Written by Sam Butler at MLB.com
There were three things Adrian Beltre wanted to happen when he finally collected his 3,000th hit. First, he wanted to make sure his family was there to witness it. They were at Globe Life Park on Sunday, so, check. He wanted to do it at home. Check. And he wanted to, in his words, “get a clean hit.” Check.
The last part took a few tries in Sunday’s 10-6 loss to the Orioles. He’d made an out in his last three attempts at reaching 3,000, but every time, the routine was the same. Beltre’s name would be announced over the PA system, and the crowd would whip into an ear-splitting roar. And then, just as soon as they erupted, silence enveloped the stadium. When the pitcher prepared to deliver the ball, you could hear a pin drop. Nobody wanted to miss it, cameras and phones primed to capture it for eternity.
On his fourth try, Beltre connected. After striking out in his first at-bat against Baltimore starter Wade Miley, Beltre ripped a double down the third-base line on a 3-0 count in the fourth inning to ensure his place in baseball lore. He became the 31st player in Major League history to reach the milestone and the first Dominican-born player to do so.
“Today, when I got my second at-bat, I thought, ‘This has to be it. I don’t want to have the fans waiting, my family is waiting for it. I don’t want to drag it one more day,'” Beltre said. “When I got the 3-0, I was doubting myself. ‘Should I swing, or should I just take?’ The way Miley was pitching, I thought, ‘This is going to be the best pitch he will throw me.’ And I decided, if it’s going to be on the plate, I’m going to swing. And I did.”
He strode into second, paused, collected himself, and then the celebration began. The Orioles near him offered their congratulations, and a steady stream of Beltre’s teammates emerged from the dugout as fireworks boomed over the Arlington sky. Beltre turned, saw his children running toward him and prepared for a hug, except they sprinted right by him and into the outfield.
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