Rangers To Retire Adrian Beltre's Number This Summer

ARLINGTON, TX -- The Texas Rangers will retire number 29 of third baseman Adrian Beltre, the former third baseman who played for the club from 2011-2018. Beltre will become the fourth Ranger to have his uniform number retired, joining pitcher Nolan Ryan’s #34 in 1996, former manager Johnny Oates’ #26 in 2005, and Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez in 2017, the Rangers said in a news release. The ceremony to retire Beltre’s number will take place in June.

“The Rangers are proud and honored to make this announcement tonight,” team co-chairman and managing partner Ray Davis said in the release. “This franchise and its fans have the privilege of witnessing the last eight years of Adrian Beltre’s Hall of Fame career on a daily basis. With 2019 being our final year at Globe Life Park in Arlington, we felt it was appropriate to retire Adrian’s number in the park where he excelled for so long.”

Beltre announced his retirement as an active player on Nov. 20 after a 21-year career with the Dodgers (1998-2004), Mariners (2005-2009), Red Sox (2010), and Rangers (2011-18).

Beltre ranks among the all-time leaders in doubles (11th, 636), games (14th, 2933), total bases (14th, 5309), extra base hits (14th, 1151), hits (15th, 3166), RBI (21st, 1707), and home runs (30th, 477) and has the most career hits of any non-U.S. native in history, the Rangers said. The only other players ever with at least 3,166 hits and 477 home runs are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray.

In his eight seasons with the Rangers, Beltre batted .304 with 199 homers and 699 RBI in 1098 games.

Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images