The National Baseball Hall of Fame welcomed Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent on Sunday in Cooperstown, New York. The ceremony highlighted the international reach of the sport with fans from Puerto Rico, Curaçao and Braves Country in attendance. A record 60 Hall of Famers joined the three new members on stage.
Beltrán and Jones were elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Kent received induction from the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee last December. The trio forms the smallest Hall of Fame class since 2022.
Beltrán, the sixth Puerto Rican in the Hall, chose a Mets cap for his plaque and spoke in Spanish to his parents while waving a Puerto Rican flag. “To Puerto Rico,” he said. Jones, the first player from Curaçao inducted, wore a Braves cap and thanked Chipper Jones for supporting his candidacy. “The Jones boys are in Cooperstown now,” he said.
Kent grew emotional recalling a childhood bet with his father that led to a pickup truck and his focus on baseball. “This day isn’t about me though, this day is about baseball,” he said. The inductees joined 281 players among the Hall’s 354 total members.