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Beltrán, Jones and Kent pay tribute to home and family during Baseball Hall of Fame inductions
AP News • • general
Key Points:
- Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame alongside Jeff Kent in a ceremony attended by around 12,000 fans and 57 Hall of Famers in Cooperstown.
- Jones, the first player from Curaçao inducted, dedicated his speech to his home country and late father, highlighting the legacy of Curaçaoan players in MLB.
- Beltrán, representing Puerto Rico, thanked all teams he played for, especially the New York Mets, and acknowledged the Baseball Writers’ Association of America despite controversy surrounding the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal.
- Jones received 78.4% of the vote in his ninth year of eligibility, Beltrán 84.2% in his fourth, while Kent was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee after his BBWAA eligibility expired.
- Jeff Kent shared an emotional story about his father’s encouragement leading him to focus on baseball and education, symbolized by a pickup truck he still owns.
