The Texas Rangers announced Friday evening that the club will have a ceremony during the 2019 season to retire the uniform number 29 of third baseman Adrian Beltre.
The announcement was made at the conclusion of Friday night's 2019 Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Winter Warmup at Texas Live!.
Beltre will become the fourth Ranger to have his uniform number retired by the club, joining Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan's #34 in 1996, former manager Johnny Oates' #26 in 2005, and Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez in 2017. In addition, Major League Baseball retired the number 42 worn by Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in the major leagues, in 1997,
The ceremony to retire Beltre's number will take place in June as part of the Rangers' season-long celebration of the team's final year playing at Globe Life Park in Arlington. More details will be announced when they are finalized.
"The Rangers are proud and honored to make this announcement tonight," said team Co-Chairman and Managing Partner Ray Davis. "This franchise and its fans have the privilege of witnessing the last eight years of Adrian Beltre's Hall of Fame career on a daily basis. With 2019 being our final year at Globe Life Park in Arlington, we felt it was appropriate to retire Adrian's number in the park where he excelled for so long."
Beltre announced his retirement as an active player on November 20, 2018 after a brilliant 21-year Major League career with the Dodgers (1998-2004), Mariners (2005-2009), Red Sox (2010), and Rangers (2011-18). He ranks among the all-time leaders in doubles (11^th, 636), games (14^th, 2933), total bases (14^th, 5309), extra base hits (14^th, 1151), hits (15^th, 3166), RBI (21^st, 1707), and home runs (30^th, 477) and has the most career hits of any non-U.S. native in history. The only other players ever with at least 3166 hits and 477 home runs are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray.
The five-time Rawlings Gold Glove recipient has played in more games at third base (2759) than any player except Brooks Robinson (2870). His career 95.7 WAR is third base all-time among third basemen behind Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews.
In his eight seasons with the Rangers, Beltre batted .304 with 199 homers and 699 RBI in 1098 games. He was a four-time selection as the Rangers' Player of the Year while batting at least .300 five times. His .332 average as a Ranger at Globe Life Park is the highest in the 25-year history of the park, and he ranks second with 120 homers and 426 RBI.