The New York Mets’ cap logo appears all over the Hall of Fame plaque gallery. Unfortunately, if you’re a Mets fan, it rarely represents the Mets. They borrowed their emblem from the old New York Giants, the team of Carl Hubbell, Monte Irvin, Bill Terry and other long-ago greats.
But the Mets are finally gaining on the Giants, who left town in 1958. The Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday that newly elected Carlos Beltrán, who played for seven teams, will wear a Mets cap for posterity. Beltran will be the third player depicted in a Mets cap on his plaque, which will be unveiled at the induction ceremony on July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Tom Seaver was the first inductee to represent the Mets, in 1992, with Mike Piazza joining him in 2016.
“I didn’t do this alone,” Beltrán said in a statement. “Every team I played for shaped my journey, and I’m grateful to all of them. With the Mets, I experienced my greatest individual growth and success. I’m honored that my Hall of Fame plaque will feature the Mets logo, and I’m proud that every team I played for will be listed on the plaque.”
Beltrán could have gone in with a blank cap, or perhaps represented his first team, the Kansas City Royals. He played seven seasons with both the Mets and Royals, and appeared in 44 more games as a Met. Beltrán had more hits and stolen bases as a Royal, but more home runs and wins above replacement for the Mets, who now employ him as a front office adviser.
The Mets were one of four franchises to join MLB in the early 1960s; the others are now known as the Los Angeles Angels, the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. The Angels have one player wearing their cap in Cooperstown (Vladimir Guerrero), while the Astros and Rangers have three apiece — Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Billy Wagner for Houston; Adrián Beltré, Iván Rodríguez and Nolan Ryan for Texas.
The other inductees this July, Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones, had already expressed their cap preferences — the San Francisco Giants for Kent and the Atlanta Braves for Jones. The Hall makes the official decision but rarely goes against the inductee’s wish, as long as it aligns with the proper place in history.
Kent played 900 games for the Giants and helped lead them to a pennant in 2000, when he won the National League Most Valuable Player award. He played for five other teams, but none for more than 521 games.
Jones had by far his biggest impact with the Braves, winning all 10 of his Gold Gloves for Atlanta between 1996 and 2007. He played for four more teams in his final five seasons, when his production declined sharply.
With three players as well-traveled as Beltrán, Kent and Jones, the new Hall of Fame class has plenty of teams in common. While no franchise counts all three as alumni, six teams had at least two in their uniform — the Mets, Giants and Astros all had Beltrán and Kent; the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers had Beltrán and Jones; and the Los Angeles Dodgers had Jones and Kent.