Browsing: Kent

The National Baseball Hall of Fame is peppered with players who finished long, distinguished careers by donning a Dodgers uniform, their performance dwindling as their age increased. Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson, Juan Marichal and Eddie Murray are among those who leap to mind.

An exception was Jeff Kent, who Sunday received 14 of 16 possible votes by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, the only player among eight on the ballot with enough for induction into Cooperstown.

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With unmatched power as a second baseman and an unrelenting approach to his craft, Kent was a Dodger for the last four seasons of his 17-year career, solidifying his Hall of Fame credentials statistically while also serving as a curmudgeonly leader on a roster crowded with young stars such as Matt Kemp, Russell Martin, Andre Ethier and James Loney.

“It’s a moment of satisfaction of the things I did right in my career, the things I consistently stuck to,” he told MLB Network. “The hard work, the gratification of playing the game the right way. I love the game.”

The son of a motorcycle police officer and a product of Huntington Beach Edison High, Kent became emotional during a news conference at the 2005 MLB Winter Meetings when it was announced that he’d signed a two-year, $17 million contract with the Dodgers.

“This is the third time Iâ€ve tried to get with the Dodgers,†he said at the time. “I want to be on a team with the potential to win because Iâ€m running out of time. This team has that mentality.”

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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 tough losses to shield younger players from the glare.

He said what was on his mind, sometimes to a fault, once suggesting that legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully “talks 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.

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Even Kent was surprised.

“The emotions are overwhelming — unbelievable,†Kent said. “I didnâ€t even expect it. For me, there were so many quality guys that the committee had to argue through and vote for. Iâ€m grateful that they considered me and gave it a shot at putting me in.â€

Valenzuela, Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield each had fewer than five votes, meaning they will not be eligible the next time their era is considered in 2031. They can be nominated once more at that time, but will not be eligible for consideration if they again fall short of five votes.

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All of the candidates already had been spurned by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Seventy-five percent of the votes are necessary for induction, and Kent never received even 50% during his 10 years on the BBWAA ballot that ended in 2023.

“The time had gone by, and you just leave it alone, and I left it alone,” Kent said. “I loved the game, and everything I gave to the game I left there on the field. This moment today, over the last few days, I was absolutely unprepared. Emotionally unstable.”

Kent was named National League most valuable player in 2000 with the San Francisco Giants, the team with which his career is most associated. He batted a career-best .334 with 33 homers and 125 runs batted in that season and drove in more than 100 runs in each of his six seasons batting behind Bonds.

He said he plans to enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Giants cap.

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“The turning point in my career was with Dusty Baker, the manager I got with in San Francisco,” said Kent, who played in college at California. “He motivated me to get the peak performance out of me.”

Kent finished with 377 career homers, 351 as a second baseman, the most ever for the position. He also is the only second baseman to collect more than 100 RBIs in eight seasons.

As a Dodger, he hit 75 homers and batted .290 in more than 2,000 plate appearances. His last manager with the Dodgers was Joe Torre, who described Kent’s impact on the franchise.

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“Heâ€s one of those players whose actions are supposed to make you understand what he thinks,†Torre said.“Itâ€s the old pro thing.â€

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Jeff Kentwill finally have a permanent home in Cooperstown, N.Y.

The longtime infielder, who spent five seasons with the Mets from 1993-96, earned induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday via the Contemporary Baseball Era committee ballot.

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The magic number for enshrinement was 12 votes from the 16-person group — a mark of 75 percent that’s also required for candidates on the annual BBWAA ballot — and of the eight players under consideration, only Kent earned enough support (14 votes).

Kent’s election was long overdue in the eyes of many voters and fans. He hit 351 of his 377 home runs as a second baseman, making him baseball’s all-time leader at the position. He also collected 2,461 hits across 17 seasons, and 510 of them came in a Mets uniform.

In his 10th and final year on the BBWAA ballot (2023), Kent earned a personal-best 46.5 percent of the vote.

