So … that surly SOB, Jeff Kent, is gonna hang up the spikes. Immediately, the questions came up about his qualifications for the Hall of Fame. Quite a timely topic, don’t you think?
Kent spent 17 years in the major leagues and leaves as the career home-run leader among second basemen with 351, 74 more than Ryne Sandberg. He had a .290 career batting average, 377 homers, 1,518 RBIs, 2,461 hits, and a .500 slugging percentage. Kent made his only World Series appearance with San Francisco in 2002, hitting three homers as the Giants lost to the Anaheim Angels in seven games. Ryno’s batting stats are not quite as glossy, but he tallied 344 stolen bases and several gold gloves. What Kent lacked in speed, he certainly compensated for it with run production … GREAT run production for a second baseman.
I’ll offer an opinion and then leave it to you, my fellow benchwarmers. I think he’s HoF caliber, but not a first ballot guy or anything like that. He’ll need to sweat it out, but not as much as Jim Rice. Let us know what you think!
Wally’s Wednesday? Hmmmm….I like it. It’s gotta nice ring to it. What does the rest of the Bench think?
A lot of guys in the Hall of Fame could be labeled as SOBs – Ty Cobb being one of them.
But Jeff Kent has to be considered one of the best, if not the best to play 2nd base. I agree with Wally – probably not a first time ballot HOF’er, but will be in shortly after that.
Don’t get used to it, Casey. Won’t be a regular gig. Just happened to be a Wednesday where I had a few minutes and saw something intriguing.
Where’s Chas?!? Thought he’d have the over/under handicapped on “yes” votes for Kent’s first HoF ballot by now. Plus, Bill James calculations.
Aww gee Wally – I was just talking to the Beav and we agreed that the Bench is so much better when you write stuff. C’mon what do you say? Maybe I can get Aunt Bea to make you a pie or something. You know any time you’re in Mayberry my pa will help you if you get a parking ticket or something.
Anybody want to guess the over/under on how many times Joe Morgan will discuss on Sunday night baseball the validity of Kent’s HOF candidacy?
I don’t think Kent is the slam dunk that being the all-time leading home run hitter at your position would seem to imply. For his time, I rate him the third best 2B (not enough overlap to consider Ryne Sandberg or Lou Whitaker on this list):
1. Roberto Alomar
2. Craig Biggio
3. Jeff Kent
4. Chuck Knoblauch?
Is that enough? In his case, I think it is, but I’d be betting against him getting in on the first ballot as well.
This brings up an interesting question. If Kent was a first baseman or an outfielder, the standards would be a lot tougher, right? Is it fair to consider a player relative to his position when he wasn’t any better than average defensively? I guess being an average defensive second baseman isn’t nothing to sneeze at, though. I don’t know. I’m just throwing this out there.
One more thing: there are only 10 third basemen in the Hall of Fame, and Joe Gordon makes it 18 (or 17, I can’t remember) at 2B, so qualifications relative to your position aren’t necessarily enough.
Wally, I hope I didn’t disappoint you by not using any SABRmetrics. If it will make you feel better, that 2B list in order of career win shares would be Biggio, Alomar, Kent, Knoblauch. 🙂
Where did you get that dopey picture of Kent? That’s perfect.
Casey gets credit for the goofy photo of Kent.
Chas, I agree with you that Kent is not an automatic … because I tend to think of him more as a leftfielder masquerading as a second baseman. He was not a great fielder … and for the era he played in, his power stats are not as prolific as they appear to be on the surface. Not many All-Star games. Not many other accolades (but one MVP?). Just really seemed to be in the periphery during most of his career. So lastly, there’s the “Eye Test” … or maybe it’s the ear test … whatever … but when you hear the name Jeff Kent, does “Hall of Famer” come to mind quickly? For me it doesn’t. I think he’ll make it eventually after several years of eligibility, but no way is he a first ballot guy, IMO.
When I hear the name – Jeff Kent – I think of Harley-Davidson. Or whatever cycle he was riding when he was injured in the off-season. Is he the only player to have a clause in his contract that prohibits his riding in the off-season?
As for the ‘eye-test’ – didn’t Ryne Sandberg trump every second baseman in that category? I mean how many guys could get Harry Caray to say: “If I was a woman, I would go after Ryno.”
Big belly laugh here. No … that was Harry’s “Eye Candy Test”. Helmet sticker for you Casey!
I think Ron Gant was let go by the Braves because of a dirt bike accident in the off-season that violated his contract.
I don’t like the concept of an “eye test”. I think people tend to emphasize a particular portion of a player’s career when they do that, rather than look at the entire body of work.
I hear ya Chas … BUT it is the Hall of “FAME”. When it comes to being “famous”, there’s got to be a qualitative aspect to it. Some players are admitted to the HoF mostly because they added something new, something memorable, highly specialized, or changed the game. Dimaggio was graceful, Bruce Sutter revolutionized a new pitch, Brooks Robinson was an awesome, acrobatic fielder. Some players are added because they were simply outstanding producers on the field, or particularly in clutch situations, but they are more the “body of work ” types. Al Kaline, Jim Rice, Don Sutton, etc. Let’s face it … Lou Brock is in really cuz he did one thing well that people remember. Reggie was Mr October, but he also led the world in strikeouts. In these cases, “fame” is mostly derived from short snipets or subsets of their entire body of work.
So … in the end … Jeff Kent has no sex appeal whatsoever on the former standard, so his body of work better be damned impressive on the latter standard if he’s going to get in. He was a very good offensive player. Outstanding? Top 5%? Probably not. Somebody brought up today that if you look at his seasons when he wasn’t batting behind Barry Bonds, he was pretty average. But he’ll get into the Hall some day.
I think that when you judge baseball HOF candidates, especially middle infielders, glove work has to play a huge role. When I think of Jeff Kent I must admit that I have no idea how he handled a glove. I think: hitting with power and being an SOB at times, but can’t remember a big play with the glove (of course he never played for the Saux, so I didn’t pay much attention, haha). Ryno swung the bat AND brought the leather, as did that ESPN announcer guy mentioned before (works with Jon Miller). Sorry, but Kent has to wait quite a while if he gets the call at all.
To say that I am glad that Jim Rice did get his call would be a slight understatement. I think he was caught in the catch 22 of voters to the hall: that you must dominate during your career, but not be a flash in the pan. In our memories, Rice suffers because at the end of his career he was a double play machine- hitting into them anyways- while in his prime he was the most feared hitter in the AL. To hang on and lengthen your career you risk having voters remember more of the negative aspects that come at the end. I’m just glad that he made it in. Now the wait doesn’t matter so much…
They let National Leaguers in the HOF?? What a shame. I don’t know about Kent. If he wasn’t such a jerk, he might be a shoo in. Considering some of the marginal Yankees that are in, why not let Kent in.
Wally, didn’t Guilfoiles dad run the HOF?
Yes, Boog … his dad was in that role back in the 80’s. Not sure if he’s still involved.
Whad’ya got against the NL? They did win the WS this year.
Who would you rather watch take swings at the ball. David Ortiz or Ben Sheets? Having pitchers hit is a joke.
Whats with the lack of posting productivity?? Nothing to say about the College FB draft (oops, I mean National Letter of Intent Day)?
I’ve been pretty prominent in the comments section. You need to check in more than every 3-4 weeks! Posts take a lot of time, which I don’t have this time of year. I wrote a couple paragraphs on ND’s class in one of the other posts from earlier in the week. Get with it!