good riddance....big dodger fan here...he can take andrew jones, brad penny and chan ho with him too....the mix of vets like lowe, nomar,manny, and the youth of ethier,loney,martin,and kemp r the lifeline of this team....f kent..never liked him...everything is about him....
Apparently Kent was reacting to Scully's comment that Kent had benefited from having Manny's bat in the lineup. Jeff must be one insecure individual if a comment like that upsets him so much.uke1:
Is that really it?????
Wow!
You never slam a legend.......what ever you actually think......and survive!
Retraction soon.............odds 9/5 -110
http://thedailystar.com/localsports/x336266001/Kent-says-hes-not-sweating-future
June 21, 2010
Kent says he's not sweating future
By P.J. Harmer Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN _ Jeff Kent can't control the future.
And he seems fine with that.
Kent, 42, likely will be a highly talked about candidate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame when his name appears on the ballot for the first time in 2014.
A power-hitting second baseman who spent 17 years in the majors with the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians, Kent hit .290 for his career and finished with 2,461 hits.
Sunday at the Classic, Kent said he's thought about his chances but hasn't harped on whether he'll earn election.
"Because there's a chance, I try and suppress it and let it either come to fruition or die away," Kent said. "I'm not going to hold my hat on it. It's not how I live my life, but what an honor it is for people to debate it, talk about it and question it.
"Even when I played the game of baseball, I didn't like to talk about the future because I couldn't control it," he continued. "That's absolutely something I can't control, so I'm trying to keep my eye off it and let it create a life of its own rather than me try and PR it."
That mindset, he said, proved beneficial throughout his playing days and should help now as his Hall candidacy draws closer.
"I've been able to control my emotions in the game," he said. "I've been able to not get so amped up in situations that I can't control, and this is one of them. It's something I can't control, so I'm not going to get emotionally involved."
Kent's numbers seem to deem him worthy of being a Hall of Famer. His numbers are on par or better than 2005 inductee Ryne Sandberg, also a second baseman.
Kent finished with 377 homers, 560 doubles and 1,518 RBIs. Sandberg had 282 homers, 403 doubles, 2,386 hits and 1,061 RBIs.
A five-time National League All-Star, Kent won the NL MVP for the Giants in 2000 when he hit .334 with 196 hits, 33 homers and 125 RBIs. His best power season came in 2002 when he had 37 homers among his 195 hits.
Since his retirement, Kent seems to have a better grasp on the history of the game, and possibly his place in it.
Playing in his second Hall of Fame Classic has allowed him to the chance to learn more, especially from the Hall of Famers who take part in the game.
"It's a neat experience to meet some of the older players," he said. "Not being a baseball historian, I get to jump in the middle of it and learn more about the game and some of these Hall of Famers. It's pretty cool. ... I wish I would have played in their eras. I watched them play and watched their personalities more than anything.
"I was more into the personalities and characters of players," he continued. "They were mean when they played. They're not so mean now, which is kind of cool."
Still, he said he's not ready to call himself a Hall of Famer. He said he'll let the process take its course. But if that call comes, Kent said it would be a crowning achievement.
"Absolutely it would be," he said. "Who knows what I'll be doing. I'd be jumping higher than I ever jumped in my life. Flying out here and driving to get here from Syracuse, more than last year, I had the impression that this is a hallowed area and a very special area. It'd be neat to have that opportunity."
June 21, 2010
Kent says he's not sweating future
By P.J. Harmer Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN _ Jeff Kent can't control the future.
And he seems fine with that.
Kent, 42, likely will be a highly talked about candidate for the National Baseball Hall of Fame when his name appears on the ballot for the first time in 2014.
A power-hitting second baseman who spent 17 years in the majors with the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians, Kent hit .290 for his career and finished with 2,461 hits.
Sunday at the Classic, Kent said he's thought about his chances but hasn't harped on whether he'll earn election.
"Because there's a chance, I try and suppress it and let it either come to fruition or die away," Kent said. "I'm not going to hold my hat on it. It's not how I live my life, but what an honor it is for people to debate it, talk about it and question it.
"Even when I played the game of baseball, I didn't like to talk about the future because I couldn't control it," he continued. "That's absolutely something I can't control, so I'm trying to keep my eye off it and let it create a life of its own rather than me try and PR it."
That mindset, he said, proved beneficial throughout his playing days and should help now as his Hall candidacy draws closer.
