Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame – The Athletic

The Hall of Fame is made for players like Adrián Beltré. A pure hitter, reliable hitter and skilled third baseman, Beltré had few equals: No other infielder in baseball history has 3,000 hits, 400 home runs and five Gold Glove awards. Beltré, now 44, was a lock for the Hall of Fame.

As a first-time candidate for Cooperstown, Beltré didn't have to breathlessly track the public vote this winter. Yet he still couldn't feel safe, he said, until his wife and son assured him Tuesday that Election Day looked promising. He could enjoy it.

“It made me a little more relaxed and I kind of forced myself to enjoy this moment,” Beltré said from his home in Southern California, shortly after winning his sport’s greatest honor. “It would be a beautiful moment and probably the last moment in baseball that I would achieve being at the top of the game.”

Beltré had company at the summit on Tuesday, with Todd Helton and Joe Mauer joining him in the new class of Hall of Famers. Former manager Jim Leyland, selected last month by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, will also be inducted at the July 21 ceremony.

Candidates must receive 75 percent of ballots from 10-year members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, and Beltré was the all-time leader Tuesday with 95.1 percent (366 of 385) in his first appearance on the ballot. Helton did it in his sixth attempt with 79.7 percent, and Mauer debuted with 76.1 percent, leaving four votes to spare.

If some writers seem stingy with their votes now, consider that even Yogi Berra — 10-time champion, three-time most valuable player, American icon — missed the Hall by 28 votes in his first appearance in 1971. Mauer, incredibly, is only the third catcher to reach Cooperstown on the first ballot, behind only Johnny Bench and Iván Rodríguez.

“It’s an incredible honor – one, to join the group, and two, to join this group,” Mauer said. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s fully internalized. There are so many great catchers in the Hall of Fame; A few immediately come to mind – Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella. It’s not lost on me.”

Billy Wagner, who had 422 career saves, fell short by five votes Tuesday, getting 73.8 percent in his ninth attempt. Wagner still has another year to be considered by the writers, but Gary Sheffield's 10-year election result ended with a 63.9 percent turnout. Sheffield, who had 509 home runs, could ultimately be chosen by an era committee.

Beltré, Helton and Mauer were three of the most accomplished hitters of their generation, Beltré with the most hits and home runs (3,166 and 477) of the trio and the others with a combined four batting titles.

Mauer, who played all 15 seasons for his hometown Minnesota Twins, is the only MLB catcher to win three batting crowns and led the American League in batting in 2006, 2008 and 2009, when he was also its MVP.

Concussions forced the now 40-year-old Mauer to first base in 2014. But from his rookie season in 2004 through 2013, Mauer hit .323/.405/.469 and sounded grateful that voters focused on his decade of dominance behind the plate.

“The last few years probably haven’t been the highlight or the way you want to remember a player,” Mauer said. “I was able to catch my first ten years and I feel like what I am as a baseball player is a catcher.” I'm grateful that I continued my career at first base, but I felt like We were the best version of the Minnesota Twins when I was a catcher.”

Todd Helton was elected to the Hall in his sixth year. (Brian Bahr / Allsport)

Helton, who spent his entire 17-year career with the Colorado Rockies, won his batting title in 2000 with a .372 average, the best in the major leagues. Helton, now 50, reflected on a lesson from his father, Jerry, who played in the minors with the Twins.

“If I went one-for-three, that's a bad day when you're young, and he'd say, 'One-for-three gets you in the Hall of Fame,'” Helton said. “He was hard on me, but he said things like that that helped me. I knew about the Hall of Fame when I was 8 years old.”

Helton didn't quite hit .333 in his career. But among players whose careers began after 1930, only Stan Musial and Ted Williams can match him in all of these critical categories: batting average (.316), on-base percentage (.414) and slugging percentage (.539).

Helton made no apologies for his success at Coors Field, where he hit .345/.441/.607. He also excelled on the road (.287/.386/.469) and explained that playing at high altitudes also takes its toll.

“I’m not at all embarrassed by my home and my street numbers,” he said. “Getting on the road after an accident in Colorado is hard. The ball breaks more. It's a huge adjustment to go through the hard work of being able to make these changes in the middle of the season. It is a good place to arrive, but there are also some disadvantages.”

He also could have noted that many other Hall of Famers have benefited from a home park that suited their abilities. Sandy Koufax had a 1.37 ERA at Dodger Stadium and a 3.38 ERA everywhere else. Wade Boggs hit .369 at Fenway Park and .306 away from Boston. Then there's Chuck Klein: .395 in the old Baker Bowl in Philadelphia and .277 elsewhere.

The most striking figures on that ballot belonged to Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, both of whom were suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. The two combined for more than 1,250 home runs — but even their vote total wouldn't get them into Cooperstown.

The Hall of Fame asks voters to consider candidates' “integrity, sportsmanship (and) character” as well as their playing record, which explains why Rodriguez received only 34.8 percent of the vote in his third attempt and Ramirez only received 34.8 percent of the vote in his third attempt 32.5 percent eighth.

Meanwhile, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán continued their rise. Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove center fielder with 434 home runs, hit 61.6 percent in his seventh year. Beltrán, whose 70.1 bWAR trailed only Rodriguez and Beltré in this ballot, hit 57.1 percent in his second year but was likely held back by his role in the Astros' illegal sign-stealing scheme in 2017.

Along with Beltré and Mauer, the top-polled recruit was Chase Utley, a six-time All-Star second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. Utley received 28.8 percent of the vote Tuesday, more than Jimmy Rollins, his longtime double-play partner, who got 14.8 percent on his third try.

Next year's newcomers include two former MVP winners, Ichiro Suzuki and Dustin Pedroia, as well as two former Cy Young Award winners, CC Sabathia and Félix Hernández. This vote will include 14 holdovers who received at least 5 percent on Tuesday.

One of these players is David Wright (6.2 percent), whose dynamic career was interrupted by spinal stenosis. Still, Wright is the New York Mets' career hits leader, as is Rollins for the Phillies and Helton for the Rockies.

Like Beltré and Mauer, one of these players received the call of his life on Tuesday. When Helton spoke about it, he sounded in awe as he grasped his new reality.

“Everything I did really happened,” he said. “And it was good enough to make it into the Hall of Fame.”

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(Photo of Adrián Beltré and Joe Mauer in 2018: Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins / Getty Images)