Rangers legend Adrian Beltre reveals that the club wanted him back to chase milestone homer

For the better part of a decade, Adrian Beltre was a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the Texas Rangers' lineup and a Hoover for the the club at third base. During his time in Arlington, he slashed .304/.357/.509 with 199 homers, while winning three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers over eight seasons. He'd also finish third in the 2012 AL MVP voting as a Ranger.

Like fine wine, Beltre became better as he aged, with the back half of his 21-year career with Texas marking some of the best baseball of his career. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024, receiving 95.1% of the vote in his first year on the ballot.

Obviously, Beltre had enough career accolades to make him an easy selection, but he did miss out on one immortalizing career milestone: 500 homers. The slugging third baseman was certainly in striking distance, blasting 477 dingers at the time he decided to call it a career.

During an interview with Erik Kratz of Foul Territory last week, Beltre revealed that the Rangers wanted him back for another year in 2019 as the team's DH, but the then-39-year-old declined.

"A lot of my teammates got mad at me because they wanted me to chase 500 homers, but I didn't play for numbers," Beltre told Kratz. He added that his body had been banged up by injuries, and he felt that his kids were growing up too fast and wanted to spend more time with them before it was too late.

Rangers stalwart Adrian Beltre's admission comes with an important lesson

Rangers fans came to love Beltre for his passion and grit. He gave us many special moments to cherish, and while it would have been great to see him suit up for another year, Texas went 78-84 in 2019 and likely wouldn't have fared much better even if Beltre were still anchoring the middle of the lineup.

Injuries had also clearly taken their toll. Beltre had been limited to just 94 games in 2017 and 119 contests in 2018. In 2018, his wRC+ fell from 133 the year prior to 97. Still, he was just 23 homers shy of the indelible 500 mark, and for many, the allure of joining that exclusive club would have been too much to resist.

In a world where constant achievement is expected and greatness is a requirement, we, especially young men, can feel as if consistently sacrificing to achieve more is our mission, even at the expense of the rest of the things we hold dear.

That's what makes Beltre's statement so powerful. It's not about what he said, but rather what it means. We can all take a page out of his book and learn how to have the guts to leave something behind that isn't working for us anymore. The clarity to realize what's truly important, health and family, and prioritize that above all else is impressive, and it's not an easy realization to make when the gateway to immortalization is staring you in the face.

Most importantly, what Beltre's decision shows us is the importance of realizing that, even though there will always be another milestone to obtain, having the security in oneself to realize that you have nothing left to prove is important.

It's not hard to imagine that in that moment when Beltre turned the Rangers down, he knew deep in his mind that his career stood on its own merits and he was Cooperstown bound. Still, it can be tough to come to grips with the fact that you're so close to a premier mark of greatness and still walk away because it's what is best for you and your family at the point in time.

Beltre deserves a lot of respect for the decision, and we all should take this as a reminder in our own lives to really stop and evaluate our decisions. Life is full of competing priorities, and there always comes a point in time when the balance of power shifts. Recognizing that isn't easy, but once you do it and are at peace with it, it can be truly liberating.

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