The National Baseball Hall of Fame is filled with players who have completed long, distinguished careers donning a Dodgers uniform, their performances diminishing as they age. Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson, Juan Marichal and Eddie Murray are among those who jump to mind.
The exception was Jeff Kent, Soon received 14 of the 16 votes of the Sazed Ball Era Committee, the only one player among the eight in voting enough for the induction of cooperstow.
With unparalleled power as a second baseman and a timeless approach to his craft, Kent was a garbage man for the last two seasons of his 17-year career, cementing a hall of fame full of stars full of older stars full of young stars with legendary figures and James Loney.
“It’s a moment of satisfaction for the things I’ve done in my career, the things I’ve stuck to,” he told MLB Network. “The hard work, the satisfaction of playing the game the right way. I love the game.”
The son of a motorcycle cop and a product of Huntington Beach Edison High, Kent had some emotional news at the 2005 MLB winter press conference when it was announced that he had signed with the Dodgers.
“This is the third time I’ve tried to get the Dodgers,” he said at the time. “I want to be in a team that has the power to win because I’m running out of time. This team has a mindset.”
The Dodgers never won a World Series during Kent’s tenure, but he quickly fell into the role of a veteran leader, making himself available to the media after a tough loss to young players.
He said that what was on his mind, sometimes it was a mistake, when he suggested that the Dodgers spread out Vin was apparently “talking too much.”
Maybe that’s why Kent getting the Hall of Fame nod from a list of candidates that included all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, 354-game winner Roger Clemens, 509-home run slugger Gary Sheffield, 1980s stars Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, and Dodgers icon Fernando Valenzuela was unexpected.
Even Kent was surprised.
“The emotions are amazing – unbelievable,” Kent said. “I never expected. For me, there were guys at such a high level that the committee had to argue about it and vote. I’m thankful that they interviewed me and allowed me to be recruited.”
Valenzuela, Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield each have less than five votes, meaning they will not be eligible for another term, but they will not be considered for five votes.
All the votes have already been dismissed by the writers of the Biceball assn. of America. Seventy-five percent of the vote is required for induction, and Kent has never received even 50% during his 10-year term on the BBWAA ballot, which ends in 2023.
“It was time, and you just leave it alone, and I left it alone,” Kent said. “I loved the game, and everything that the game gave me that I left there on the field. At the moment today, a few days ago, I was completely unprepared.”
Kent was named the league’s most valuable player in 2000 by the San Francisco Giants, the team to which his career is most closely related. He batted a career-best .334 with 33 home runs and 125 runs batted in during that span and went on to hit more than 100 runs in each of his six national hitting ties.
He said he plans to enter the hall of fame wearing a baseball cap.
“The turning point in my career was a dusty baker, a manager I met in San Francisco,” said Kent, who played in college in California. “He motivated me to find a higher manifestation of myself.”
Kent finished with 377 career homers, 351 as a second baseman, the most at the position. He is also the second banker to collect more than 100 RBIs in eight seasons.
As a Dodger, he hit 75 homers and batted .290 in over 2,000 plate appearances. His last manager with the Dodgers was Joe Torre, who defined Kent’s impact on the franchise.
“He’s one of those players who can do what he’s supposed to do to make you understand what he’s thinking,” Torre said. “It’s a classic pro thing.”
