Inside a ballpark 1,400 miles east of Dodger Stadium, Adrian Beltre let a memory wash over him. He has played 21 seasons in the major leagues, but few move him like 2004. As he hearkened back to that summer in Los Angeles, when he threatened to homer with every swing and fans greeted him by chanting “M-V-P,” his voice softened.
“I will never forget that,” Beltre said as he sat by his locker at the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Park in Arlington. “I will never forget that because when you come to the plate and hear those chants, that is so nice.