MLB's Adrian Beltre snatches international hit king crown from Ichiro
Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is now the MLB’s all-time hit leader among foreign-born players.
Beltre, 39, ripped a double to right center field Wednesday off Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda to give him 3,090 career hits, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki.
Beltre, who was born in the Dominican Republic, went 3-for-4 on the day, but the Rangers lost 3-2 in 11 innings.
“I don’t keep track of those things, but I’m very humbled to be able to catch someone who has been playing this game so long and had so many hits each year,” Beltre told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I played with five years, and he was 200-plus hits every year. I’ve played longer for sure, but it’s a nice accomplishment.”
Beltre played with Suzuki on the Mariners for five years from 2005 to 2009.
He ranks 22nd on the all-time hits list and is still going strong.
Beltre has 44 hits this year in 136 at bats for a .324 average. If he adds, say, another 50 hits this year, he’ll move up to a tie with Robin Yount for 18th all time.
Adrián Beltré's double in the 4th inning was the 3,090th hit of his career
That is the most ever by a player born outside of the United States pic.twitter.com/7g5SbNdTjh
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 14, 2018
Beltre is fewer than 100 hits away from Cal Ripken Jr. (3,184) for 15th on the all-time hit list.
Adrian Beltre
3,090 hits
464 home runs
1,659 RBI
622 doubles
4x All-Star
5x Gold Glove winner2 career saves (Jose Bautista, Matt Kemp) #TexasRangers pic.twitter.com/Y2N82z06jE
— Joey Hayden (@_joeyhayden) June 14, 2018
Suzuki signed a contract to play with the Mariners this season, but he retired May 3 to take a job in Seattle’s front office.
Worth remembering when watching Adrian Beltre that he is 👏 literally 👏 a 👏 top 👏 five 👏 3B 👏 of 👏 all 👏 time 👏 pic.twitter.com/HKC0QiVSJC
— Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore) June 14, 2018
Beltre is an unrestricted free agent next season.
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