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The Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame is peppered with gamers who completed lengthy, distinguished careers by donning a Dodgers uniform, their efficiency dwindling as their age elevated. Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson, Juan Marichal and Eddie Murray are amongst those that leap to thoughts.
An exception was Jeff Kent, who Sunday acquired 14 of 16 attainable votes by the Up to date Baseball Period Committee, the one participant amongst eight on the poll with sufficient for induction into Cooperstown.
With unmatched energy as a second baseman and an unrelenting method to his craft, Kent was a Dodger for the final 4 seasons of his 17-year profession, solidifying his Corridor of Fame credentials statistically whereas additionally serving as a curmudgeonly chief on a roster crowded with younger stars reminiscent of Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, Andre Ethier and James Loney.
“It’s a second of satisfaction of the issues I did proper in my profession, the issues I persistently caught to,” he advised MLB Community. “The laborious work, the gratification of taking part in the sport the best manner. I like the sport.”
The son of a bike police officer and a product of Huntington Seaside Edison Excessive, Kent grew to become emotional throughout a information convention on the 2005 MLB Winter Conferences when it was introduced that he’d signed a two-year, $17 million contract with the Dodgers.
“That is the third time I’ve tried to get with the Dodgers,” he mentioned on the time. “I wish to be on a group with the potential to win as a result of I’m working out of time. This group has that mentality.”
The Dodgers by no means gained a World Collection throughout Kent’s tenure, however he shortly fell into the position of a veteran chief, making himself obtainable to the media after powerful losses to protect youthful gamers from the glare.
He mentioned what was on his thoughts, typically to a fault, as soon as suggesting that legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully “talks an excessive amount of.”
Possibly that’s why Kent getting the Corridor of Fame nod from an inventory of candidates that included all-time residence run chief Barry Bonds, 354-game winner Roger Clemens, 509-home run slugger Gary Sheffield, Nineteen Eighties stars Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, and Dodgers icon Fernando Valenzuela was surprising.
Even Kent was shocked.
“The feelings are overwhelming — unbelievable,” Kent mentioned. “I didn’t even anticipate it. For me, there have been so many high quality guys that the committee needed to argue via and vote for. I’m grateful that they thought of me and gave it a shot at placing me in.”
Valenzuela, Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield every had fewer than 5 votes, that means they won’t be eligible the following time their period is taken into account in 2031. They are often nominated as soon as extra at the moment, however is not going to be eligible for consideration in the event that they once more fall wanting 5 votes.
All the candidates already had been spurned by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Seventy-five % of the votes are crucial for induction, and Kent by no means acquired even 50% throughout his 10 years on the BBWAA poll that resulted in 2023.
“The time had passed by, and also you simply go away it alone, and I left it alone,” Kent mentioned. “I beloved the sport, and all the things I gave to the sport I left there on the sector. This second immediately, over the previous couple of days, I used to be completely unprepared. Emotionally unstable.”
Kent was named Nationwide League most precious participant in 2000 with the San Francisco Giants, the group with which his profession is most related. He batted a career-best .334 with 33 homers and 125 runs batted in that season and drove in additional than 100 runs in every of his six seasons batting behind Bonds.
He mentioned he plans to enter the Corridor of Fame sporting a Giants cap.
“The turning level in my profession was with Dusty Baker, the supervisor I obtained with in San Francisco,” mentioned Kent, who performed in faculty at California. “He motivated me to get the height efficiency out of me.”
Kent completed with 377 profession homers, 351 as a second baseman, probably the most ever for the place. He is also the one second baseman to gather greater than 100 RBIs in eight seasons.
As a Dodger, he hit 75 homers and batted .290 in additional than 2,000 plate appearances. His final supervisor with the Dodgers was Joe Torre, who described Kent’s influence on the franchise.
“He’s a kind of gamers whose actions are presupposed to make you perceive what he thinks,” Torre mentioned. “It’s the outdated professional factor.”
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