COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Different paths took Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltran and Jeff Kent to Cooperstown, but on Sunday they joined the team every player wants to be a part of: the fraternity of Hall of Famers.
Jones, Beltran and Kent accepted baseball's highest honor Sunday during the Hall of Fame's annual induction ceremony on the grounds outside of the Clark Sports Center.
The three speeches all included messages of gratitude and recognition for those who helped them along the way. Each found his own way to sound his own notes on an ideal afternoon in the idyllic setting of the green lawn surrounded by hills and trees.
Beltran, the sixth player raised in Puerto Rico to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame, drew perhaps the largest contingent of fans over the weekend, with the support of both Mets fans and those from back home. He chose to go into the Hall representing the Mets, and while plenty of New York fans were on hand, the cheers were loudest from the numerous fans wearing the colors and displaying the flag of Puerto Rico.
Beltran, who founded a baseball academy on the island to further the growth of the game there and to serve as an educational resource, is happy to be an ambassador for his home, a role he'll have ample opportunities to play now that he's a Hall of Famer.
"We're proud, man," Beltran said during a post-ceremony news conference. "We're proud people. We're a little island in the Caribbean, but full of passion, full of love, full of people with big hearts."
Over his 20-year career, Beltran became one of four players to compile at least 400 homers, 300 steals and three Gold Gloves, joining Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr.
Beltran broke in with the Kansas City Royals, winning the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year award, and spoke of his time there and, in particular, the guidance he received from Hall of Famer George Brett, who was sitting nearby. He also explained his decision to represent the Mets among the seven teams he played for.
"Every organization shapes your career," Beltran said. "New York shaped my life. It was here where I experienced my greatest success, and some of my greatest challenges. Playing for the Mets made me a better man and a better leader."
Jones became the first player from Curacao to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame, and he paid homage to the only big leaguer from the island before Jones' arrival in the mid-1990s -- former Yankee Hensley Meulens.
"All the players from Curacao owe the tip of the cap to Hensley Meulens, the first player to reach the major leagues from for our island," Jones said. "To the people of Curacao, this is truly for you guys."
Jones also spoke of his early desire to become an elite center fielder, just like his favorite player, Griffey, but also others he heard about but never saw play, like Mays. He went on to win 10 consecutive Gold Gloves at the position and joined Beltran in the club of Hall of Fame center fielders.
"I never got to see Willie Mays play, so Ken Griffey [Jr.] was my guy," Jones said. "I wanted to be like him. For me and Carlos, joining Griffey, Willie, and the other great center fielders in the Hall of Fame is hard to put into words."
In between fighting back tears several times, Kent spoke of the lessons from each of his stops with six different clubs, a journey that began with a rookie season trade that sent him from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Mets, where his locker was next to Hall of Famer Eddie Murray, seated behind him on the stage Sunday.
"One day, I asked Eddie, 'Hey, how do you stay so calm with the bases loaded?'" Kent said. "He told me he focused on the one, not the three, RBIs sitting out there. Just the one on third base. That lesson of keeping things simple stayed with me forever."
Kent, the National League MVP in 2000, took the lesson to heart. He hit 351 of his 377 career homers as a second baseman, a record for the position. Only Cal Ripken Jr. and Nap Lajoie have driven in more runs as a middle infielder than Kent, who had 1,518 career RBIs.
"I learned a long time ago from Tommy Lasorda, one of the best motivators in the game, a simple truth that I lived by for my whole career: The money lies in the RBIs," Kent said, drawing laughter from the crowd. "I've got some bling. If I was going to win, I knew I needed to produce runs."
In closing, Kent sent what could be interpreted as a message to anyone preoccupied by labor negotiations and rumors of a potential work stoppage in baseball, even if that's not how he meant it.
"Baseball has never been better," Kent said. "Baseball has never been more popular. My hope is that it continues to bring people together and make them want to keep coming back to the ballpark."
