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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Elvis Andrus was a 20-year-old kid when he went to spring training in 2009 with the Texas Rangers to be their starting shortstop. He is now in their Hall of Fame.
The fun-loving skilled shortstop for the franchise's first two World Series appearances, who became like a pesky little brother to National Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltré in their eight seasons together on the left side of the infield, was inducted as the 27th member of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame on Saturday.
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“He definitely deserves it. He’s one of the best ballplayers to play here with the Rangers,” said Beltré, who retired after the 2018 season. "He did so many things to make our ballclub better when we played together.”
It was Beltré who helped Andrus slip on the blue blazer presented to Rangers Hall of Fame members. They then together unveiled the former shortstop's plaque.
“That was a surreal moment,” Andrus said. “When we unveiled it, he's like they wrote a lot of things on that. That was so funny, that was so Adrian.”
Andrus started 1,605 games at shortstop for Texas over 12 seasons, the most games started at one position for any player in franchise history. He is the franchise leader with 305 stolen bases, and ranks second in total games (1,652), at-bats (6,366), triples (48), and sacrifice hits (100). His 1,743 hits and 893 runs both rank third, and he played at least 145 games in 10 seasons for the Rangers.
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Texas went to back-to-back World Series in 2010 and 2011, and Andrus remained with the Rangers until being traded to Oakland at the start of spring training in 2021. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox the following year and played his final big league game in 2023. He officially retired as a Ranger last September after signing a ceremonial one-day contract.
The pregame ceremony Saturday concluded with the 36-year-old Andrus taking the shortstop position, with former teammates Mitch Moreland at first, Michael Young at second and Beltré at third. They did an around-the-horn throw that served as a first pitch for the game against Seattle, with Andrus wrapping that up with a throw to Beltré that was a bit low.
“He was like, `Man, even when you retire, you don't throw it in the chest,'” Andrus said with a big smile. “The whole idea of going through the infield with my buddies, that was very priceless.”
Beltré and Young are also in the Rangers Hall of Fame. So is Ian Kinsler, the former second baseman and Andrus' double-play partner who was unable to attend the ceremony.
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There were even a couple of attempts by Andrus to playfully tap Beltré on the top of the head, like Andrus did so often when they played together and it was well-known that the third baseball didn't like that. Beltré returned the favor with Saturday before they unveiled the plaque.
When Andrus made his debut in 2009, the Rangers moved Young to third base after he had been an All-Star shortstop the previous five seasons. Young is still the team’s career leader for games placed, at-bats, hits and runs.
“He always gives so much credit away. It goes to show you what kind of a person he is, but he’s here because he did all the work. He did everything. He earned it,” Young said. “I can kind of go on and on with the stuff that he has done to deserve this. But again, I think it’s worth mentioning because it’s so often he tries to deflect a lot of the credit.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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