NewsBeyond the numbers: Beltran's generosity
Harlem RBI, P.R. academy beneficiaries of outfielder's altruism
By Marty Noble / MLB.com
11/11/09 7:01 PM EST
NEW YORK -- Carlos Beltran appeared in half of the Mets' 162 games last season and played with pain in his right knee before an extended assignment to the disabled list. In 308 at-bats, a good number compromised by the knee, he drove in 48 runs, more than any teammate other than David Wright and Daniel Murphy. But to Beltran, 48 RBIs weren't enough.Not enough to save the Mets, satisfy him and provide the level of support he regularly has provided for the Harlem RBI program, the primary beneficiary of the Mets center fielder's ongoing philanthropy. Beltran couldn't add to his RBI total after the Mets' season ended, but the end of the season hardly signaled an end to his commitment to Harlem RBI.
So it was Wednesday that he crossed out the $24,000 figure on the large cardboard check he endorsed and presented to the program during late morning ceremonies in Manhattan. Instead of $24,000, Beltran will contribute $50,000, as if he drove 100 runs, and when the Mets match his contribution as they have for each of four years, the program that provides inner-city children with greater opportunities will receive $100,000.
And Beltran will feel as though he has kept his commitment he initiated when he signed with the Mets after the 2004 season. His RBIs already have produced $233,000. His extra generosity is responsible for another $26,000.
"It was a very tough year for me. And I didn't have the year I hoped for," Beltran said after the check presentation. "But there was nothing I could do."
Yet he did more. His extra generosity is responsible for another $26,000.
The problematic knee is fine now Beltran said. And clearly, there is nothing wrong with his heart. It reaches out to his fellow man in his adopted city and in his native Puerto Rico as well. Indeed, it has been Beltran's four-year involvement with Harlem RBI that has inspired a massive undertaking in his homeland -- the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy.
His vision hardly is limited to baseball. The academy, scheduled to open in July, is to be a ninth- through 12th-grade high school in the municipality of Florida in Puerto Rico that will have high educational standards and state-of-the-art baseball facilities and big league staff.
Beltran is giving more than he ever had.
"We had no [baseball] facilities when I grew up," Beltran said. "But the kids who are in the academy will feel like they're in the big leagues. Trainers, indoor batting cages and fields that are up to big league standards.
"They'll have a better opportunity in education, too. We want to make it easier to learn.
"I'm not planning to retire. But this is something I will be involved in while I'm still playing and after I'm done. I can spend time there and share my knowledge. The baseball part will be supervised by me. I'll choose the instructors. I'll be there."
The academy, the construction of which is to cost an estimated $6 million, is to be on a 30-acres tract of land that will help create a campus-type atmosphere. The academic curriculum will be bilingual and aimed at enhancing student's abilities in problem solving and analytical reasoning, computer literacy skills, science, math and research skills.
Beltran already had donated $2 million toward the construction and, come Saturday, celebrities from baseball and entertainment are be involved in fundraising in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mets teammates Johan Santana and Carlos Delgado are to attend, as are Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Smith, Eddie Murray, Ivan Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez, Tommy Lasorda, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Gabrielle Union.
Delgado and Carlos Baerga are among the former and current big league players who will be involved in the operation of the academy.
"I'm passionate about everything we have planned," Beltran said. "My passion is baseball. The academy is baseball and education. It will go a long way to help players who want both."
Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
