The Kansas City Royals may not have the same accolades as franchises like the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox, but they do have two World Series titles and three American League pennants, as well as some legends in their own right.
One of the finest players to ever wear the Royals uniform was outfielder Carlos Beltran. He was the AL Rookie of the Year with Kansas City in 1999 and went on to have a fantastic career with the Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Cardinals, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers.
On Tuesday, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced two new members, and Beltran was one of them.
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Beltran Enters Cooperstown
Beltran had an exceptional career, slashing .279/.350/.486 with 435 home runs, 70.0 WAR, 1,587 RBI and an .837 OPS. He was with the Royals until he was traded to Houston in 2004. There, he had a remarkable postseason and repeated that success again in 2006 with the Mets.
The 48-year-old appeared in the World Series twice, once with the Cardinals in 2013 and once back with Houston in 2017, his final season. He won his only ring with Houston that year.
Of course, Beltran had a lot of hardware to show off throughout his career. He was a two-time Silver Slugger, three-time Gold Glove winner, nine-time All-Star and a Roberto Clemente Award winner. He certainly has a lot to be proud of over the course of such a legendary career.
Now, the only question is whether or not he’ll go into Cooperstown with a Royals hat on his plaque. The most obvious choices for that are the Royals and the Mets. He could also go in with a neutral cap, as players such as Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina have.
But Beltran’s greatness will always be remembered, especially by those who witnessed it firsthand. Along with Beltran, Atlanta Braves legend Andruw Jones has also been elected to the Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2026 is small, but features two of the greatest center fielders to ever play in Major League Baseball. And the Royals can add another one of their own to their list of Hall of Famers enshrined in Cooperstown.
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