(ThyBlackMan.com) For baseball fans one of the biggest events of the entire year is the announcement of the National Baseball Hall of Fame voting results. This year, one of those chosen for baseball’s greatest honor was third baseman Adrián Beltré, who was a first ballot Hall of Fame selection as one of the most well-rounded players at his position in Major League Baseball history. Beltré was a four-time All Star and four-time Silver Slugger while earning five Gold Gloves over the course of his 21-year MLB career. He also tallied 3,166 hits and 477 home runs which are rare numbers for a third baseman. Adrián Beltré was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame after receiving support from 95.1% of the 385 Baseball Writers’ Association of America writers who cast ballots and he can now make a claim as a Dominican Republic baseball great like legends Pedro Martinez and Albert Pujols. During his career, there are a number of things that stand out about Adrián Beltré but one of the most amusing, endearing traits about him is one even the everyday person can relate to.
Virtually every human being on the planet has a pet peeve. Some people hate the particular sounds like the chalk on the chalkboard or the sucking of a straw, some people don’t like a specific type of TV show genre or food, and some people may share a pet peeve with 2024 Baseball Hall of Famer Adrián Beltré, who hated being touched on the head. Over the course of his lengthy baseball career, numerous teammates have been caught trying to touch or tapping Beltré on the top of his head and he usually responded each and every time with fury and a violent reaction. One of Beltré’s former teammates for the Texas Rangers, Elvis Andrus, explained in Spanish, “He didn’t like it very much because he hates it when people touch his head. But like I told him, ‘The only way I like to get hit by somebody is when you hit a home run, so I’m going to keep doing it and keep being annoying so you keep hitting home runs.’”
This pet peeve by Adrián Beltré has been one of the running jokes of Major League Baseball over the past decade. In 2012, sports writer Amy K. Nelson of SB Nation traveled to the 2012 All-Star Game to write a story on this unique pet peeve. She got Beltré to give a little more insight on the topic than most have ever gotten when he told her, “”I don’t like it,” Beltre told Nelson. “I don’t let anyone touch my head. Not even my kids.” One of the most memorable moments of the Adrián Beltré head touching era, was during the retirement press conference for former MLB first baseman Prince Fielder. Fielder, who was retiring from baseball due to neck surgery, arrived to his retirement press conference in a neck brace with his former teammate Beltré as one of those in attendance and as Fielder walked past Beltré he rubbed the top of his head knowing that Beltré wouldn’t have the usual angry reaction due to Fielder’s neck brace and retirement event. It was truly one of the funniest sports moments of 2016.
Whether it is due to hating his personal space invaded or people messing with his nice fade haircut, Adrián Beltré’s penchant for anger and violence for touching his head made him as relatable as any off-the-field trait that a professional athlete can have. We all have things that annoy us. We also are lucky it hasn’t been documented over and over again on video through the years like Baseball Hall of Famer Adrián Beltré.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines