Hit number: 2,969 #Beltre3k
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 28, 2017
Home run number: 450 #BeltreBlast
Head tap number: a whole lot! #LetsGoRangers pic.twitter.com/oh7i7agtVg
June 28 (UPI) -- Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre has proved two things this week: he can still rake and he really hates having his head touched.
The slugger entertained baseball fans Monday by first hitting a three-run home run and then freaking out after his teammates rubbed his hair. Beltre smashed the hit off of Cleveland Indians starter Carlos Carrasco for 410 feet in the Rangers' 15-9 loss at Progressive Field.
After rounding the bases, he headed back to the dugout. Elvis Andrus ran up behind the slugger and carefully lifted off his helmet. He then swiped his head with his right arm, before running away. Beltre gave him the stare of death and swung his burly right arm at his teammate. Luckily for Andrus, he missed.
The 38-year-old Dominican is likely a Hall of Famer. He is hitting .303 this season with five home runs and 22 RBI. Beltre is a career .286 hitter with 450 home runs and 2,969 hits.
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He hit home run No. 450 Tuesday off of Cody Allen in the Rangers' 2-1 win against the Indians. That shot traveled 402 feet and was the go-ahead run in the ninth inning. He has now homered in three straight games.
"I think that is just another piece of the legend of Adrian Beltre," Rangers manager Jeff Banister told MLB.com. "What he is able to do, especially late in a game, we saw it so much pretty much for two years. Last year, coming back from the injury like he never missed an at-bat, or a game, to be able to swing the bat the way he has been able to do since then is incredible. Professional hitter, a big-time clutch hitter."
But back to this head thing.
Beltre absolutely despises having it touched. Throughout the years, teammates and foes have rejoiced in this fact, often taunting him with follicular grazes. Beltre always flips out.
An MLB.com article from 2011 traced the origins of the head-rub annoyance back to Beltre's time with the Seattle Mariners.
Touching Adrian Beltre's head.
— Cut4 (@Cut4) June 27, 2017
A national pastime: https://t.co/yylc2sRkhe pic.twitter.com/wiys67NCcY
"It was my fault," Beltre told MLB.com. "I don't remember, but somebody did it and I told them I didn't like it. That's like telling them to do it again. You know they're going to do it because you don't like it. So they started doing it over and over again."
Andrus appears to enjoy annoying his teammate the most. So much so that the four-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner and four-time Silver Slugger recipient said he has "thought about killing him," according to MLB.com.
If he can make this happen, Adrian Beltre won't mind the Rangers touching the top of his headhttps://t.co/1d2zHnUsah pic.twitter.com/6hYlCD4Fze
— SportsDay Rangers (@dmn_rangers) March 24, 2017