Topic: Adrian Beltre

Adrián Beltré Pérez (born April 7, 1979 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball third baseman for the Texas Rangers. He has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998–2004), the Seattle Mariners (2005–2009), and the Boston Red Sox (2010). He bats and throws right-handed.

He was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994. Beltré attended Liceo Maximo Gomez High School, where he developed into one of the school’s top players. In 1994, while working out at Campo Las Palmas, the Los Angeles Dodgers facility, he was spotted by scouts Ralph Avila and Pablo Peguero. Though only 15 and weighing just 130 pounds, he had a lightning-quick swing and electric throwing arm. On the insistence of Avila and Peguero, the Dodgers signed Beltré in July. He received a $23,000 bonus. When it was revealed that Beltré had signed his initial contract at the age of 15, commissioner Bud Selig suspended the Dodgers' scouting operations in the Dominican Republic for a year, because signing a player at that age was prevented under MLB rules.

After being called up to the majors from the then Dodgers Double-A affiliate San Antonio Missions, Beltré made his major league debut on June 24, starting at third base in the first game of an interleague series against the Anaheim Angels. During his first at-bat, Beltré smashed a two-out RBI double off Angels starter Chuck Finley into left field to score Paul Konerko from second base to tie the game. He would hit his first home run six days later against Texas Rangers starter Rick Helling. At the end of the 1998 season, Beltré would finish with 13 errors at third base while batting .215 with seven home runs.