Former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Jeff Kent entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, having been named on 14 of 16 ballots by the contemporary baseball era committee.
Kent spent the final four years of his MLB career with the Dodgers, making his final All-Star Game in Dodger blue. During his four years in LA, Kent played 521 games, hitting 75 home runs and tallying 311 RBIs.
He made the postseason twice with the Dodgers, reaching October in 2006 and 2008, though never made it past the NLCS.
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The second baseman spent the best years of his career in the NL West, though not with the Dodgers. He played six seasons for the San Francisco Giants, making three All-Star Games and winning an MVP award in 2000, when he had 33 home runs and 125 RBIs with a career-high 1.021 OPS. Kent reached the World Series one time throughout his career, though lost in 2002.
He is the only player from the contemporary era ballot to be elected this season, with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela all falling short.
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Throughout his career, Kent made five All-Star Games and won four Silver Slugger awards to go with his MVP award. Kent hit 351 of his 377 career home runs as a second baseman, which is the most hit by any player at that position.
Altogether, Kent hit 377 homers and drove in 1,518 runs, posting a career OPS of .855 with a total of 55.4 WAR through 17 season.
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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2 Responses
You can’t tell me that Kent is a hall of famer and Garvey is not. Garvey was a 10 x all star 4 time golden glover. And the clean up hitter for one of the top 3 teams in baseball from 74-83’. Kent’s singular claim to fame was hitting more home runs than anybody else who played 2b. Had he played 3rd 1st or the outfield he’d be just another guy who had a solid career
he will go in as a Giant I expect