Jeff Kent didn’t make the Hall of Fame the first two times he was on the ballot, and based on this year’s support, he may not make it again this time around. Nonetheless, he still made the 2016 ballot, and will have another chance for voters to consider him.
Career
Kent received his start with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he was invited to Spring Training in 1992 after spending some time in the minors. Kent would earn his spot on the 1992 Opening Day roster, and received gradual playing time until he was traded to the Mets for David Cone, who would help pitch the Jays to a 1992 World Series.
Upon his arrival in New York, Kent would start what became a occasional theme in his career: being a dividing force in the dugout. The Mets were able to deal with it, though, and held onto him for three and half seasons before trading him to the Cleveland Indians, who would eventually trade him to the team with which many will argue Kent played the best years of his career: The San Francisco Giants.
Kent joined the Dusty Baker led team, batting behind Barry Bonds. With Kent and Bonds batting at the heart of the lineup, the Giants were able to provide a power hitting headache that would give the N.L West woes for quite some time.
During his first year with the San Francisco Giants, Kent batted .250, hit twenty-nine home runs, and drilled in 121 RBI’s. Over his career as a Giant, Kent would build up a total of 689 RBI’s. As Barry Bonds started to become an out of control home run hitter, Kent would still go on to beat Bonds in the MVP race of 2000 by batting .334 with thirty-three home runs and 125 RBI’s. The MVP award was just another stepping stone however, as Kent would go onto hit thirty-seven home runs and hold down a fielding percentage of .978 the next year. That season, the Giants would go onto the World Series, only to lose to the then Anaheim Angels in seven games.
The 2002 season would mark the end of the Giants chapter of Kent’s career. After signing a two year deal with the Houston Astros, many felt that Kent was leaving due to a fractured relationship with team star Barry Bonds, as well as the departure of manager Dusty Baker.
In 2004 with the Astros, Kent became the all-time home run leader among second basemen, passing Cubs great Ryne Sandberg, and helped the team get within reaching distance of playing in the World Series. The Astros would eventually lose out to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.
Kent would close his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he led the Dodgers offensively in 2005 in many categories and, despite missing most of the 2006 season, came back in time to help the Dodgers claw their way into the playoffs by winning the N.L. Wild Card.
Kent would retire after the 2008 season.
Abrasive Character and Lack of Hardware Hurts; Steroid Era Helps
Even though Jeff Kent was one of the most offensively productive players at his position, his inability to stay out of clubhouse altercations and riffs at points of his career seems to hurt him, despite having to share the clubhouse with the most polarizing player of his time, Barry Bonds. It also doesn’t help that Kent and the San Francisco Giants of his era were never able to secure a World Series, something all Giants of his time will likely deal with whenever their names are mentioned in terms of the Hall of Fame.
A positive for Kent is that he has never been directly mentioned in the same sentence with the words “alleged steroid use”. As a mater of fact, Kent pushed for MLB to beef up its drug testing program.
Despite his opinions, and despite watching many of his colleagues who played cleanly fall behind those who weren’t playing cleanly, Kent himself successfully thrived in the steroid era. This will hopefully help him garner more appreciation for his offensive accolades and the contributions that he made to the many teams he played for in his career, including clutch moments such as this one. If anything, it should give him a leg up on players on the ballot that are tied to steroids.
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