Here is how much of a fixture Adrian Beltre has become at third base: In baseball's history, only two players have started more games at a single position than Beltre, who is approaching start No. 2,700, has at third. Their names are Brooks Robinson and Willie Mays.
This is a story about just one of those games: The very first.
It came 20 years ago Sunday. Beltre, a 19-year-old (though everybody thought he was 20 at the time) had two hits and made two assists at third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 6-5 walk-off win against the "Anaheim" Angels.
It was a nice enough major-league debut, but the story extends beyond the double he ripped off Chuck Finley on the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer and the charging, off-balance underhanded play — the one that has become his signature — on the first ball ever hit to him.
"I remember being nervous and excited," Beltre said during the Rangers' recent visit to Dodger Stadium. "I finally got a chance to come to the big leagues and prove that I belong. I was excited for batting practice, but it got really nerve-wracking right before the game when I went to stretch and some sprints. All the people in the stands were right on top of me. I got so nervous and dizzy that I had to come back to the dugout and go into the bathroom and wash my face."
Beyond pre-game nausea, the back story of Adrian Beltre's debut includes, of course, coming back from an injury, having so much fun he tried to jump over a set of dugout steps, getting benched the day before his call-up for his style of catching pop-ups and tumultuous upheaval in the normally staid and stoic Dodgers front office.
The Dodgers replaced their manager and GM in the days leading up to Beltre's call-up and Tommy Lasorda stepped into the role of interim GM. His first player move: The call-up of Adrian Beltre.
"I thought it would set a tone," Lasorda said recently. "Nobody wanted it. A couple of people said: 'You can't do that.' I said: 'What do you mean I can't do it? I'm in charge, aren't I?' So, I brought him up. And he never went back down."
Not that Lasorda didn't try to send him back, but there are people who can be more persuasive than even Tommy Lasorda. Namely, Adrian Beltre.
First, the call-up.
In the month prior to the decision, the Dodgers had gone through three third baseman: Todd Zeile, who would finish the season with the Rangers as a key July 31 trade acquisition; Bobby Bonilla, who was acquired from Florida in one of the Marlins' post-World Series fire sales; and Paul Konerko, a first baseman playing out of position.
Konerko played third for a week after Bonilla went on the DL with a stomach issue in mid-June. Then on June 22, the Dodgers fired long-time GM Fred Claire and manager Bill Russell, moved Lasorda into the GM's job and plucked Triple-A manager Glenn Hoffman from Albuquerque to take over the team.
Meanwhile, at Double-A San Antonio, the still red-headed Beltre was tearing up the Texas League and making his mark as the joyful, super-talented, yet, unorthodox, player he has become during a Hall of Fame career.
Case in point: The manner in which he caught pop-ups.
As a teen, Beltre caught pop-ups either just in front of his face and below eye level or, if his back was to the infield, he would make basket catches. It wasn't the Dodger Way. And San Antonio manager Ron Roenicke let him know about it on more than one occasion. After too many such occasions, Roenicke decided to sit Beltre down for the June 23 game at El Paso. That just so happened to be the same afternoon Lasorda called to bring up the third baseman.
Roenicke, now the bench coach for Boston manager Alex Cora, found himself in an awkward position.
"He was the best player in the league without a doubt," Roenicke said. "But I thought he had some maturing to do in the way he played it. He had some things I thought he needed to do. He'd also just sprained his ankle twice in the last month. I told Tommy I didn't know if he was ready physically. Tommy said: 'Did he play yesterday?' And, yeah, I told him he had. Tommy said: 'Then he's ready physically'."
Roenicke let Beltre stew about the benching before the game. He had warned Beltre previously that failing to catch the balls properly would result in a benching.
"I had told him I understood what he was saying, but as of right now, I wasn't dropping any fly balls," Beltre said. "I wasn't comfortable with doing it the way they taught. A fly ball had come. I caught it the way I knew how. He called me in and benched me."
After the game, he called Beltre back into the office and started in on the same subject again. Beltre tuned him out.
"He wanted me to be a better ballplayer," Beltre said. "He went on and on, but I wasn't really paying attention because I thought he was basically scolding me. Then he said, you got called up. In my mind, I thought he was talking about Albuquerque because there were others in front of me. And I didn't really want to go."
Said Roenicke: "I still remember the expression on his face. It's like he didn't understand. I said: 'You are going to the big leagues.'"
Then it hit.
"I was like 'Oh, my God,' " Beltre said.
He was on his way to Los Angeles. The man he replaced on the roster: Roenicke's current boss, Alex Cora.
On June 24, the Dodgers were in the middle of the interleague Freeway Series with the crosstown Los Angeles Angels. Glenn Hoffman was about to manage his second game since taking over for Russell. The Dodgers were still in shock from a month-long flurry of trades and firings.
"Things were moving pretty quick," said Hoffman, now the San Diego Padres' third base coach. "There were a lot of changes being made."
Said the Dodgers' then-bench coach, who was bypassed for the managerial job, Mike Scioscia: "It was hectic."
Amid all this, a wide-eyed Beltre walked into a 35-year-old gem of a stadium, noticed how white and clean everything was and that the dinner spread no longer consisted of just watermelon and the makings for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
He was excited and anxious during batting practice but seemed to be in control of himself as he dressed for the game. Around 6:45, he went back out to the field to do some sprints; the high stands were full.
He began to sweat. And it got worse.
"I got so dizzy, I had to come back to the dugout and go to the bathroom to wash my face," Beltre said.
If there is one thing that has become clear about Beltre over the course of his career, it's that he seems to play better when he doesn't feel well. He established that in his debut.
In the bottom of the second inning, he came to the plate with two on and two out against Angels starter Chuck Finley. Beltre knew exactly what he had to do.
"I had already made up my mind that I was going to swing at the first pitch, no matter where it was," Beltre said. "I was so nervous that trying to recognize a pitch and attack it was going to just make me tense up. I just wanted to get my nerves out of the way."
He did exactly that. And lined a run-scoring double to left field. It was the first of more than 3,000 career hits.
The Dodgers went on to win the game on a walk-off single. The hit that set up the rally: Career hit No. 2 for Beltre.
Just 10 days after Beltre's arrival, Bonilla was ready to return from the DL and the Dodgers, as expected, planned to send Beltre back to the minors.
Lasorda and Hoffman brought Beltre in for the routine meeting.
Beltre threw them a curve.
As Lasorda explained the situation, telling Beltre he would be the third baseman for the upcoming season, Beltre saw and seized an opportunity.
"I knew Tommy spoke Spanish because he had spoken Spanish to me in the Dominican, so I guess I just felt comfortable with him," Beltre said. "I looked at him — I completely ignored (Hoffman) — and said 'if I'm your third baseman next year, why don't you let me stay? I can learn so much from Bonilla. I can make myself better.' The truth is I was so fascinated by the big leagues and so scared that I wouldn't get another chance. Tommy just looked at me and said to go on to batting practice. He'd get back to me. And he never did."
Within days, the Dodgers were making moves again. Lasorda sent Konerko, who had played third the week before Beltre arrived, and Dennys Reyes to Cincinnati for closer Jeff Shaw. Beltre remained in the big leagues.
"We had worked out a lot in the minors," Konerko said. "It was pretty clear he was going to be special. Guys were talking about him winning Gold Gloves when he was still in Class A. It never entered my mind that I could hang at that position like he did. He was always going to be the guy. It was just a matter of time."
Twenty years worth of time has passed since the debut.
Adrian Beltre is still the guy.
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