COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — They were a Tennessee college quarterback, a backup catcher who spent 17 years in the minors, an infielder from the Dominican Republic sandlots, and a hometown hero from St. Paul, Minnesota.
They came together Sunday afternoon and delivered stirring, emotional speeches, mixed in with a healthy dose of humility and humor at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Manager Jim Leyland recalled walking to a coffee shop in Siesta Key, Florida, with his wife just a few weeks after being informed he was elected into the Hall of Fame.
“Katie, can you believe in your wildest dreams that I’ve been elected to the Hall of Fame?’’ Leyland said. “Katie replied, ‘Jim, you’re not in my wildest dreams.”
The estimated crowd of 28,000 roared.
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“My contributions to our beautiful pastime pale in comparison to the joy it has brought to my life,’’ Leyland said, “the heart of a little boy, and the soul of an old man.’’
Third baseman Adrian Beltre, only the fifth Dominican player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, proved that sleep can be overrated, believing there’s no need to stress out over a speech. He danced late into the evening Saturday with his wife and friends, and then absolutely nailed his Hall of Fame speech, improvising about a quarter of it.
If Beltre has any nervousness, Hall of Famer David Ortiz alleviated every ounce of it by stepping off the stage to grab a cup of coffee, and then rubbing Beltre’s head as he walked to the podium to speak, knowing how much Beltre hates anyone touching his scalp.
“That never relaxes me…’’ Beltre said. “I don’t love it. I don’t like it. But it was a little cue to go back to the days when I was playing, and it’s like, ‘Ok, get ready to go out there and do your best with the speech.’
“I’m open to people being able to play around with me.’’
Beltre took the opportunity to do a little playing around himself, seeing former Seattle Mariners pitching great Felix Hernandez in the audience, and saying, “To that guy who calls himself, “King,’ I loved playing with you, but I loved hitting against you even more.’’
Helton was the starting quarterback at the University of Tennessee, sandwiched between Heath Shuler, who played five years in the NFL before becoming a U.S. Congressman, and Peyton Manning, a Pro Football NFL Hall of Famer. Well, after following and preceding these two stars, he knew he better go into baseball.
Still living in Knoxville, Tennessee, Helton still runs occasionally into people in town who stop and ask him if he’s that same great former Volunteers quarterback.
“Yes,’’ Helton said, “but I’ve played a little baseball since.’’
Mauer, the hometown kid who played his entire 15-year career with the Minnesota Twins, got teary-eyed talking about his late grandfathers, figuring out that his parents and relatives watched him play 1,215 times at the old Metrodome and Target Field.
“It was tough, I mean there were a lot of emotions there,’’ Mauer said after the ceremony. “Back home, a lot of people know I lost my dad recently and my grandpa, both grandpas, a couple of years ago. They were able to watch my whole career, and I think they were with me today making sure that I could articulate the speech that I had.
“I know they were here.’’
It seemed like half of the Twin Cities was there, too, with Twins fans dominating the crowd.
“I wanted to be a Twin from Day 1,’’ said Mauer, who joined St. Paul natives Dave Winfield, Jack Morris and Paul Molitor in Cooperstown. “And that feeling never waned … for 18 years.’’
They each spent considerable time thanking their former teammates, managers, scouts along with everyone who helped them along the way, but Leyland took it a step further. He singled out Gene Lamont, his longtime coach and former minor-league roommate from 1966. He spoke about how special it was for him to be working alongside Lamont, with the two of them getting teary-eyed as he spoke.
“We became best friends,’’ Leyland said. “I have so much respect for him as one of the best baseball men I’ve ever been around. I was so proud that he was there today. And I thought it would be totally unfair not to talk about him.’’
There was plenty of baseball royalty in the crowd with players like Gary Sheffield, Justin Morneau, Andy Van Slyke, Charles Johnson, Shawn Greene, Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz, Joe Nathan, Ian Kinsler, Richie Sexson, Elvis Andrus, Alex Avila, Brian Dozier, Colby Lewis and Mitch Moreland. Former managers Clint Hurdle and Ron Gardenhire were in attendance, as well as current and former GMs Dave Dombrowski, Bill Schmidt, Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, Terry Ryan, Jon Daniels, Al Avila and Bill Smith.
Helton’s former high school teammates and 86-year-old coach Bud Bales were on hand, too, all wearing special Knoxvlle Central High School jerseys teams with Helton’s No. 16 on the back.
“I’m so happy and appreciate of those guys making the trek up here,’’ Helton said. “Some of those guys sat in airports for 16 hours to get here. Or they ditched the airport, rented three cards, and drove 12 hours to get here.
“That means the world to me.’’
The new Hall of Famers all thanked their legion of fans, but Leyland, who also led Team USA to the World Baseball Classic title in 2017, ended his speech eloquently, letting everyone know what the fans mean to the game of baseball.
“No matter which Hall of Famers you’re here to support today,’’ Leyland, “or which team you choose to root for, your presence is always felt. On your feet in the ninth, with the home team clinging onto a one-run lead. Turning on your television for the first game of the World Series and seeing 50,000 fans waving towels, hoping and praying that this may be their year. Or a little boy or girl getting their first autograph, and scurrying back to the fans to show mom and dad.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that’s you.
“That’s baseball. And this is the Hall of Fame.’’
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