COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — If there’s a theme that runs through the induction ceremony Sunday for the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the stage behind the Clark Sports Center, it’s that the three players had to wait.
There’s no Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki or Mariano Rivera, who all played for one team. No first-time ballot inductees in this group.
It still will be a singular moment, one Carlos Beltran wondered if he’d ever experience. He made it on his third try in January, receiving votes on 84.2% of the 425 ballots filed by eligible members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Andruw Jones, in his ninth try, earned 78.4% of the vote. The baseline is 75%. Jeff Kent was elected last year by the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee after 10 years when the BBWAA passed.
“I appreciate all the reporters that voted for me,” Beltran said. “And for those who didn’t vote for me, I also respect their perspective, how they made their judgment. That being said, I’m going to enjoy this moment.”
Beltran was entangled in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal of 2017. The Astros defeated the Dodgers in a seven-game World Series that is forever tainted. The active players were given immunity during the MLB investigation that followed. The coaches, manager and executive were not.
He was no longer active. On Nov. 19, 2019, he was named manager of the Mets. Then he lost that chance. When MLB issued its scathing report on Jan. 13, 2020, Beltran was the only player named. He was retired and had fallen between the cracks.
Beltran, who played 20 seasons from 1998 to 2017 for seven teams, including the Yankees and Mets, wondered if he’d ever get into the Hall.
“It was a possibility,” Beltran said. “You know what? Everything is a possibility in life. I have to say when the Astros situation happened, at the beginning, the first couple of years, there were people who didn’t vote for me, but they voted for me after three years. The question will be: What changed for them? What changed their mind to reward me to get elected to the Hall of Fame?”
Times change. People are sometimes forgiven for their transgressions.
Jones played 17 seasons with five teams, but he was best known for his first 12 as a 10-time Gold Glove-winning center fielder for the Braves. During his last five seasons, he gained weight and nearly fell off the map playing for four teams — the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees. He finished his career in Japan. Jones was a .254 lifetime hitter with 434 homers. In those last five big-league seasons, he hit .210 with only 66 homers.
Near the end of his 10-year tenure on the BBWAA ballot, the writers had a change of heart.
Jones is now one of six players from those 1990s Braves to make the Hall of Fame, including Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff. Late manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz also are in the Hall. All of Jones’ former teammates are here for the ceremony.
“We all sat down at a round table [Friday],” Jones said. “They called to congratulate me. They kept saying, ‘Be patient. You’re going to be there.’ It was a battle for nine years. You try not to think about it because life keeps going.”
Kent played 17 years for six teams and despite having the most homers for a second baseman — 351 of his 377 homers playing that position — never earned any traction on the BBWAA ballot. He peaked at 46.5% in his 10th and final season. But last year, a 16-member era committee picked him as the only electee from the eight players on the ballot. He needed 12 votes. Kent said Saturday he felt like a “cool cat” a day before making his speech.
“I can handle it, so right now I’m good,” he said. But Sunday?
“I’m going to have anxiety at the level that I’m going to need some drugs to calm me down,” he added.
For these guys, it has been that kind of roller-coaster experience for years.
2026 BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
• Carlos Beltran, center fielder
• Andruw Jones, center fielder
• Jeff Kent, second baseman
• Joe Buck, Ford C. Frick Award
• Paul Hoynes, BBWAA Career
Excellence
• Bill White, Buck O’Neil Lifetime
Achievement