Among the Contemporary Era candidates who fell short was Don Mattingly, and his hopes of receiving a plaque in the Hall of Fame will once again linger for a few more years.

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The former Yankeescapatin was denied entry for a 19th time on Sunday, as he fell six votes shy on the ballot.

Mattingly’s next crack at the Hall of Fame will come in 2028, when the Contemporary Era committee votes again. But the latest results reaffirm the chances of him achieving the feat are rather slim.

In spite of collecting 2,153 hits, nine Gold Gloves, and one AL MVP award across 14 seasons (1982-95), Mattingly never came remotely close to crossing the 75-percent threshold in 15 years on the BBWAA ballot. He topped out at 28.2 percent in 2001, his first year as a candidate.

Interestingly enough, Mattingly received less 2025 support than another former New York first baseman in contention. Carlos Delgado, who slugged his way through four 2000s seasons with the Mets, finished with a second-best nine votes on the Contemporary Era ballot.

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Delgado received an insufficent 3.8 percent of the 2015 BBWAA vote — his first year in the running — which disqualified him from future ballots. Nevertheless, he was one of baseball’s most feared sluggers during the Steroid Era, as he smacked 473 homers and 483 doubles (2,035 totals hits) in 17 seasons.

Baseball icons Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela were the other six players denied Hall of Fame honors on Sunday.

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Kent was elected to baseballâ€s Hall of Fame on Sunday by the contemporary era committee, while steroids-tainted stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were among seven players who fell short once again.

Kent appeared on 14 of 16 ballots, two more than the 12 ballots needed for the 75% minimum.

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Carlos Delgado received nine votes, followed by Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy with six each.

Bonds, Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela each received fewer than five votes.

Kent will be inducted at the hall in Cooperstown, New York, on July 26 along with anyone chosen by the Baseball Writers†Association of America, whose balloting will be announced on Jan. 20.

A five-time All-Star second baseman, he batted .290 with 377 homers and 1,518 RBIs over 17 seasons with Toronto (1992), the New York Mets (1992-96), Cleveland (1996), San Francisco (1997-2002), Houston (2003-04) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2005-08).

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His 351 home runs as a second baseman are the most by a player at that position.

Kent received 15.2% in his first BBWAA appearance in 2014 and a high of 46.5% in the last of his 10 times o the ballot in 2023.

The Hall in 2022 restructured its veterans committees for the third time in 12 years, setting up panels to consider the contemporary era from 1980 on, as well as the classic era. The contemporary baseball era holds separate ballots for players and another for managers, executives and umpires.

Each committee meets every three years. Contemporary managers, executives and umpires will be considered in December 2026, classic era candidates in December 2027 and contemporary era players again in December 2028.

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Under a change announced by the Hall last March, candidates who received fewer than five votes are not eligible for that committeeâ€s ballot during the next three-year cycle. A candidate who is dropped, later reappears on a ballot and again receives fewer than five votes would be barred from future ballot appearances.

Bonds and Clemens fell short in 2022 in their 10th and final appearances on the BBWAA ballot, when Bonds received 260 of 394 votes (66%) and Clemens 257 (65.2%). Sheffield received 63.9% in his final BBWAA vote in 2024, getting 246 votes and falling 43 shy.

Bonds denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs and Clemens maintains he never used PEDs. Sheffield said he was unaware that substances he used during training ahead of the 2002 season contained steroids.

A seven-time NL MVP and 14-time All-Star outfielder, Bonds set the career home run record with 762 and the season record with 73 in 2001.

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A seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Clemens went 354-184 with a 3.12 ERA and 4,672 strikeouts, third behind Nolan Ryan (5,714) and Randy Johnson (4,875).

The December 2027 ballot is the first chance for Pete Rose to appear on a Hall ballot after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred decided in May that Roseâ€s permanent suspension ended with his death in September 2024. The Hall prohibits anyone on the permanent ineligible list from appearing on a ballot.

