Adrian Beltre 3K Moments: Name a more iconic duo. I'll wait.

With a broken bat, RBI single in the third inning against the Orioles on Friday night, Adrian Beltre was just three hits from 3K, here’s a look back at ten of our favorite Adrian Beltre moments and antics. We’ll post a new one with each hit as we count down to 3,000!

For hit No. 2997:

The story of Adrian Beltre in Texas cannot be told without a chapter on his friendship with Elvis Andrus. As mentioned before, Adrian Beltre is the captain. He’s the dugout general, and he’s taken on the role of clubhouse mentor handed down from Michael Young as the years have gone by.

Adrian Beltre sets the tone. The rest of the Rangers follow Adrian Beltre’s lead.

But being a stern dad isn’t what Beltre is all about. He might not want you to mess with his chances to win, but he’s the first player to have a ball out there on the field. The player who most closely follows this example is Elvis Andrus.

Elvis’ version of fun just happens to be annoying Adrian Beltre.

Just like you with your best friend, Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus have a special relationship. Elvis Andrus is Adrian Beltre’s best friend and worst enemy. Elvis is a pest who plays more like a kid brother rather than a contemporary.

Beltre has described playing baseball with Elvis as akin to playing with his children.

Since 2011, the left side of the Rangers’ infield has been manned by these two men. That level of familiarity and continuity is supremely rare in this day and age and it certainly helps that these two men have a blast playing together.

Who else has a running gag of trying to fool announcers on who is camped under a popup between third and short?

Is there anyone in the world with enough cache with Adrian Beltre to dare to take his helmet off after a home run so the team can touch his head, a big Beltre no-no? Only Elvis and it happens to be one of his favorite responsibilities.

And though Elvis may get off the majority of the laughs. Often, it’s Beltre who laughs last.

Beltre’s 2,997th career hit was a broken bat, bloop single. This came two hitters after Andrus hit a monster home run — his career-high 14th of the season (five more than Beltre, no doubt a point of non-stop pride for Elvis and annoyance for Beltre) — and you know, despite Beltre’s hit holding more historical significance, Elvis hasn’t stopped jawing to Beltre all night about how he hit a dinger and Beltre only hit a measly blooper.