George Brett: “Disappointed” Beltrán Didn’t Choose Royals

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Carlos Beltrán went into the Hall of Fame wearing a Mets cap. George Brett would have preferred otherwise, and he said so.

“I was just disappointed he didn’t choose the Royals,” Brett told World Baseball Network. “I was hoping he chose the Royals to go in — the Royals cap — because we gave him a start.”

Kansas City drafted Beltrán in the second round in 1995 out of Puerto Rico. By September 1998 he was in the majors. In 1999 he was the American League Rookie of the Year.

Five thousand balls

Brett watched all of it, and threw a good deal of it.

“I probably threw him 5,000 balls at batting practice throughout his career,” he said. “I was always impressed with the way the ball came off the bat — learning to switch hit once he became a professional baseball player. It’s hard to do.”

Asked which side of the plate Beltrán was better from, Brett didn’t accept the premise.

“I don’t think there was a better side,” he said. “He was just a solid, all-around Gold Glove center fielder, Rookie of the Year. He could do it all.”

The trade, and everything after

Beltrán was traded to Houston in June 2004, three weeks before that All-Star Game. He signed with the Mets that winter.

Why the Mets

He played seven seasons for Kansas City and seven for New York, and the résumé tilted east. Five of his nine All-Star selections, all three Gold Gloves and both Silver Sluggers came with the Mets. He appeared in more games in New York, 839 to 795.

“Every team I played for shaped my journey, and I’m grateful to all of them,” Beltrán said when the Hall announced the cap selections. “With the Mets, I experienced my greatest individual growth and success.”

He becomes the third player to be depicted in a Mets cap in Cooperstown, after Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza.

Seven teams, one plaque

Every club he played for is listed in the text of the plaque — and there were plenty. After Kansas City and Houston came the Mets, then San Francisco, St. Louis, the Yankees, and Texas.

The Hall has the final say

Inductees don’t make the call alone. The Hall of Fame provides guidance on which logo, if any, appears on a plaque, and holds the final decision, though it works with each electee to reach a conclusion that reflects the career.

What Kansas City has left

Brett’s disappointment ran past one plaque.

“The Royals aren’t well represented here,” he said. “I think we’re gonna have a pretty good showing in a few years when Sal retires.”

He expects Beltrán’s new title to carry weight in a Mets uniform regardless.

“He’s gonna go to spring training, and guys will listen to him,” Brett said. “Not that they shouldn’t have listened to him before. But once you’ve got that HOF after your name — when you talk to 18-, 19-year-old kids, they’re gonna listen a little bit more.”

Beltrán was inducted July 26 alongside Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent, elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in his fourth year on the ballot. He is the sixth Hall of Famer from Puerto Rico.

Brett, who still suits up for Royals spring trainings, described his own role with characteristic economy: “My wife calls me Slugger in a Tie.”