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Jeff Kent has earned election into the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 per voting by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee announced on Sunday night.

Candidates needed to receive 12 votes (75 percent) on ballots cast by the 16-member committee to earn election. Kent received 14 votes (87.5%).

The rest of the results are as follows: Carlos Delgado (9 votes, 56.3%); Dale Murphy (6 votes, 37.5%); Don Mattingly (6 votes, 37.5%); Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela each received less than five votes.

Kent built his career reputation on an uncommon trait for a second baseman: run production. He hit 351 of his 377 home runs as a second baseman, making him the all-time leader at the position, and his 1,518 RBIs rank near the top of the positionâ€s all-time list.

Solid early in his career, Kentâ€s game transformed after he arrived in San Francisco in 1997, teaming with Barry Bonds to form the Giants†most feared power duo since Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. Over the next six seasons, he batted .297 with a .903 OPS, topping 100 RBIs each year and edging Bonds for the 2000 National League MVP.

Kent earned five All-Star selections and four Silver Sluggers, and kept producing deep into his thirties. He was also a force in the postseason, where he hit nine homers with an .840 OPS in 49 games.

Members of the voting committee are: Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Pérez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell and Robin Yount; MLB executives Mark Attanasio, Doug Melvin, Arte Moreno, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins and Terry Ryan; and media members/historians Steve Hirdt, Tyler Kepner and Jayson Stark.

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Jeff Kent is headed to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, while Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were once again left out in the cold by voters. The five-time All-Star second baseman was granted enshrinement on Sunday by committee vote, with Bonds and Clemens again falling short after 10 failed BBWAA elections and their first failed committee vote. For election, candidates needed 12 votes from this year’s 16-member Contemporary Era Committee.

The newest Hall of Fame member will be formally inducted on July 26 in Cooperstown, alongside whichever players make it through this winter’s BBWAA voting. Carlos Beltran is the only player above the needed 75% among the few votes that have so far been revealed.

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New rule means Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens can’t reach Cooperstown until at least 2031

This year’s committee had eight players up for a vote: Bonds, Clemens, Kent, Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela.

Kent got 14 votes, and Delgado was next with nine. Mattingly and Murphy each got six, while Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela all got fewer than five. Due to a 2025 rule change, failing to get five or more votes in this cycle means Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela will be ineligible for the next Contemporary Era ballot in 2028.

That means the earliest that Bonds and Clemens could make the Hall is 2031.

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This year’s voting body consisted of seven Hall of Fame players (Fergie Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Pérez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell and Robin Yount), two owners (Mark Attanasio of the Milwaukee Brewers and Arte Moreno of the Los Angeles Angels), four former general managers (Doug Melvin, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins and Terry Ryan) and three media members (Steve Hirdt, Tyler Kepner and Jayson Stark).

Jeff Kent is the all-time HR leader among second basemen

Kent played in MLB for 17 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a late bloomer, accruing all of his five All-Star nods, four Silver Sluggers and 2000 NL MVP award in his 30s.

He won that MVP while playing alongside Bonds with the Giants, slashing .334/.424/.596 with 33 homers and 125 RBI at the keystone position. By the time he retired, Kent was the all-time leader in homers among second basemen, with 354 of his 377 career homers at the position.

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He finished with a career slash line of .290/.356/.500 and 55.4 WAR. Going off the WAR-based JAWS metric used to measure Hall of Fame cases, Kent rates as the 22nd-best second baseman ever.

After retiring in 2008, Kent was first up for Hall of Fame election in 2014 and received 15.2% of the BBWAA vote. As often happens, his vote share steadily climbed over his 10 years of eligibility, but it peaked at just 46.5% on his final ballot in 2023.

This was his first go-around in the committee process, and it will be his last.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are the 2 most controversial Hall of Fame candidates ever

Both Bonds and Clemens are among the most accomplished players in the history of baseball and would be automatic first-ballot additions under normal circumstances, but every sports fan is well aware that their circumstances aren’t normal. Due to allegations of performance-enhancing drug use, the candidacies of Bonds and Clemens have hung over the Hall of Fame since their final MLB seasons in 2007.

