Original Lugnut Beltrán elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame

Carlos Beltrán, the starting center fielder in the first Lansing Lugnuts starting lineup in 1996, was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), the Hall of Fame announced Tuesday evening.

Beltrán will become the first Lugnut inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 26, as part of a three-member Class of 2026, alongside Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent.

Selected 49th overall in the 1995 draft by the Kansas City Royals from Fernando Callejo High School in Manati, Puerto Rico, Beltrán was assigned to the Lugnuts out of Spring Training, jumping from the rookie-level Gulf Coast League to the Single-A Midwest League.

On April 3, 1996, the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans opened up Oldsmobile Park with a 5-4 10-inning Wolverines win. Two days later, the 18-year-old Beltrán – wearing No. 6 – and his teammates played the first game in Lugnuts history. A crowd of 9,318 was in attendance, bearing frigid temperatures in the 30s. The starting lineup that day:

1. Carlos Febles, 2B
2. José Cepeda, 3B
3. Emiliano Escandon, SS
4. Gary Coffee, 1B
5. Pat Hallmark, RF
6. Mark Quinn, LF
7. Doug Blosser, DH
8. Carlos Beltrán, CF
9. Matt Treanor, C
Blaine Mull, P

Beltrán batted .143 in 11 games for the Lugnuts, collecting four singles, two doubles, one steal, and one walk. In that 11th game, the teenager suffered a right knee injury in an outfield collision, requiring surgery. He flew back to the Royals' complex in Florida and never returned to Lansing.

Upon recovering, Beltrán was assigned to Short-Season A Spokane, where he batted .270 with seven homers and 10 steals in 59 games. He spent all of 1997 with High-A Wilmington, made his Major League debut in 1998 (jumping over Triple-A), and won the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the second player in a half-century to score 100 runs and drive in 100 runs in his rookie season.

It was the start of a 20-year career lasting until 2017: seven seasons with the Royals, seven with the New York Mets, three with the Yankees, two with the Cardinals and Astros, and one apiece with the Rangers and Giants. Beltrán played 2,586 games in all, crushing 435 home runs among his 2,725 hits while posting an 86.4% successful stolen base percentage (312 steals in 361 attempts). He made nine All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and one Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award.

After retiring, Beltrán served as special advisor to the Yankees' general manager during the 2019 season and was hired by the Mets as manager that offseason, only to be fired one month later due to his participation in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing cheating scandal.

After a brief 2022 stint broadcasting for the Yankees, the Mets came calling once again, bringing Beltrán aboard as, first, special assistant to the GM, and then special assistant to the president of baseball operations, a position he currently holds entering the 2026 season.

Carlos Beltrán remains the only Lugnut ever to win a Major League Rookie of the Year Award; he is also the franchise leader in most MLB All-Star Game appearances and Gold Glove Awards. And in July, while the Nuts welcome the Great Lakes Loons to Lansing, Beltrán will be in upstate New York, his legacy in baseball bronzed for all to see.