Adrián Beltré [ah-dree-AN bell-TRAY] (born April 7, 1979 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball third baseman who plays for the Seattle Mariners. Previously, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004). He bats and throws right-handed. Seattle Mariners American League AAA Tacoma Rainiers AA San Antonio Missions A Inland Empire 66ers Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Everett AquaSox R Peoria Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a Major League Baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. ... Santo Domingo, population 2,061,200 (2003), is the capital of the Dominican Republic. ... Los Angeles Dodgers National League AAA Las Vegas 51s AA Jacksonville Suns A Columbus Catfish Vero Beach Dodgers R Ogden Raptors Gulf Coast Dodgers Brooklyn Dodgers redirects here. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Santo Domingo, population 2,061,200 (2003), is the capital of the Dominican Republic. ... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in North America. ... The position of the third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in the sport of baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base, the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in a counterclockwise succession in order to score a run. ... Seattle Mariners American League AAA Tacoma Rainiers AA San Antonio Missions A Inland Empire 66ers Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Everett AquaSox R Peoria Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a Major League Baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. ... Los Angeles Dodgers National League AAA Las Vegas 51s AA Jacksonville Suns A Columbus Catfish Vero Beach Dodgers R Ogden Raptors Gulf Coast Dodgers Brooklyn Dodgers redirects here. ...

In a seven-year career, Beltré is a .274 hitter with 147 home runs and 510 RBI in 966 games. In baseball, a home run is a base hit in which the batter is able to circle all the bases, ending at home plate and scoring a run, with no errors on the play that result in the batter achieving extra bases. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ...

Beltré debuted with the Dodgers in the 1998 season at age 19. At 5'11", 220 lbs, he is a disciplined hitter who uses the entire field and can hit for power. An above-average runner, he runs the bases intelligently and will get every extra base that he can. See also: 1997 in sports, 1999 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing Stock car racing: Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 NASCAR Championship - Jeff Gordon Indy Racing League - Indianapolis 500 - Eddie Cheever CART Racing - Alex Zanardi won the season championship Formula One Championship - Finland 24...

At third base, Beltré has a strong and secure arm, is a master at handling slow rollers, and has terrific range to his left.

Beltré enjoyed his best season in 2004, with career highs in batting average (.334), RBI (121), runs (104), hits (200), doubles (32), on base percentage (.388), slugging average (.629), OPS (1,017), total bases (376), and 48 home runs, also a league lead. He won the Silver Slugger Award, and finished second in the National League MVP voting, just behind Barry Bonds. Batting average is a statistic in both baseball and cricket measuring the performance of baseball hitters and cricket batsmen, respectively. ... In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around all three bases and returns safely to home plate. ... In baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H), sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when he safely reaches first base after batting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielders choice. ... In baseball, a double is the act of a batter safely reaching second base by striking the ball and getting to second before being made out, without the benefit of a fielders misplay (see error) or another runner being put out on a fielders choice. ... In baseball statistics, on base percentage (OBP) (sometimes referred to as on base average (OBA)) is a measure of how often a batter gets to first base for any reason other than a fielding error or a fielders choice. ... In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the power of a hitter. ... In baseball statistics, on-base plus slugging (denoted by OPS) is defined by the sum of on base percentage (OBP) and slugging percentage (SLG). ... In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i. ... Silver Slugger Award In Major League Baseball, the Louisville Silver Slugger award is given annually to the best offensive player at each position in each league. ... In the game of baseball, both amateur and professional, it is tradition to annually recognize the one player in the league who has contributed the most to the success of the players team. ... Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964 in Riverside, California) is a professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants; he is most famous for his home run hitting. ...

Beltré was signed by the Mariners as a free agent before the 2005 season to a five-year $64m deal. However, Beltre has not brought the offensive presence to the Mariners lineup they had expected, Beltre has regressed to his pre-2004 form, batting just .255 with a measley 5 home runs through June, causing many who were skeptical of this acquisition to call the Mariners signing of Beltre a "bust". In sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has run out and is now free to sign with another team. ...

See also

• Players from Dominican Republic in MLB

This is an alphabetical list of 385 baseball players from the Dominican Republic who have played in Major League Baseball between 1956 and 2004. ...

External links

• Adrián Beltré at:
  • ESPN (profile and daily update) (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6039)
  • Baseball Reference (statistics) (http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/beltrad01.shtml)