Beltré hitting toward immortality
By César Augusto Márquez
After the first week of the season, 39-year-old Adrián Beltré shows no sign of slowing up. With seven hits in his first eight games, the Dominican third baseman for the Texas Rangers raised his career total to 3,055. With a single on Tuesday, he tied Panamanian Hall of Famer Rod Carew at 3,053. And with a single and double on Thursday, he moved up and tied another Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson, for 24th on the all-time list.
Beltré has a lot of other Hall of Famers in front of him, but he’s chasing one player who is not in Cooperstown, the ranking Latino on the list — Dominican-American Álex Rodríguez. A-Rod retired after the 2016 season with 3,115 hits, 20th overall.
For now, Beltré can claim being the No. 1 player from Latin America. It might be a while before he become the top foreign player since Japanese Ichiro Suzuki is still playing at 44 and as of April 5 ranks 22nd with 3,083 hits.
Beltré is in the final year of his contract. As long as he stays healthy, he should catch A-Rod. Last year he totaled 106 hits in 94 games. But to surpass Carew, who won seven batting titles in 19 seasons, is a big enough achievement in itself. ¡Felicidades, Adrián!
Even rings are bigger in Texas
The World Champions Houston Astros are clearly not resting on their laurels, winning six of their first seven games.
They did take a pause on Tuesday before their game at Minute Maid Park against the Baltimore Orioles to unveil their championship banner and present their rings to the players and staff. In what may be a major league record, owner Jim Crane handed out 1,300 rings in all.
Not surprisingly, even rings are bigger in Texas. Each one weighed 10.40 carats and featured 112 diamonds, one for each win in the regular season and playoffs.
Puerto Rican Carlos Beltrán, who retired after the World Series, returned to Houston for the ceremonies and threw out the first pitch.
Another boricua, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, and Venezuelan bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte noted the moment while showing off their new bling on Instagram.
Big Papi in the house
Another retired Latino legend, former Red Sox DH David Ortiz, returned to Fenway Park on Thursday for Opening Day. He was joined by Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman, a native of Needham, Mass.
Both were recognized for “transcending sports with strength, resilience and courage.” The honor was especially meaningful for Raisman, whose role in the sexual abuse trial of the former U.S. national team coach Larry Nasser was seen as pivotal for survivors of abuse.
Big Papi signaled his respect for Raisman by taking off his Red Sox jersey to reveal a T-shirt with the message “Girl Power.” With two words, Ortiz pronounced the most powerful statement of the day, if not of the year.
Since the Red Sox were playing the Miami Marlins, Big Papi also met up with former rivals Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. The Red Sox won in dramatic fashion, beating the Jeter-owned Marlins with a Hanley Ramírez 12th-inning, walk-off single.
The slugging sprinter
Cleveland Indians slugger Edwin Encarnación showed off his wheels by hitting an inside-the-park home run on Tuesday against Nicaraguan pitcher JC Ramírez of the Angels.
Looks can surely be deceiving. Encarnación is 35, stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 230 pounds. But what many people don’t know, he is the son of a track-and-field coach from the Dominican Republic. His father was among the first to text Encarnacion after the 6-0 victory.
“For those who have any doubt about my speed. Find me oxygen,” joked Encarnación in an Instagram post.
Beltrán and Gilberto Santa Rosa in concert
Carlos Beltrán is not resting in retirement. This weekend he will join another Puerto Rican legend — in this case, a music superstar — Gilberto Santa Rosa in celebrating the salsa singer’s 40th year in business. The concert will take place in at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and proceeds will benefit the Carlos Beltrán Foundation to help the victims of Hurricane María. Doing what Roberto Clemente would do.
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