The Dominican Republic already has the fifth member of the MLB Hall of Fame with Adrian Beltre, officially inducted this Sunday into the Pavilion of the Immortals Cooperstown. An entry in which he expressed his pride in having been born on Dominican soil and the support of the Creole fans.
Since Osvaldo Virgil’s debut as a Dominican in baseball, Big leaguesalmost a thousand players from the Dominican Republic have stepped foot in the “big show” and one of them is Adrian Beltré, the fifth Dominican to enter the Cooperstown Hall of Fame and the 19th Latin American to receive this distinction.
Welcome to baseball immortality, Adrian Beltré. pic.twitter.com/M7SsPzV4BS
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) July 21, 2024
All of this makes “Kojak’s” heart fill with pride for his roots, for being Latino and for being Dominican.
“Hello my Latin people! Thank you to all my Latin fans,” he began the Spanish part of his speech.
The pride of Adrian Beltre
After thanking the Valdéz Pérez league, where he started playing, he thanked Café de Herrera, where he grew up, and immediately thanked the Dominican Republic.
“I’m always proud to be Dominican and to have been born in my beautiful land, Quisqueya la bella,” said Adrián Beltré.
Referring to the fact that he is the fifth Dominican to enter the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, he showed his pride and addressed the Dominicans who are immortal.
“I want to express how proud I am to be the fifth Dominican elected to the Hall of Fame along with Don Juan Marichal, Martínez, Big Papi and Vladimir Guerrero, for me it is an honor,” said Adrián Beltré in his induction speech to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.
A special recognition
In his speech, which was delivered in English and Spanish, he thanked his parents for the sacrifices they made so that he could achieve his dreams, as well as his wife for the support she has given him during their 21 years of marriage, allowing him to focus on his sports career.
“To my wife Sandra, thank you for being who you are, you are a great wife, thank you for allowing me to focus on baseball. The way you put our needs before your own, I am blessed to call you my wife. I am lucky to have you, this would not have been possible without you, you are the real Hall of Famer,” Beltre said.
