3,000 hits. I remember when he first came up, there was talk that he was sort of a bust. Really turned it around and is now a sure-fire HOFer.

I guess the numbers say so but it doesn't feel right.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Good player. Not a Hall Of Famer.

Bad thought.

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Yeah, he hit the benchmarks, but I don't associate Adrian Beltre with greatness and immortality. Kind of a compiler.

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Yup. No one was even talking about him approaching 3,000 hits until last week because no one even knew he was that close. With Ichiro last year everyone was talking about it all season.

He's one of the greatest defensive players of all time and he has 3,000 hits and 450 home runs. He is an easy first ballot hall of famer without question.

Borderline HOF. Similar player to Ron Santo, but compiled more.

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The fact that he's no one's franchise player is a big strike against him. He wasted his prime with go-nowhere Mariners teams and then he was a mercenary for the Rangers, a rather mercenary organization itself. That's a great big whatever to me, just one of many very good players the Rangers spent a shit ton of their new TV money on. Jeff Bagwell always felt borderline to me but at least he was an Astro through and through.

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But that's a terrible argument. These guys shouldn't go in based on made up narratives. Objectively, I don't see how anyone can make a case against him without also removing a lot of guys already in.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Okay, subtracting the sentimentality of a sentimental game, a lot of his numbers are empty. Is that better?

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Not really. I mean, you're still just saying "He's not a HOFer because I don't really like him". It's a bad argument

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Some arguments against:

No MVP awards
Only 4 All-Star games in 20 years (the first one came in his 13th year)

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How valid is that argument when the year he hit 48 home runs and finished second in MVP he did not make the all star game?

It is kind of odd...looks like it was an Albert Belle type of year where he got his numbers later (29 homers in second half).

[Edit] The Dodgers actually won the division, so they were not meaningless homers...

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Not really. He had a great first half as well but his second half was just insane The first half should have definitely resulted in an all star selection considering his greatness on defense as well. His first half numbers that year were:

315/355/580 with 22 home runs and 56 rbis

I'll give you that. Looks like Rolen was voted in and Mike Lowell was chosen as reserve by his Marlins manager McKeon (champs in 2003 after beating the Cubs in NLCS).

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I don't dislike Adrian Beltre, I just don't associate him with the household names of 2000s-2010s baseball. Maybe I'm just a bad baseball fan, I don't know.

EDIT: I do remember Beltre powering the Dodgers into the playoffs in 2004 but then he was in a baseball backwater for the next five years.

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Yep. Like you said, he was in Seattle for so long, and the M's weren't the darlings they were in the 90s. He also had that bad year off his big free-agent contract, and people ripped him. Still, West Coast teams and players can be hard to follow. I thought he completely fizzled out in Seattle until he played for the Red Sox. I don't even think I knew he was still in the league.

Rebuilt himself kind of under the radar, but he's been consistent. Good glove, too. Maybe if the Rangers had gone farther in the playoffs....

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Sarcasm? He was the best hitter on the 2011 World Series team

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I dont see how you can say he is not a HOFer.

Who are the better 3rd baseman during his career? He is one of the best of his time. 3,000 hits. Great defensive player. I do not care about how often he is an all star.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Let's share our favorite Adrian Beltre memories.

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Game 5 WS home run. Had just gotten out of the Army and was watching in a bar in Fort Worth

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

See? I forgot he was even on that team. The last several years, they've been one and out--that's what I meant.

2011 World Series: "I have no memory of this."

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I do have a memory of that...the on-one-knee-shot....

ETA: Thanks to Youtube. Forgot about that.

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he's definitely a name that doesn't come out and grab you, but as time goes on, the HOF will compile more names. so guys like him will wind up going in.

what i'm really interested in is how pitchers will be considered in future years. 300 wins is pretty much extinct, and ERA might not factor in as much either. a lot of starting pitchers don't have a lot of staying power. like running backs in the NFL.

so does Halladay get in? he was basically 200-100....which is a pretty damn great percentage

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He's going to be a HoFer because 3,000 hits is auto-in but if you don't see CH's point then you're a dumbass.

I'd put Halladay in

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul