Royals or Mets? Carlos Beltrán would like a say on his Hall of Fame plaque logo
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Beltran was elected to the Hall this week after 20 MLB seasons and several team stints.
- Hall will choose plaque cap based on where Beltran made his most indelible mark.
- Beltran prefers input and weighs Royals' rookie rise against Mets' peak All-Star years.
Former Royals star Carlos Beltrán played for seven teams during his career, so there are options for what cap will be on his Baseball Hall of Fame plaque.
One thing is for certain: It won’t be the Astros.
Beltrán, who was drafted by the Royals in 1995, was elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this week in his fourth time on the ballot. He likely already would have been inducted were in not for his part in the Astros’ ugly cheating scandal in 2017.
During his 20 seasons in the majors, Beltrán played just two seasons in Houston (in two stints), so it’s not just the scandal that makes the Astros an unlikely choice for his Hall of Fame plaque.
Beltrán also spent two seasons with the Cardinals, three with the Yankees, and one with the Rangers and Giants. Two teams are most associated with Beltrán: the Royals and Mets.
The Royals called up Beltrán in 1998, and he won the Rookie of the Year Award the following season. Beltrán played seven seasons each with the Royals and Mets.
A Cleveland Plain Dealer story noted the Hall of Fame will decide which team’s cap Beltrán will wear in his plaque. The Hall bases that on where a player “made his most indelible mark,” that story said.
Beltrán rose to prominence while wearing a Royals jersey, but he was traded during the 2004 season because KC feared it couldn’t afford to keep him. With the Mets, he made five All-Star Game appearances.
Although the Hall of Fame will choose, Beltrán wishes he had a say in the matter of his cap logo. But he’s not sure if he’d pick the Royals or Mets.
“There is no doubt my best years in baseball are with two teams — the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets,” Beltrán said this week, per CBS Sports. “That’s a decision that I would love to sit down with my family, with (my wife) Jessica, with my kids and make a decision on that. I did really enjoy my time in New York. Now I work as an advisor for the Mets, so there’s a lot of weight in the New York cap.”
However, Beltrán has fond memories of roaming center field at Kauffman Stadium.
“I was traded to the Houston Astros, but yeah, my time in Kansas City was great,” he said this week. “It was an incredible experience and really taught me how to play the game.”
