Dirk and Beltre: Comparing Historic Milestones in DFW

A couple players in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex have hit major milestones in their respectful careers this year. How significant is it that Dirk Nowitzki has over 30,000 points vs. Adrian Beltre’s 3,000 hits?

Today was a monumental day and one all Texas Rangers fans have been looking forward to for awhile. Adrian Beltre now has 3,000 hits, a feat that only 30 other players before him have achieved. This is just one of the many accomplishments that Adrian Beltre has achieved during his impressive 20 year MLB career.

During the 4th inning and Adrian Beltre’s 2nd at-bat of the game, Beltre hit a liner down the third base line past Manny Machado and into the outfield for a stand-up double. The celebration happened shortly after with a banner and a big mural on the outfield wall in honor of the big 3,000. He now has more hits than Bernie Mac in his career.

The Dominican Republic born 3rd baseman has 4 All-Star appearances and 5 gold gloves over his career, as well as a .286/.339/.481 career slash line. He has finished in the top 10 in MVP voting 6 different times, including falling just short of Barry Bonds for the NL MVP in 2004. Beltre currently sits at 454 home runs for his career as well.

None of these accomplishments are nearly as impressive as joining the 3,000 hit club. Beltre is now tied with Roberto Clemente at 30th overall in career hits. Beltre is 60 hits away from the other active club member, Ichiro Suzuki, and should be able to finish the season somewhere in the top 25 by the time 2017 is over.

Now it’s time for the comparison. Dirk Nowitzki became the 6th player in NBA history this season to reach 30,000 career points. Aside from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players who have scored 30,000 points in the NBA.

Dirk Nowitzki has plenty of amazing accomplishments as well, as we all know. Between 13 All-Star appearances, 12 All-NBA Team selections, an MVP Award, an NBA Championship and a Finals MVP Award, Dirk has been a busy man for the last 19 years. His accomplishments are impressive and numerous, especially considering he is widely believed to be the best foreign born player in NBA history.

Both Adrian Beltre and Dirk Nowitzki are completely beloved players from their respective fanbases, and the DFW area in general. They both have reached achievements that very few people have done and they have done it in style. Although many of Beltre’s years in the league were with other teams, some of his most significant have come with Texas.

It is hard to compare achievements between different sports, but it is safe to say that both of these players have done incredible things for the Dallas sports scene. Here are just a few of the arguments that can be made. Some of them are in favor of Dirk, while others are for Beltre.

(Thank you to Michael Gallaagher of NBC and Yahoo! Sports for capturing this moment via Twitter)

1. Dirk is one of six, while Beltre is one of 31- This one is really just simple numbers. Although being one of 31 is incredibly impressive, there are only five other players in history that have accomplished what Dirk has. ADVANTAGE: Dirk

2. Dirk did it in vintage style with a one-legged fade, while Beltre hit a nice double down the third base line- Seriously though, Dirk hit the one-legged in Larry Nance Jr.’s face and the crowd erupted. Although Beltre’s his was beautiful and got all the way in for a double, we all wanted to see the home run shot from one knee for number 3,000. ADVANTAGE: Dirk

3. Baseball has been around for over a century while basketball only since 1946– This one is more just a timeline. If basketball had been around for as long as baseball has, there is definitely a chance that they would have much closer to 31 players with 30,000 points. Thinking about the fact that Beltre joins some players that have been deceased since before the NBA even came around is really quite interesting. ADVANTAGE: Beltre

4. Twice as many people play baseball as basketball and twice as many games – So there are 9 batters a night for 162 games a season and yet still only 31 players in history. Too impressive to not consider. ADVANTAGE: Beltre

5. Hometown- Although both are heroes in the Dallas area and have given it their all to their respective franchises, only one has been here since the beginning. ADVANTAGE: Dirk

Next: Harrison Barnes Wedding Providing Offseason Entertainment

Both players have been amazing and you can’t take anything from either of them in their path to the amazing milestones they have achieved. We love Dirk and we love Beltre here in Dallas. Congratulations Adrian Beltre. You really are one of the greats.