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Bonds has admitted to unknowingly using the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, while Clemens has persistently denied any steroid use, but significant evidence exists that both men knowingly took PEDs — so much so that their claims of innocence under oath before Congress led to perjury trials. Clemens was acquitted in his case, while Bonds was found guilty but had his conviction overturned on appeal.

Meanwhile, Kent was one of the public crusaders against steroid users among players. He once urged Bonds to “own up” to his steroid use and advocated for blood testing in addition to urine, with one of his lines even making it into the introduction of the Mitchell Report.

Significant allegations in Bonds’ and Clemens’ personal lives also became an issue as their candidacies dragged on. Bonds’ ex-wife accused him of physical abuse on several occasions during their marriage, and a former mistress accused him of verbal abuse and death threats.

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In 2008, the New York Daily News reported that Clemens had been engaged in an affair with country singer Mindy McCready since she was 15 years old. McCready confirmed she had a relationship but denied it began when she was 15, while Clemens apologized for unspecified “mistakes in my personal life” but denied the claim that he had an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. McCready committed suicide in 2013.

Despite the differences in their respective list of scandals, Bonds and Clemens always walked a similar path in the Hall of Fame voting. They first joined the BBWAA ballot in 2013, with Bonds receiving 36.2% of the vote and Clemens getting 37.6%.

Over the next nine years, they never finished more than 2% away from each other. They were an easy yes for any voter who thought their respective allegations shouldn’t override the Hall’s character clause. They were an easy no for voters who couldn’t get past the scandals. The Hall itself certainly didn’t want them to make it in, as it opted to cut the number of years a player can stay on the BBWAA ballot from 15 years to 10 just so it wouldn’t have to deal with their candidacies for so long.

That BBWAA candidacy ran out for the pair in 2022, with Bonds topping out at 66% and Clemens at 65.2%, dozens of votes short of the 75% needed to get in. That sent their candidacies to the committee process, in which they got fewer than four votes out of 16 the first time around.

This year’s committee wound up voting similarly.

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Wilson-Rowe said the pain she began to feel left her struggling to cough, sneeze and lift her son as well as sometimes struggling to breathe.

Initially, it was attributed to a muscle strain, but further tests and X-rays revealed a tumour in her left lung which had spread.

She is currently undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy which the statement said has been “successful so far”.

Kent have started a fund to raise money towards the costs of Wilson-Rowe’s ongoing care and treatment, while some will go to the Exon 20 Group, a charity researching treatments specific to this type of lung cancer.

“Susie has given so much to cricket, as a player, coach, mentor, and friend; inspiring countless others with her strength, kindness, and relentless drive,” Kent’s statement said.

Wilson-Rowe made 79 appearances for Kent across two spells during her career, having come through the club’s pathway.

She won the women’s County Championship title five times between 2006 and 2012 as well as the National Women’s T20 competition in 2011.

London-born Wilson-Rowe spent two seasons with Surrey before originally leaving the sport in 2015, during which time she played hockey, but returned to Kent in 2020 and was part of the side that won the T20 South East Group and Women’s London Championship.

The right-handed batter represented London Spirit during the inaugural edition of The Hundred before retiring from playing at the end of the 2021 season.

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Derbyshire head of cricket Mickey Arthur:

“The mindset shift for us has been astronomical in terms of wanting to win, playing a lot more of a brand of more positive cricket which as a captain and coach we’ve driven, and the boys have responded unbelievably well to that.

“When you have a look at the way the guys go about their business out on the ground and the fielding and the intensity and the energy, it tells you where we’re at as a team and I couldn’t be more proud of that because it shows that guys have really bought into it.

“You chase every ball down, you attempt every catch and I think we showed that in this game in heaps.”

