Hasn't been a whole lot of activity going on these last few days so I figured I would
mention a few words on Jeff Kent retiring a few weeks back. It is fair to say that Jeff Kent is one of those guys that people have strong opinons about, he's a polarizng guy that makes no bones that he doesn't take shit from anyone. For some, this attidude is laudable and praiseworthy, a relic of a bygone era when baseball players weren't pampered celebrities but a bunch of hard nosed toughs who gave everything had to the game. For others, he's a despicable racist bastard, a hard-assed loner who has been trouble everywhere he went. Yet as polarizing he is as a person it is hard to argue with his numbers and unbelievable production he had as a second baseman.
His 351 home runs as a second baseman are 74 more than Ryne Sandberg hit at the position, and he ranks second all-time in RBIs among second basemen to Nap Lajoie. There are 12 players in the Hall of Fame who have amassed 375 homers, 500 doubles and 1,500 RBIs. Andre Dawson, who logged 67 percent of the Hall of Fame vote this year, also is moving closer to Cooperstown.
Jeff Kent retires with 377 homers, 560 doubles and 1,518 RBIs. In addition he also won an MVP in 2000 with the Giants, as well as a nine time all-star.
Jeff Kent retires with 377 homers, 560 doubles and 1,518 RBIs. In addition he also won an MVP in 2000 with the Giants, as well as a nine time all-star.
Whats even more remarkable is how unremarkable he was until he was 29, never hitting more than 21 home runs, never driving in more than 80 with a batting average in the .270s. He only turned his career around when arriving in san francisco where he was undoubtedly aided by having barry bonds in the lineup, but nevertheless he flat out produced. Driving in at least 93 for the next nine seasons, Kent truly blossomed as a 30 something and emerged as a serious hall of fame candidate.
And yet suprisingly there has been zero evidence that he used steriods, and in fact he has been very vocal in his displeasure for its widespread use in the past years, something that probably hasn't helped in the popularity department.
I think it may take a a year or so to get him in, but I don't see how Kent doesn't end up in Cooperstown as one of the all-time great second baseman to ever play the game. He won't win any competitions for best teammate, but I doubt he'd care too much.
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