COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Carlos Beltrán and Bad Bunny haven’t met yet, but the Hall of Fame slugger and the superstar rapper share a love of family and their beloved Puerto Rico. So while thinking of a way to honor his parents during his induction speech, Beltran pulled from one of Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio’s hits Sunday afternoon at the Clark Sports Center.
Most of Beltrán’s induction speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame was in English, but he delivered part of it in Spanish to address his parents, Wilfredo and Carmen.
That’s when he quoted Bad Bunny’s “La Mudanza,” one of the songs the Puerto Rican star sang during the last Super Bowl halftime show.
“Un aplauso pa Mami y Papi porque en verdá rompieron.”
(In English, “One round of applause for Mom and Dad because they truly crushed it.”)
“I love that song,” Beltrán said after he was inducted into the Hall along with former Dodgers Jeff Kent and Andruw Jones before an estimated crowd of 12,000. “I like it because it’s a tribute to our parents.
Carlos Beltrán waves a Puerto Rican flag while speaking during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday.
(Seth Wenig / Associated Press)
“I think it’s cool what [Bad Bunny] does with his music. There’s no doubt that he looks for a way to promote Puerto Rico, recognize the family, recognize relationships. I think it was an important moment to mention them and for the fans that follow his music react to those words.”
Beltrán was born in Manati, Puerto Rico, where his father, Wilfredo Beltrán worked at a pharmaceutical company. Carlos Beltrán credits his father with instilling his work ethic by winning “perfect attendance” certificates every year for 35 years at his company. Carmen Beltrán was a homemaker, and Carlos credits her with raising him.
Long before Bad Bunny became one of the most popular artists in the world, Beltrán devoted his work off the field to helping Puerto Rican youths and promoting his island.
“I feel proud of what he does,” Beltrán said of Bad Bunny. “I think he represents our island. He’s part of our culture, and at the same time he’s doing a pretty good job promoting the island. As a baseball player myself, I try to do the best that I could also to do the same.”