“It’s been a phenomenal season for Luis and he’s mostly done that on one leg as well. He goes in for an operation in the next couple of days to clear out his ankle. It just shows again the determination, the drive of him and everybody within our squad to get better. “

Kent head coach Adam Hollioake:

“We didn’t bowl well enough. We didn’t build any pressure throughout and then with the bat, on what’s a very good wicket, we just haven’t capitalised and put on big partnerships, which is kind of what we’ve done all year really.

“We did get off to a good start, (but) no doubt injuries haven’t helped. Keith Dudgeon went down after one game and I think the injuries really compounded after three games.

“We’d won two and drawn one, but during that period Nathan Gilchrist got a concussion, Jas Singh did his ankle. That then put a strain on our fast bowling attack and we were sort of constantly overloading our bowlers.

“I know that’s unlucky, but we’re a professional cricket team and we’ve got to deal with that. We haven’t done that very well and we’re just going to have to be better, me included as a coach, I’m not just pointing the finger at the players.”

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Derbyshire were closing in on a huge victory against Kent when bad light forced a premature end to day three of their County Championship match at Canterbury.

Kent were 135-5 in their seconds innings, still 291 behind, after Luis Reece ripped out their top order with 4-33.

That came after Jack Morley took 5-99 as the visitors dismissed Kent for 271 in the first innings, a lead of 427.

Ekansh Singh and Ben Dawkins both hit career-best scores of 71 and 61 respectively, but when the former was out Kent’s last four wickets went for just nine runs.

Derbyshire enforced the follow-on and Reece reduced them to 20-3 before Joey Evison and Ben Compton offered some resistance. Reece eventually got Evison for 52, but Compton was unbeaten on 55 when the light failed.

The lights were on when play began on time, with Kent on 117-2.

Morley, who removed nightwatcher Michael Cohen with the final ball on day two, struck again in his first full over of the morning, getting Jaydn Denly lbw for a five-ball duck.

Ekansh was given a life when Wayne Madsen couldn’t cling on to a slip catch after he flashed at Ben Aitchison, but Dawkins was strangled as soon as Zak Chappell returned from the Nackington Road End.

Ollie Curtiss got his first first-class runs, but Morley had him brilliantly caught by Martin Andersson at midwicket for 14, leaving Kent on 217-5 at lunch.

Morley claimed his fifth in style by clinging on to a sharp return catch from Ekansh at the second attempt and in doing so he became the first Derbyshire spinner to claim five wickets at Canterbury since Les Townsend in 1931.

There was raucous applause from The Nackington Road End when Joey Evison hit Harry Came for successive boundaries to earn Kent a solitary bonus point, but he then slashed Reece to Aneurin Donald at first slip, before Aitchison got his second strangle of the day when Harry Finch flicked him behind for 14.

Corey Flintoff went for a second-ball duck, hitting Aitchison straight to the sub fielder Nick Potts at square leg and Matt Parkinson lasted four balls before he edged Reece to Wayne Madsen, who took an outstanding one-handed grab at second slip.

There was worse to come as Reece bowled Dawkins for nought with the second ball of the second innings and then had Denly caught behind for four in his next over.

Reece got his third of the innings when Ekansh was caught behind for four, but Compton and Evison steadied things.

The latter was dropped by Amrit Basra off Chappell when he was on 28 in the final over before tea, at which point Kent were 61-3. He was dropped again on 52 when he drove Dal to midwicket, but Donald put him down, apparently while celebrating a catch he hadn’t actually taken.

Donald’s embarrassment was fleeting as Evison chipped Reece to Andersson in the next over and Dal then bowled Curtiss for four but Compton swept Morley for four to pass 50 and bad light stopped play at 17:39 BST, with eight overs remaining.

Match report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay

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28 overs were lost due to rain but when play finally began both sides immediately went on the attack.Ekansh hit…

An exciting finish could be in prospect on the final day of the County Championship match between Kent and Lancashire…