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Heavy hitters join Hall of Fame as Jeff Kent, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán enshrined in Cooperstown
Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán didn’t get a chance to play center field when they were in Cooperstown recently, though they played that position with style and grace throughout their playing days in the major leagues.
But the two outfielders were certainly the center of attention, along with Jeff Kent, when all three were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in late July.
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A bright sunny sky greeted a record number of Baseball Hall of Famers—from Sandy Koufax, who was inducted in 1972, to Ichiro Suzuki, who was enshrined in Cooperstown in 2025. Sixty in total, all members of baseball’s elite, came to witness the Induction Ceremony on Sunday, July 26.
A recording of singer/songwriter John Fogerty’s baseball anthem “Centerfield” was playing in the background as more than 12,000 fans made their way to their seats at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown for the induction festivities. The most moving moments of the ceremony came as each player talked about his career and the people who helped him along the way, especially a bevy of family members.
“Dad, we made it,” Andruw Jones proclaimed as he recalled how his late father, Henry Jones, hit balls to him and taught him how to pick up fly balls off the bat. A native of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean, Jones is the first Baseball Hall of Famer to hail from that country.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
A 10-time Gold Glove winner, Jones said that his father was a great center fielder in his own right, playing for the Royal Scorpions, a dominant championship amateur team in Curaçao. The younger Jones wanted to be just like him.
“My dad passed down every bit of knowledge he had about the game to me. Everything he taught me had a purpose,” said Jones, who played 17 years in the majors (1996–2012). “I wouldn’t be standing here today without my dad.”
Jones also thanked Hemsley “Bam-Bam” Meulens “for blazing the trail for the rest of us.” Meulens was the first baseball player from Curaçao to ever make it to the big leagues when he debuted with the New York Yankees in 1989.
The new Hall of Famer, now 49 years old, also credited longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox for helping him get a plaque in Cooperstown.
“He [Cox] put a 19-year-old kid in the World Series lineup and believed in me,” said Jones, who starred in the 1996 World Series. Jones remains the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the World Series, when he did it at age 19 with the Braves in 1996 in his first World Series at-bat in Game 1 of that Fall Classic against the New York Yankees. He followed that up with a home run in his second at-bat in the same game.
“Bobby had confidence in me and he helped me become the best player I could have been,” Jones said. “He commanded respect, he created a winning culture—you play hard, you play to win, and you always give your honest effort. Those were his simple rules to play the game. For my 12 years with the Braves, he was my only manager. He was like my second father.”
While in Atlanta (1996–2007), Jones was surrounded by mentors, teachers, and greatness. One of those mentors was Hank Aaron. Jones recalled that whenever he would get into a slump, Cox would send him to see Hank Aaron.
“When he told me to go to Hank’s office, I thought at first I was in some kind of trouble,” he recalled. “But Hank never talked to me about baseball. He asked me how my family was, about the kids, if everything was going all right. He meant to try to relax your mind, take your mind away from the game, because he knew how hard it was to play the game. Hank was one of the greatest ever to play this game, and even a better human being. I miss you, Hank, and thank you.”
Jones propelled the Braves to 10 Division titles, and is best remembered for his days in Atlanta. That’s why he’s shown wearing a Braves cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.
He also played for the LA Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and the Yankees. Besides flashing leather in center field, the right-handed slugger hit 434 homers, had 1,933 hits and 1,289 RBI.
“There’s no easy way to get here from the small island of Curaçao, but, starting today, Cooperstown and Curaçao are joined forever,” the outstanding outfielder said.
GIANT CAREER
For Jeff Kent, no one had a bigger influence on his career than Dusty Baker, his manager with the San Francisco Giants (1997–2002). Though Kent played for six different teams in his 17 years in the big leagues (1992–2008), his six seasons with the Giants proved to be a turning point in his career, thanks to Baker.
“No team is complete without a leader,” the former second baseman said, “and I had the best there was—Dusty Baker.”
The consistent right-handed batter said Baker knew how to get the most out of his players, including Kent.
“He was the right man, at the right time, for me,” the five-time All-Star said. “Looking back, I think I complicated the game a lot more than it needed to be. Dusty was just the opposite. Dusty didn’t complicate the game. He respected it and you could see his passion not only in winning but in everything he did.”
Baker persuaded Kent to use more of the field when he was hitting, convincing him to stop being purely a pull hitter and drive the ball to the opposite field. As a result, Kent, now 58, hit more home runs in his career (377) than any other second baseman.
“The great thing about Dusty is he could reach you on your level and that would elevate your thinking and your drive,” the lifetime .290 hitter said. “That was special and I flourished in that environment and under his leadership. I’m forever grateful for that, Dusty,”
During his half-dozen seasons with the Giants, Kent amassed 175 homers, 689 RBI and a .297 batting average. While in the City by the Bay, he won three Silver Slugger Awards and in 2000 the National League MVP. Because of his productive time in San Francisco, Kent will sport a Giants cap on his HOF plaque. Besides the Giants, Kent played for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, and the Dodgers.
Before he entered the majors, Kent remembered his coach at UC Berkeley putting on a tape of legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda talking about the importance of scoring runs. Lasorda said, “The money lies in RBIs.”
