Former Kansas City Royals star Carlos Beltran was elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Beltran is one of the better switch-hitters in recent memory. However, he wasn't always a player who could hit both ways at the plate. Hitting coach Kevin Long recently told the story of Beltran learning to switch hit while in the Royals' minor league system, via MLB Network Radio.

"They said, 'Hey, we've got an idea... There's a kid down there, 20 years old, his name is Carlos Beltran,'" Long said. "'He's a right-handed hitter only, and we want you to go down there and teach him how to hit left-handed.' I said, well, hold on, this is during the middle of the season. He's in High-A... I said 'I'll gladly go down there and give it a shot, but don't you think this is a little far-fetched?' They said, 'Well, this is what we want to do as an organization, and we think you're the perfect guy to do it.'"

The decision worked out. Beltran ended up making his big league debut with Kansas City in 1998. In 1999, which was his first full MLB season, the outfielder earned the American League Rookie of the Year Award. He would play in Kansas City with the Royals until the 2004 campaign.

It will be interesting to see which team's hat he ends up wearing once he is officially inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. The Royals will be a possibility, but Beltran spent time with seven MLB teams.

Beltran spent parts of seven years with the Royals. He also spent parts of seven years with the New York Mets, however. Beltran played three years with the New York Yankees as well as two with the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros. One has to imagine that the Royals and Mets are Beltran's frontrunners for his Hall of Fame decision, though.

Regardless of which team he selects, the Royals will always be the ball club he began his Hall of Fame career with. They will also be the team that helped him become a successful switch-hitter.

Long deserves credit as well. He had recently retired from his playing career when he began coaching the Royals' Class-A team. He continued to advance his career as a coach and ended up landing the job as the New York Yankees' hitting coach in 2007. He has since served as the hitting coach for the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Heading into 2026, Long is still the hitting coach in Philadelphia with the Phillies. The ball club has consistently been one of the better offensive teams in the sport, and Long surely has something to do with that.

One has to wonder if Beltran would have become the tremendous switch-hitter he was without Long. And one also has to wonder if Long would have had the same coaching trajectory he had without Beltran's success.