Beltre WOO!
Dave · September 1, 2008 at 8:04 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Through years of inaccurate criticisms and people referring to him as a disappointment, Adrian Beltre has continued to show up and play terrific baseball for his entire tenure as a Mariner.
Congratulations on your cycle, Adrian. Yet another great accomplishment for a guy who simply doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
Congrats Adrian.. It was fun to watch him motor around third..
Yeah if we could just get rid of Ichiro, Felix and Beltre, all our problems will be solved. Beltre is awesome.
And all that criticism because of one fantastic year. Without that year, how many more people would appreciate him for the great player he is?
I consider it a pleasure to be able to watch Beltre play third base for the Mariners.
I hope the guy is here beyond 2009.
#3 I’d imagine not many more. Many people don’t give defense enough credit and don’t take park factors into consideration.
I am delighted to celebrate and cheer Adrian Beltre hitting for the cycle with a swanky new USS Mariner layout.
Man I hope he sticks around.
Awesome.
well, if he wins another Gold Glove or two, and keeps hitting steadily, maybe (maybe) the national press will actually look at his numbers and not do the knee-jerk “Beltre-and-Sexson” thing
Beltre is one of the funnest players to watch – outstanding glove, throws a bullet, and is always interesting to watch work at the plate.
It brings a smile to my face whenever *he* asks for a call on his checked swings or when he does his little dance (which he doesn’t seem to do as much anymore…). I love watching that guy.
mironos wrote: And all that criticism because of one fantastic year. Without that year, how many more people would appreciate him for the great player he is?
I think that’s a great question. But at the same time, without that fantastic year how many casual fans would even notice him at all? That year put him on the map, for good or for bad.
FWIW, on Sportscenter it was the third baseball story, following Cliff Lee’s 20th win & Drew’s cycle. Nothing about Beltre or his season, just that this was a faint highlight in the Mariners sad year.
Some Beltre stats no one asked for (apologies in advance if the formatting is off):
Year
BA
OBP
SLG
’99-07 (avg)
.274
.328
.463
’08 (projected)
.262
.325
.458
Year
HR
RBI
R
BB
SO
’99-07
23
85
76
44
98
’08
28
85
79
58
99
Re-formatting:
’99-07 ’08 (projected)
BA .274 – .262
OBP .328 – .325
SLG .463 – .458
HR 23 – 28
RBI 85 – 85
R 76 – 79
BB 44 – 58
SO 98 – 99
Imagine AB healthy. Can’t wait to watch him next season.
Yesterday I said:
The baseball Gods proved me right and then some! Huzzah!
I literally jumped up and down in my living room when I saw that ball headed for the RCF corner out there. That, and Felix’s grand slam, makes you forget about how awful the season has been otherwise, if even only for a few moments.
Thank you, Adrian.
SportsCenter also pointed out that he and Drew hit for the cycle on the same day; the only other time in history two players have hit for the cycle was Sept 17, 1920.
I thought it was hilarious that after he was safely at third on his triple they asked him if he wanted to keep the ball and his answer was “Why?” He was just jazzed to be 4 for 4 going on 5 for 5: he didn’t even know he was one triple away.
It’s nice that baseball gods watched out for Adrian. That was his first triple of the year, too.
There’s definately a joy of the game sense about Beltre’s play. That mixed with raw talent makes for great baseball.
This is awesome and all that, but if it would help for the long run, can we shut him down now and fix that injury he’s had forever?
It isn’t stopping him from playing gold glove defense or hitting the ball solid in stretches, so maybe it isn’t as big of a deal as the media makes it to be?
That was his first triple of the year, too.
I wonder if anyone’s ever hit for the cycle and only had that one triple the whole season.
I love that when you watch the replay of his triple, he has this bewildered look on his face as he gets up from his slide, and you can see the ump tell him “You just hit for the cycle!”
That was an awesome game to be at! I wish I could get to see more games like that when the M’s come to visit me in Texas. Not only did I get to see Beltre bat for the cycle, Felix threw me a ball during BP.
My memories of that night will get me through October.
BTW… it’s really fun to annoy the ballgirl in left field by rooting for the away team.