You may now add the name of Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran to an exclusive list that also includes the likes of Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Bonds, Andre Dawson, Steve Finley, and Reggie Sanders.
In the second inning of Friday night's game against Royals, Beltran, facing his original team for the first time, swiped the 300th base of his career. In doing so he became the eighth player in major-league history to tally at least 300 career steals and 300 career homers. As MLB.com's Jennifer Langosch points out, Beltran is the first switch-hitter to reach both benchmarks. He also ranks third all-time with a stolen-base percentage of 87.4.
Of course, this is more than just idle compiling on the part of Beltran: with his slash line of .300/.383/.604 and his NL-leading 19 homers, he's a certifiable MVP candidate. It's not often we get to see a great player reach a milestone while still playing at a high level, but that's the case with Beltran.
Kudos to Beltran for what's been -- and still is -- a tremendous career.
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