FILE - Former Atlanta Braves player Andruw Jones walks on the field as his number is retired Sept. 9, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE - Texas Rangers' Carlos Beltran follows through on a two-run home run swing as Los Angeles Angels catcher Carlos Perez watches in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sept. 21, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
FILE - Atlanta Braves' Andruw Jones watches his home run in front of New York Yankees' catcher Jim Leyritz in the second inning of the World Series on Oct. 20, 1996, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
FILE - Former Atlanta Braves player Andruw Jones walks on the field as his number is retired Sept. 9, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
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FILE - New York Mets' Carlos Beltran smiles during an introductory baseball news conference in New York, Nov. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
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FILE - Texas Rangers' Carlos Beltran follows through on a two-run home run swing as Los Angeles Angels catcher Carlos Perez watches in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sept. 21, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
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FILE - Atlanta Braves' Andruw Jones watches his home run in front of New York Yankees' catcher Jim Leyritz in the second inning of the World Series on Oct. 20, 1996, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones, center fielders who excelled at the plate and with their gloves, were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Beltrán, making his fourth appearance of the ballot, received 358 of 425 votes for 84.2% from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, 39 above the 319 needed for the 75% threshold.
Jones, in the ninth of 10 possible appearances, was picked on 333 ballots for 78.4%
Beltrán moved up steadily from 46.5% in 2023 to 57.1% the following year and 70.3% in 2025, when he fell 19 votes short as .
on Nov. 1, 2019, then without having managed a game, three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in a report by Major League Baseball regarding the during Houston’s run to the 2017 World Series championship.
Jones received just 7.3% in his first appearance in 2018 and didn’t get half the total until receiving 58.1% in 2023. He increased to 61.6% and 66.2%, falling 35 votes short last year.
They will be inducted at Cooperstown, New York, on July 26 along with second baseman Jeff Kent, .
BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years in the organization were eligible to vote.
Cole Hamels topped first-time candidates at 23.8%. The other first-time players were all under 5% and will be dropped from future votes.
Steroids-tainted players again were kept from the hall. Alex Rodriguez received 40% in his fifth appearance, up from 7.1%, and Manny Ramirez 38.8% in his 10th and final appearance.
David Wright increased to 14.8% from 8.1%.
There were 11 blank ballots.
A nine-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Beltrán batted .279 with 435 homers and 1,587 RBIs over 20 seasons with Kansas City (1999-2004), Houston (2004, ’17), the Mets (2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the New York Yankees (20014-16) and Texas (2016). He had 311 homers hitting left-handed and 124 batting right,
Beltrán was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year and won three Gold Gloves, also hitting .307 in the postseason with 16 homers and 42 RBIs in 65 games.
Jones batted .254 with 434 homers, 1,289 RBIs and 152 stolen bases in 17 seasons with Atlanta (1996-2007), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and the Yankees (2011-12). He finished his career with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League from 2013-14.
His batting average is the second-lowest for a position player voted to the Hall of Fame, just above the .253 of Ray Schalk, a superior defensive catcher, and just below the .256 of Harmon Killebrew, who hit 573 homers.
A five-time All-Star, Jones earned 10 Gold Gloves. He joins Braves teammates Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Chipper Jones in the hall along with manager Bobby Cox.
In the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium, Jones at 19 years, 5 months became the youngest player to homer in a Series game, beating Mickey Mantle’s old mark by 18 months. Going deep against Pettitte in the second inning and Brian Boehringer in the third of a 12-1 rout, Jones became the second player to homer in his first two Series at-bats after Gene Tenace in 1972.