"He's a player we always wanted to be" - Manny Machado shares the impact HOF inductee Adrian Beltre had on him and others in the league

Adrian Beltre is a player who inspired Manny Machado and many other players, for that matter. Beltre had an illustrious 21-year career in the big leagues, where he is generally accepted as one of the best third basemen ever to do it.

Beltre was accepted into MLB's Hall of Fame on Tuesday, receiving a whopping 95.1% of votes. He will be enshrined alongside Joe Mauer, Todd Helton, and manager Jim Leyland on July 21.

Machado, who is ramping up for a big season in San Diego, joined MLB Tonight to speak on how important a player Beltre was to him. He dedicates a lot of his work ethic to the former slugger.

"First off, I want to congratulate Beltre. What an amazing career, obviously first ballot Hall of Famer. I know myself [and] a bunch of players around the league always admired him and looked up to him. He's a player that we all wanted to be," stated Machado.

Manny Machado sheds light on the impact Adrian Beltre had on other players. He was somebody that many looked up to and was a great role model to those that did.

"It was truly a blessing to play alongside him, to play with him on the Dominican Republic National team, watch him play, and learn from him as well. Now seeing him in the Hall of Fame is amazing," said Machado.

Machado got the chance to be teammates with Beltre on the Dominican Republic national team. It was a moment the Padres slugger will never forget.

Manny Machado studied Adrian Beltre at third base while he made his way through the minors

San Diego Padres v San Francisco Giants (via Getty Images)

Manny Machado grew up playing shortstop but had a bit of a roadblock after the Baltimore Orioles drafted him. Baltimore already had a shortstop in J.J. Hardy, and the team wanted Machado to move to third base.

Machado did not know much about the position, so he started to study the greats. Obviously, he started watching Adrian Beltre and how he moved around at the position.

"I was a shortstop growing up, came up through the minor leagues as a shortstop, didn't know anything about third base, so what did I do? I mean, first thing I did was go watch Adrian Beltre highlights" said Machado.

Machado is not the only player who has spoken up about Beltre's impact on the game. It says a lot about the type of player Beltre was during his career.