“It’s a simple truth I never forgot,” Kent said. “I took pride in playing second base, a position that keeps you in every play and demands toughness. But my bat was always my ticket.”
As a young player in Toronto in 1992, Kent remembered how an experienced major leaguer, and now fellow Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield took him under his wing.
“He mentored me, gave me confidence. After talking to him for a while, I felt I belonged here in the majors,” Kent said.
Besides thanking his family, Kent thanked the game itself for giving him more than a career.
“It gave me lessons that I carry beyond the field—discipline, accountability, work ethic,” he said. “I believe how you play this game matters. Integrity matters. Competing while respecting your teammates, your opponents, and the game itself matters. I’m grateful for everyone who appreciated that I tried to play the game the right way.”
PUERTO RICAN PRIDE
Center fielder Carlos Beltrán told the crowd in Cooperstown that when he played, he always wanted to bring pride to the teams he was on, the game of baseball, and “my island, Puerto Rico.” As Beltrán spoke, many fans in attendance chanted, “Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.”
Beltrán is the sixth player from Puerto Rico to be elected to the Hall of Fame. He joins Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Iván Rodríguez, and Edgar Martínez.
Beltrán, an accomplished switch-hitter, played for seven different teams in his career—the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Yankees, and Rangers. He gained national recognition with a historic postseason performance for the National League Astros in 2004. During that postseason, the gifted center fielder had a .435 batting average, 20 hits, eight home runs, six stolen bases, 14 RBI, and scored 21 runs in 12 games.
While the Astros didn’t make it to the World Series that year, Beltrán helped the team win their first postseason playoff series ever by beating the Braves 3 games to 2 in the NLDS. And then Beltrán led Houston to a fierce battle against the Cardinals in the NLS, which the Astros lost in seven games. Even though Houston didn’t capture the NL pennant, the 2004 postseason provided fans with some of the most exciting October baseball up to that point—thanks to Beltrán.
But Beltrán’s career was about more than one postseason. He was AL Rookie of the Year in 1999 for the Royals, hit more than 30 homers in a season four times (2004, ’06, ’07, 2012), and was a member of the World Series champion Astros in 2017. He won three Gold Gloves (2006–2008) and two Silver Slugger Awards (2006, 2007).
Beltrán thanked members of each organization where he played for making him a better player along the way. For example, he recalled something fellow Hall of Famer George Brett—who played with him in Kansas City—said to him: “Greatness is built long before anyone is watching.”
Beltrán recalled another unforgettable moment on his journey to Cooperstown: When he was traded to the Giants in July 2011 from the Mets, he had a chance to meet Willie Mays and Willie McCovey and talk baseball with them on several occasions.
“That was the experience of a lifetime,” he said.
Beltrán said another highlight came when he won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2013 with the St. Louis Cardinals. The prestigious award is given annually for outstanding community service.
“It’s not only about playing the sport; it’s about using the platform that God is giving you to do good for others,” he said.
Beltrán, now 49, clearly cherishes the time he played with the Mets (2005–2011).
“Playing for the Mets made me a better man and a better leader,” said Beltrán. “Many of the most meaningful relationships that I was able to build in my career I did wearing a Mets uniform. To me, New York represents growing, and it represents a place where I became the best version of myself.”
For that reason, Beltrán’s Hall of Fame plaque depicts him in a Mets cap. He joins Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza as the only other Mets in the hallowed Hall.
Beltrán finished his career with 435 homers, 565 doubles, 2,725 hits, 312 stolen bases, and 1,587 RBI.
Interestingly, Jones and Beltrán were born one day apart—Jones on April 23, 1977, and Beltrán on April 24. And they are the only two center fielders ever inducted on the same day.
WORTHY AWARDS
The Baseball Hall of Fame held its annual awards presentations on July 25, the day before induction Sunday. Two former major league baseball players—Bill White and Rick Monday—were honored, along with noted sportscaster and commentator Joe Buck, who won the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor in baseball for broadcasting, and baseball writer Paul Hoynes, who received the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Career Excellence Award.
The 92-year-old White was given the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. White played 13 years in the major leagues for the New York/San Francisco Giants (1956, 1958), St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1965 and 1969), and Philadelphia Phillies (1966–1968). A first baseman, he an eight-time All-Star and a seven-time Gold Glove winner. He won a World Series with the Cardinals in 1964.
After he retired in 1969, White became a sportscaster and in 1971 he joined the Yankees broadcast team. He was the first full-time African-American play-by-play announcer for any major league sports team. He called games for the Yankees through 1988, when he was elected president of the National League. He was the first black executive to hold such a high office in all of sports.
Monday—who played 19 years in the majors (1966–1984) with the Oakland A’s, Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers—was honored with a Special Recognition Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was cited for stopping two intruders who ran onto the field in Dodger Stadium on April 25, 1976, from burning an American flag. Monday’s selfless act during that game is still remembered to this day, more than 50 years later. The outfielder, now 80, travels around the country with the flag he rescued and preserved, speaking about that momentous save and raising money for veterans and other worthy causes.
