One special guest on the field was Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who was the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers when Beltré was first called up by them in 1998 for his big league debut.
Lasorda was still their manager when he first went to the Dominican Republic to see Beltré, who was only 15 when he first signed with the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in July 1994.
No Texas Ranger will ever again wear No. 29.
He joins Nolan Ryan, former manager Johnny Oates, and Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez as the only former Ranger players to have their numbers retired. Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 is also retired by every team in the league.
Beltré went on to collect 3,166 career hits, the most ever by a foreign-born player, and 477 homers. He was a .286 hitter with 1,707 RBIs in 2,933 career games. The five-time Gold Glove winner played 2,759 games at third base.
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