February 17
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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There are two futures for Adrian Beltre, short-term and long-term, and both are a little up in the air. In the short term, he's hoping to play third base for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. There are two problems with that. One, he is coming off surgeries on his left shoulder and left thumb, and the Mariners are not keen about him playing in the WBC. Two, Alex Rodriguez, a pretty fair third baseman in his own right, is a candidate to play for the Dominican Republic even though he's a U.S. citizen. "The issue is that they (the Mariners) said they don't want me to play, but I do want to play," Beltre said Monday. "I don't know who doesn't want me to play. I think ..."
November 6
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The Mariners had much go wrong from start to finish in 2008, but they got a couple of postseason honors when third baseman Adrian Beltre and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki were honored with Gold Gloves, tokens of defensive excellence. It was the second consecutive Gold Glove for Beltre, who spent the season battling thumb and shoulder pain and who ended his season early to have two surgeries. For Ichiro, it is the eighth time in eight years he has earned a Gold Glove. And it was the second time in three years that he'd won after changing positions midseason. He began the season in center field, then moved to right field about 10 weeks into the season. "I take it to heart that this award is given ..."
September 12
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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All signs point to Adrian Beltre needing to take himself off the field for thumb and shoulder surgery in the next few days. Beltre doesn't have to be told this. But the competitor in him would prefer to play out the final 2½ weeks of the season, then face his date to have his left thumb -- and also left shoulder -- dealt with arthroscopically. Trainer Rick Griffin and the Seattle medical crew have said that recovery from the thumb surgery is four to five months. If it's four months, then Beltre could wait until the end of the season and still be ready for an early February start to the spring. If the recovery is five months, then Beltre doesn't have a moment to lose if he wants to be ..."
September 2
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Adrian Beltre doesn't like to be showered in beer, the traditional celebration of a major baseball feat when there's no postseason champagne around. "I still feel shaky," Beltre said. "That's filthy. I don't like that feeling. But I'll take it, you know? If I get to do it tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow again." The odds are pretty long that Beltre will ever match what he did at the plate Monday night. He had five hits, scored five runs and became the fourth Mariner to hit for the cycle as Seattle extended its winning streak to a season-high four games with a 12-6 victory at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. "I have had situations before where I had a chance (to hit for the cycle), and I didn't ..."
August 26
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Adrian Beltre hit a ball as hard as any Mariner has hit one all season Monday night. And the way the season has gone, no one would have been surprised if Beltre's 11th-inning blast off Minnesota's Jesse Crain was hit too hard. "He crushed that ball, but it had so much topspin on it that I thought, 'Oh, man, that ball isn't going to clear the fence,' " manager Jim Riggleman said. And if it didn't clear the fence? "There's no way I'm going to score from first if that ball hits the wall," Raul Ibanez said. "I doubt if there is any human alive who's going to score on that ball, as hard as he hit it. He smoked that ball." For once, things broke for the Mariners. Topspin and all, Beltre's ball ..."