio Franco - 2,586
Manny Ramirez - 2,574
Albert Pujols - 2,511
Sammy Sosa - 2,408
Miguel Tejada - 2,364
Tony Fernandez - 2,276
David Ortiz - 2,155
Felipe Alou - 2,101
Beltre, 35, is tied for 81st on the all-time hits list with Luis Gonzalez. His Hall of Fame case will be an interesting one when the time comes. Beltre is a career .284/.337/.479 (116 OPS+) hitter with 524 doubles, 391 home runs and 1,378 RBI. He is also one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball history.
In 138 games this year, Beltre is hitting .322/.386/.488 (144 OPS+) with 29 doubles, 18 home runs and 71 RBI. He is under contract next season ($18 million) with a vesting option ($16 million) for 2016.
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