And as far as I'm aware, no Performance Enhancing Drugs.
? He's on the 2003 list? But that doesn't really matter much to me - at least not compared to guys like Bonds and Clemens who would appear to have character issues above and beyond that. And it especially won't matter to the voters because of the results across his career and the years which it spanned vs. the controversy.
Always liked Beltre, but he never felt like a Hall of Famer. Most of that likely has to be that the peak of my baseball fandom was about 2000-2009 (or maybe 2011). During that time period - theoretically a period which should have covered a lot of a player's peak, he was OPS'ing just 7% above league average, which is really nothing to write home about! Of course the second half of the career resurrection was legendary, but a four-time all-star is hardly among the most feared and dominant players in the league, MLB all-star selection flaws and all.
On the brink of 500 HRs, which I really hope he manages. Guess he'll be going into the Hall with a Texas hat on? That'll be a shame! Congrats anyway!
Personally, I think I would support Scott Rolen slightly ahead of him on my 'ballot'. Both are deserving (and great defensive players to boot!) but I like the feared dominance, consistency and (perhaps unfairly) the 2006 World Series performance over counting stats. (Again, Rolen was a significantly better performer over the period when I was most obsessively tuned in. Biased!) First ballot Rolen and Beltre a bit later on.
