Elvis Andrus wished his friend and mentor, the retiring Adrian Beltre, a heartfelt farewell on Instagram

After a few weeks of consideration, the Rangers' Adrián Beltréannounced on Tuesday that he's chosen to retire from baseball, ending a lengthy era as one of the most productive third basemen in the game and also bringing to a close his reign as a premier entertainer. 

#ThankYouAB pic.twitter.com/wZO9K18yVJ

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) November 20, 2018

For Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, though, this is more than just a teammate retiring. This is the end of an era that saw the pair forge a close relationship on the left side of the Rangers' infield for much of Andrus' time in the Majors. It often looked like this:

Andrus paid tribute to Beltre with a heartfelt post on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

I’m so bless to play for the last 8 years next to not only the best 3rd basemen this game has seen but my brother. Thank u for everything you’ve done in my career in and off the field and for always teach me to BELIEVE in my self, RESPECT the game and the most important one ENJOY the game with a couple of hits for sure lol. Baseball will miss you LOVE YOU BIG BRO.

A post shared by Elvis Andrus (@elvis_andrus1988) on Nov 20, 2018 at 11:36am PST

Their bond was so strong, Beltre and Andrus sometimes teamed up on routine popups just for the laughs:

I mean, just look at this photo:

Truly the end of an entertaining time in Arlington. Happy retirement, Adrian!