Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Carlos Beltran (shown in 2004) and Andruw Jones (shown in 1996) were announced as the writers' two choices for the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.Associated Press/ASSOCIATED PRESS

The gates to Cooperstown finally swung open for center fielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones on Tuesday as they were elected to the Hall of Fame.

Beltrán received 84.2 percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, easily clearing the required 75 percent in his fourth year on the ballot.

Jones received 78.4 percent in his ninth year on the ballot.

“Today I can say that I’m a Hall of Famer,” Beltrán said.

The induction ceremony is scheduled for July 26. Beltrán and Jones will join hard-hitting Giants second baseman Jeff Kent, who was elected by the Contemporary Era oversight committee in December.

Beltrán and Jones are the first center fielders elected to the Hall since Ken Griffey Jr. was a first-ballot choice in 2016. Before that it was Kirby Puckett in 2001.

Jones received only 7.3 percent of the vote in his first year on the ballot the lowest for a player eventually elected by the BWAA since annual voting resumed in 1966. Jones climbed from 31 votes in 2018 to 333 this year.

“It’s going to be a great moment to actually be on the stage those guys that you idolize, those guys that you grew up watching, those guys that you competed with,” said Jones, the first Hall of Famer from Curacao.

Beltrán, 48, had the resume of a first-ballot choice. But many voters chose to make him wait because of the prominent role he played in the 2017 Astros sign-stealing scandal.

Beltrán retired after the 2017 season having hit .279 with an .837 OPS, 435 home runs and 312 steals over a 20-year career. A nine-time All-Star, Beltrán also earned three Gold Gloves and was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1999.

The switch-hitter hit .307 with a .609 slugging percentage over 65 postseason games and drove in 42 runs. He played 14 seasons with the Royals and Mets.

Beltrán retired after helping the Astros win the 2017 World Series and was named manager of the Mets on Nov. 1, 2019.

He was then identified as one of the ringleaders of the sign-stealing scheme and was fired the Mets in January. He received only 46.5 percent of the votes when he debuted on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2023.

“There’s no doubt that in baseball you’re going to go through ups an downs and you’re going to make good decisions, so-so decisions, right, and also you’re going to make bad decisions,” said Beltrán, now a senior advisor with the Mets. “The teammates that I had inside the clubhouse, they know the type of person that I am. But at the same time I understand that that’s also a story that I have to deal with.”

Beltrán and now fellow Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and Eddie Murray are the only switch hitters with at least 2,700 hits and 425 home runs. He also joined Barry Bonds, Andre Dawson, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez are the only players with at least 425 homers and 300 stolen bases.

Jones, 48, was a 10-time Gold Glove winner who hit 434 home runs over 17 seasons, the first 12 of those with the Braves. Jones had a .850 OPS through 11 seasons. It fell to .734 over his final six years.

His career batting average of .254 is the lowest for a Hall of Famer voted in by the BBWAA.

“I didn’t play this game to be a Hall of Famer. I played the game to help my team win,” Jones said.

Former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia got 20.7 percent of the vote for the Hall of Fame this year, which was his second year of eligibility.Stan Grossfeld

The voting trended in the right direction for second basemen Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley.

Pedroia, a two-time World Series winner with the Red Sox, climbed to 20.7 percent after receiving 11.9 percent his first year.

Utley, a cornerstone player with the Phillies from 2003-15 before moving on to the Dodgers, received 59.1 percent of the votes. He had 28.8 percent in 2024 in his first year on the ballot.

Félix Hernández (48.5) and Andy Pettitte (46.1) also made significant gains. It was a 25.5 percent jump for Hernández, the largest year-to-year gain since 1967.

For former Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez, it was the end of the road. He reached only 38.8 percent in his 10th and final year on the ballot. Ramirez had multiple suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs.

Rodriguez, another drug cheat, received 40 percent in his fifth year on the ballot.

Lefthander Cole Hamels, with 23.8 percent, was the only first-time candidate to receive the required 5 percent to remain on the ballot.

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