Adrian Beltré, Todd Helton, Joe Mauer, Jim Leyland inducted

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The Baseball Hall of Fame opened its gates today to a former No. 1 overall pick who spent his entire career in his hometown of the Twin Cities, and a former Double-A backup catcher who spent 18 years in the Minor Leagues before spending a day in the Majors. It welcomed two corner infielders who debuted 10 months apart and spent seven years as NL West rivals, and that didn’t even cover half of their careers — one for 17 years in Colorado, the other for 21 years across four teams.

All of them — Todd Helton, Adrian Beltré, Jim Leyland and Joe Mauer — had months to prepare to take the podium in front of thousands for today’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the Clark Sports Center. And yet, for a quartet that made preparation a cornerstone of their careers, the emotions of this day provided a challenge:

How to sum up the emotions and memories of a brilliant, lengthy career in about 10 minutes?

“I watched most of the speeches that have been given here. And I’m not the only guy to shed a tear in Cooperstown, I can tell you that,” Leyland joked on Saturday.

“When somebody says once in a lifetime, this is once in a lifetime.”

After never having led off in 2,247 games for the Rockies, Helton did the honors on Sunday with the first speech of the four inductees. His beautiful left-handed swing — which helped earn a batting title, five All-Star selections at first base and four Silver Slugger Awards — became not only the symbol for a Rockies franchise that was just in its fifth season of play when he debuted, but also the inspiration for many young hitters who have followed.

But Helton was mindful of the great hitters who came before him, and the ones on the stage behind him, those already in the Hall of Fame, and what it means to join the club.

“The awards that have come to me from baseball are beyond the wildest dreams of a young rookie coming out of the University of Tennessee,” Helton said during his speech. “I know I’m a lucky man.”

Helton added that when he goes back to Knoxville, people still ask him if he was the guy who used to play quarterback for the Volunteers in college.

“Yes,” Helton said. “But I’ve played a little baseball since!”

Beltré’s speech started on a whimsical note, as friend and countryman David Ortiz came up behind him and touched his head. (Beltré famously hates that!) He didn’t look pleased, but he clearly doesn’t hold a grudge, as he included Big Papi among his list of thank-you’s during his speech.

Beltre came up with the Dodgers in the summer of 1998, just two months after his 19th birthday, and played 21 years. The Dominican-born third baseman became a symbol of consistent greatness, a rock at the hot corner, a consistent run producer into his late 30s, author of 3,166 career hits, and one of the greatest to play the spot in the modern game.

“The best part was: I loved it. I loved baseball,” Beltre said. “And I had so much fun playing the game.”

Beltré spent the days and weeks leading up to the induction preparing a wonderful – and bilingual – speech with the same intensity as his game.

“To be able to write a Hall of Fame speech and try to cover his whole life, people who have meant something to him, and doing it in English, really is incredible,” former Rangers teammate Michael Young said last week. “It really is.”

Leyland became known in part for his emotions during a 22-year MLB managerial career that included a World Series title in Miami, two World Series berths in Detroit, six division titles in Detroit and Pittsburgh and three Manager of the Year Awards.

He wanted to use part of his speech as an inspiration to longtime Minor League players and coaches fighting for an opportunity to look at his career, which included 18 years in the Minor Leagues before getting a day in the Majors, and keep going.

Leyland’s speech was equal parts emotional and hilarious, as one of baseball’s most unique personalities had the crowd in Cooperstown riveted. Leyland detailed a conversation he had with his wife over coffee after learning that he’d been elected to the Hall of Fame.

“I said, ‘Katie, could you believe in your wildest dreams that I’d be going to the Hall of the Fame?’” Leyland recalled.

His wife’s response: “Jim, you’re not in my wildest dreams.” A classic story from a classy man.

Mauer, batting cleanup among the inductees, became a stoic presence behind the plate for many of his 15 years in the Majors, all in Minnesota, just a short trip from his hometown of St. Paul. Not only was Mauer the 2009 AL Most Valuable Player, a three-time batting champion and a six-time All-Star, he was a franchise cornerstone. But he, too, was ready for emotions thinking about the honor and trying to describe how fortunate he felt.

“Just gratitude, just so thankful for the opportunities that I’ve had,” Mauer said last week. “It’s nerve-wracking, it’s challenging, because trying to sum up your 20-year career in 10 minutes, it’s hard to do. To get to this point, being inducted into the Hall of Fame, it’s not something that I did on my own.

“There’s so many people that have had a huge impact on me and helped me reach this point. You want to try to articulate that as best as possible and thank these people.”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Mauer paid tribute to his family — his wife, children and his grandfather, whose eyesight was failing but would stand close to the screen in a batting stance whenever Mauer was up.