Carlos Beltrán combined power, speed and defense like few players in baseball history.
And when the lights were brightest, Beltrán was at his best.
Born April 24, 1977, in Manati, Puerto Rico, Beltrán was selected in the second round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Royals. He made his big league debut just three years later and earned Kansas City’s starting center field job in 1999, becoming just the eighth player in MLB’s Modern Era (post-1900) with at least 100 runs scored and 100 RBI in a rookie season en route to the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
