Adrián Beltré Almost Blocked Wife's Chat Messages Before Hall of Fame Announcement
ARLINGTON — Adrián Beltré doesn't like to be the center of attention.
He reminded us of that fact several times during a press conference at Globe Life Field on Wednesday, the day after he became a first-ballot National Baseball Hall of Famer.
He also wasn't thrilled with the racehorse aspect of the weeks leading up to the Hall of Fame announcement, which included daily updates of the vote tally of publicly revealed ballots.
That, in fact, turned out to be a blessing and a curse for Beltré.
His 17-year-old son A.J. and wife Sandra feverishly followed the daily updates on his vote percentage and gave him the latest status, whether he wanted it or not.
"Myself, I never looked. I didn't want to do that, but I didn't need to look because my son and my wife were on it," Beltré said.
Mrs. Beltré had good reason to monitor the voting. She was in charge of inviting friends and family to their Los Angeles-area home, ordering catering and preparing her home for television crews that were to broadcast live to the world from their living room.
"She was pushing me to have family in the house, and I didn't want that, and my son, he's a baseball nut, so he's always looking at that stuff," Beltré said with his trademark smirk. "Even though I didn't want the updates, my wife created a family chat [thread] for that — 'We're at 75% today ... We're at 80% — I was about to block her from my cell phone, but she's lucky I love her so much."
It turned out to be a godsend, however, that Beltré was aware that his chances were very good he'd receive the call. It took some of the tension out of the long wait, he said. In classic Beltré comedic fashion, when the call came from the Hall of Fame, he let it ring several times and mused that maybe he should let it go to voicemail. In unison, his wife, son and two daughters erupted in protest.
Don't touch his head!
"It was easier for me to enjoy it and have family around because, in the beginning, I didn't want to have anybody in the house until my family told me, ‘Hey, you have to have somebody over because it's looking good.' But overall, I just wanted to get it over with. The waiting was a little uncomfortable for me, and I'm glad, lucky, and honored that I got that call [Tuesday]."
The past 48 hours, which included a Wednesday morning flight from Los Angeles to DFW, a quick press conference at Globe Life Field, and then an immediate flight on Rangers owner Ray Davis' private jet to Cooperstown on Wednesday afternoon for a media blitz Thursday morning, has left little time to for the gravity of the moment to sink in.
"[Tuesday] was kind of crazy with the family and moving around and doing interviews and other stuff," he said. "I haven't sat down with the family to enjoy it yet because it's been a little crazy over the last 20 hours."
He'll have time for that before the July 21 induction ceremony.
As long as he doesn't block his wife.
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