Center of Attention: Beltrán, Jones elected to Hall of Fame by BBWAA

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has increased its legendary roster with a pair of stellar centerfielders, Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, five-tool contemporaries born one day apart.

The Class of 2026 was completed when the results of the 82nd Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot was announced on Tuesday, Jan. 20, live on MLB Network from the Cooperstown institution’s iconic Plaque Gallery.

Surrounded by the bronze images of 351 elected members of the National Pastime’s impressive fraternity, the newest electees were announced by Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch to a national audience.

“And with that,” said Rawitch, after reading off the names of the new electees along with many of their career highlights, “we have two brand new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame family.”

The Class of 2026 is set as Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, two of the most dynamic center fielders of their era, join Jeff Kent in Cooperstown.

Full vote totals: https://t.co/4y43mOnzBC pic.twitter.com/E2PJ3hkXhc

— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) January 21, 2026

The three-member Class of 2026 – which also includes Jeff Kent via the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee vote in December – will be inducted on Sunday, July 26, on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown as part of the Induction Weekend July 24-27.

A few hours after having received their much-anticipated phone call, the Hall of Fame’s newest electees took part in individual media conference calls.

With candidates needing to appear on at least 75 percent of all ballots cast to earn election, the switch-hitting Beltrán, in his fourth year on the BBWAA ballot, received 84.2 percent of the 425 ballots cast.

“There’s no doubt that today, my life really has changed, just being able to be named (to the) Hall of Fame and what this really means to me, to Puerto Rico, to our family, to our project in Puerto Rico promoting baseball, the Carlos Beltrán Baseball Academy, all those things,” said Beltrán, who was born April 24, 1977, in Manati, Puerto Rico. “It’s just a great thing that through my career, to the ups and downs of baseball, today I can say that I’m a Hall of Famer. I’m excited about that.

“This really means a lot to me. It really means a lot to my mom, my dad. I got a moment where I really got very emotional in the process, just to be able to share this moment with my mom, my dad, my brothers and sisters, my wife, my kids. What this represents to Puerto Rico, just to be able to have the opportunity to be elected to the Hall of Fame and to be linked to Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Iván Rodríguez, Edgar Martinez. It really means a lot. So, I’m excited. I will continue to do what I love, continue to be involved in baseball, to continue to promote the game, continue to help the kids here on the island, and hopefully, we can create more opportunities for the Latino players.”

The 48-year-old Beltrán played for 20 seasons for the Royals, Astros, Mets, Giants, Cardinals, Yankees and Rangers, retiring after the 2017 season as one of just four players in history with at least 400 home runs, 300 steals and three Gold Glove Awards. His career ended with a .279 batting average, 2,725 hits, 435 homers, 312 stolen bases, 1,582 runs scored and 1,587 RBI. Among players who appeared in at least 50 percent of their games in center field, Beltrán retired fourth on that list among home run hitters, trailing only Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mickey Mantle.

When asked about joining a list of Hall of Famers that includes everyone from Babe Ruth to Jackie Robinson to Clemente, Beltrán said he was “humble.”

“When I look at my story, just when I look at … I’m a Latino player and coming from a humble family and now you mention I’m going to have a plaque in Cooperstown next to all those great players that really played the game of baseball,” Beltrán said. “Just to be near them in the Hall of Fame, there’s no doubt that makes me proud.”

A nine-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove Award winner and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, Beltrán was named the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year. One of only four players in history with at least 1,500 runs scored, 2,700 hits, 400 home runs and 300 steals (along with Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Álex Rodríguez), he ranks 25th all-time with 1,078 career extra base hits, 29th with 565 career doubles and 34th with 4,751 total bases.

Jones, 48, and born on April 23, 1977, is the first Hall of Famer from the island country of Curaçao. In his ninth year on the BBWAA ballot, he received a voting percentage of 78.4.

“First of all, I will say thank you. It’s a great honor,” said Jones, who received just 7.3 percent of the vote in his first try on the BBWAA ballot in 2018. “I want to thank all the voters that voted for me that made this possible. And I want to thank my family for all the support. And I want to say thank you to the Atlanta Braves (who) gave me the opportunity to chase a dream that I always wanted to do, and all the other teams that I played for.”

Jones would later add he’d visited the Hall of Fame quite a few times, including the years he attended the induction ceremonies of former teammates Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter.

“And this is going to be a great moment,” he said, “to actually be on the stage with those guys that you idolize, those guys that that you grew up watching, those guys that you competed with and enjoy that moment that you get that chance to be on the elite level.

“I went about my business for a long time. I didn’t play this game to be a Hall of Famer. I played this game to help my team win. And wow, what the Braves did for so long to be so competitive for so many years. And we built teams to win championships. Obviously, we didn’t win that many championships, but we won our division every single year for 14 straight seasons…After that, when your career is over, the consistent numbers that you put up, you start considering you could be a Hall of Famer.”

In a 17-year big league career, the first dozen spent with Atlanta and the final five split between the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox and Yankees, Jones finished with a .254 batting average, 1,933 hits, 434 homers, 1,204 runs and 1,289 RBI. A five-time All-Star, he captured 10 Gold Glove Awards and a Silver Slugger Award in 2005, the season he led the National League with 51 homers and 128 RBI.

Jones’ Braves tenure included being teammates with future Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff, as well as manager Bobby Cox and front office executive John Schuerholz – all of whom were with the 1997 Braves.

“It’s just a great honor to just be within that class,” Jones said. “And to get that chance, it’s just one of those things that you will never forget.

“To be honest, I never thought when I was playing one day that I was going to be in the Hall of Fame. I played the game because I loved it. I played the game because I wanted to win. I played the game because I wanted to help my team win. I never thought about Hall of Fame one bit. Obviously, when you’re retired, people start telling you, ‘Hey, you had a Hall of Fame career. You got a chance to be a Hall of Famer.’ But I never thought about the Hall of Fame.”

Jones finished fifth in 1997 NL Rookie of the Year voting but debuted in the majors in 1996 and helped the Braves advance to the World Series. Bursting on the national scene as a 19-year-old, he became the fourth player in history to hit two home runs in his first Fall Classic game when he homered twice against the Yankees in Game 1. A defensive whiz in center, he led all NL center fielders in putouts six times and assists three times. Among players with 10-or-more Gold Glove Awards, only Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Schmidt have more home runs.

This year’s BBWAA ballot featured 27 players, including 12 first-year candidates. The only other player to receive votes on more than 50 percent of the ballots was Chase Utley (59.1 percent).

Bill Francis is the senior research and writing associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum