Singer John Fogerty recognized it. His song could have been ‘Catcher’ or ‘Pitcher’ or ‘Shortstop.’ But his song was, “Put me in, coach, I can be center field.”
So why has it been so difficult for center fielders to be inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame?
Before center fielders Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were voted into this year’s class, only four center fielders were enshrined since Beltran and Jones were born.
That was 1977 when Beltran and Jones were born, amazingly, one day apart. Those four were Willie Mays, Duke Snider, Kirby Puckett and Ken Griffey Jr.
And, incredibly, despite the dearth of center fielders, Griffey and Puckett were inducted the same year (2016). No other center fielders were inducted until this year and once again two at once.
By rough estimate, approximately 3,000 players have played center field in the bigs, yet only 26 Hall of Famers were primarily center fielders.
That puts Beltran and Jones in rarefied atmosphere, but even that wasn’t easy. It took Beltran four years to make and it took Jones nine years.
There were no first-ballot nominees even close.
Why did it take Beltran so long when his credentials are solidly Hall of Fame worthy?
It might have been because some voters put some emphasis on integrity and sportsmanship requirements list on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot.
Beltran was named in commissioner Rob Manfred’s report as being one of the main culprits in the 2017 Houston Astros’ tub-thumping sign-stealing controversy.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
In Jones’ case, it was a matter of, “What took them so long?” Jones, the first player from Curacao to be voted in, carries strong Hall credentials.
And he narrowly made it this time with 78.2% (75% is required) of the 425 votes cast. That means he made it by 14 votes. If he hadn’t made it this year, next year would have been his last year on the ballot.
Beltran’s credentials for his 20-year career: 435 home runs, 312 stolen bases (86.4% success rate), nine All-Star games, three Gold Gloves and Rookie of the Year (1999).
He is one of only four players with 400-plus homers and 300-plus steals.
Where Beltran shined brightest was in post-season play. He helped five different teams reach the playoffs, then hit .307 with 16 homers and 42 RBI. He hit home runs in five consecutive postseason games.
He wore uniforms for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros again. His last year was 2017, the year of the Astros scandal.
Beltran is from Puerto Rico, the island famous for producing Roberto Clemente, perhaps the best right fielder ever to man the position.
Beltran paid homage to Clemente’s heritage and he actually won the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, presented every year to a player displaying character and integrity on and off the field.
“It is so amazing to just be able to be linked next to our great Roberto Clemente,” he said. “What he represents to Puerto Rico, to our island, the way he represented baseball on and off the field.
“I was so fortunate to win the Roberto Clemente Award in my career, which made me very proud,” he added.
Andruw Jones’ qualifications for his 17-year career: 10 consecutive Gold Gloves, 434 home runs, seven seasons of 30 or more homers, five-time All-Star, youngest player to homer in a World Series game. In 2005, he hit 51 home runs and 128 RBI when he was MVP runner-up.
Jones was an integral piece of the Atlanta Braves winning 14 consecutive division titles and joins teammates Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff in Cooperstown, along with his manager, Bobby Cox.
After the other Braves’ Jones, Chipper Jones, was inducted, he politicked for Andruw by saying, “I don’t think the Hall of Fame would be complete without Andruw in it.”
In addition to his long stay with the Braves, Jones also worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.
Not only was Jones the youngest player to homer in a World Series, he homered in his first two plate appearances in 1996 against the Yankees when he was 19. Thirty years later he remains the only teenager to homer in a World Series game.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
He was the first Braves player to hit 50 home runs, something Hank Aaron never did while hitting 755 career homers.
Perhaps his most memorable homer was an 11th-inning full-count walk-off blast off the New York Mets’ Kenny Rogers in Game 6 of the 1999 National League Championship Series. It sent the Braves to the World Series.
Jones was known for playing an extremely shallow center field, but with exceptional speed was able to chase down balls and leap above the wall to snag long fly balls. He owns one of baseball’s all-time best catches, his “Spider-man” catch in 1999. Bill Spiers of the Houston Astros drove one to the wall. Jones leaped at the wall, secured both spikes into the padded wall and made an over-the-shoulder grab.
“When you play this game, you don’t play to be in the Hall of Fame,” said Jones. “You play to win games.”
And Jones was enthralled when he heard that Willie Mays said Jones was the best center fielder of his time.
“Willie Mays was the greatest center fielder of all time,” said Jones. “So for him to say that was a great honor. I took it to heart and want to be the best at my position.”
So Jones, Beltran and Jeff Kent (elected by a veterans committee) take their places with Mays, Cobb, DiMaggio, Mantle and Griffey in baseball’s Valhalla.
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