"I've been able to control my emotions in the game," he said. "I've been able to not get so amped up in situations that I can't control, and this is one of them. It's something I can't control, so I'm not going to get emotionally involved."
Kent's numbers seem to deem him worthy of being a Hall of Famer. His numbers are on par or better than 2005 inductee Ryne Sandberg, also a second baseman.
Kent finished with 377 homers, 560 doubles and 1,518 RBIs. Sandberg had 282 homers, 403 doubles, 2,386 hits and 1,061 RBIs.
A five-time National League All-Star, Kent won the NL MVP for the Giants in 2000 when he hit .334 with 196 hits, 33 homers and 125 RBIs. His best power season came in 2002 when he had 37 homers among his 195 hits.
Since his retirement, Kent seems to have a better grasp on the history of the game, and possibly his place in it.
Playing in his second Hall of Fame Classic has allowed him to the chance to learn more, especially from the Hall of Famers who take part in the game.
"It's a neat experience to meet some of the older players," he said. "Not being a baseball historian, I get to jump in the middle of it and learn more about the game and some of these Hall of Famers. It's pretty cool. ... I wish I would have played in their eras. I watched them play and watched their personalities more than anything.
"I was more into the personalities and characters of players," he continued. "They were mean when they played. They're not so mean now, which is kind of cool."
Still, he said he's not ready to call himself a Hall of Famer. He said he'll let the process take its course. But if that call comes, Kent said it would be a crowning achievement.
"Absolutely it would be," he said. "Who knows what I'll be doing. I'd be jumping higher than I ever jumped in my life. Flying out here and driving to get here from Syracuse, more than last year, I had the impression that this is a hallowed area and a very special area. It'd be neat to have that opportunity."
No brainer?
Let's not get carried away, he was a poor defender, and although nice numbers, .290-25-100 in a sluggers era is not eyepopping.
He didn't even dominate position during his playing days, Biggio and Alomar both had better careers at second.
To say Kent is a no brainer HoF'er, then you would have to say Mussina is a HoF pitcher.
Let's not get carried away, he was a poor defender, and although nice numbers, .290-25-100 in a sluggers era is not eyepopping.
He didn't even dominate position during his playing days, Biggio and Alomar both had better careers at second.
To say Kent is a no brainer HoF'er, then you would have to say Mussina is a HoF pitcher.
I'd say it's debatable that Biggio and Alomar had better statistical years. Clearly, Kent was not a good defensive player, but he had a 9 year run, where he averaged .296 28-110. Biggio and Alomar stole more bases and scored more runs, but their numbers don't compare to that 9 year span that Kent had.
Kent is the only one of them to win an MVP.
I say all 3 of them get in, but would Biggio get consideration if he didn't have 3000 hits?
Kent is the only one of them to win an MVP.
I say all 3 of them get in, but would Biggio get consideration if he didn't have 3000 hits?
Not saying Kent is not going to the Hall, but by no means a first ballot guy.
Let's look at those nine years.
Let's look at Jeff Kent's 2000 MVP season.
For starters one can not overlook the fact that Kent batted behind Bonds all season.
Kent played in all but two of the Giants regular season games, and drove in 125 runs.
Barry Bonds reached base via HBP 3 times, by walk 117 times, and by hits 147 times, making that a total of 167 times Bonds reached base.
To be fair, one must subtract 49 from 167, that's the amount of homers Bonds hit in 2000 reducing that number to 118.
Jeff Kent came up to the plate 118 with Bonds on, that's not including Benard or Mueller, who were batting ahead of Bonds was on.
Kent had 695 plate appearances, Bonds was on base 118 times of those 695 PA's
Given those factors, Kent should have driven in more than 125 runs.
Another intangible one has to consider that season is the fact that the opposing pitchers had to 'come in' to Kent, being they could not walk him with the bases clogged.
Most any hitter of Kent's abiltiy could have put similar numbers that season, if not better.
Hell, Kent did not even lead the league in RBI's.
Vlad Guerrerro and Brian Giles each drove in 123 runs,(2 less) Vlad had Jose Vidro batting ahead of him, Giles had catcher Jason Kendall in front of him
.
If Kent has Kendall batting in front of him instead of Bonds, I guarantee you he doesn't even drive in 100.
Put Vlad behind Bonds in that 2000 season instead of Kent, "The Impaler" drives in 140, if not 145.
Hell, take a look at what Guerrero did that season.
His 2002 season numbers are even more skewed because of Bonds in front of him in the order.
