Jeff Kent received 14 of the 16 votes by the Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
Former MVPs and 1980s-era icons Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy came up short in the Hall of Fame voting.
It seems highly unlikely that seven-time MVP Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens never get inducted into the Hall of Fame.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Every San Francisco Giants fan knew the day would eventually arrive that their legendary slugger would be elected into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Who would have ever imagined second baseman Jeff Kent would be the one to enter Cooperstown while Barry Bonds, baseball’s all-time home run king, was shut out again.
Maybe this time, for good.
Kent, whose 377 home runs are the most by a primary second baseman in baseball history, received 14 of the 16 votes by the contemporary era committee and was the only player elected on Sunday, Dec. 7. Kent, who received 46.5% of the votes in his final year on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot in 2023, needed 12 votes (75%) to be elected.
Outfielder Carlos Delgado was second with nine votes, with former MVPs Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy finishing with six votes apiece.
Most telling was that Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela each received fewer than five votes, which means they will be bypassed when the committee meets again in three years. They won’t be eligible again until 2031. If they don’t receive five votes the next time on the ballot, they’ll be permanently ineligible for the Hall of Fame.
Considering that the BBWAA declined to elect Bonds and Clemens for 10 years, and this is the second time that the seven-time MVP and seven-time Cy Young winner were bypassed by the contemporary era committee, the reality is that they will never be inducted into the Hall of Fame with their links to using performance-enhancing drugs during their career.
“I don’t think I ever saw a better player play the game overall,’’ Kent said of Bonds, his teammate of six years. “Everything he did, every phase of the game, he was one of the best players I ever saw. …
“If you’re talking about moral code and all of that, I’m not a voter, and I’m trying to stay away from all of that the best I can because I really don’t have an opinion. I left it. It doesn’t matter to me anymore.
“And I know he’s been argued amongst a lot of baseball elites about if he ought to be in or not. Keep having that argument. You argue through it, and if he’s not, he’s not. And if he is, he is.
“It’s not going to matter to me, one way or the other.’’
While Kent certainly had the offensive numbers to be enshrined into Cooperstown, his election still was a surprise. There was so much campaigning for Mattingly and Murphy, who were media darlings and fan favorites playing in New York and Atlanta, respectively. They were considered the favorites to be elected by the contemporary era committee.
Kent, who hardly was considered the warm and fuzzy type like Mattingly and Murphy, and considered surly at times by the media, but was admired as a fierce and fiery competitor by Giants manager Dusty Baker and his teammates. Maybe this is why the announcement Sunday on the MLB Network in the lobby of the Hilton Bonnet Creek resort was greeted by a smattering of boos by the scattered fans who gathered around the studio set.
Yet, Kent showed a different side of his personality this night, breaking down at times, using a towel to wipe tears streaming down his face, saying he was caught completely off guard by the announcement. He was disappointed, frustrated, and angry at times that he didn’t come close to being elected on the writers’ ballot. He has never even been inside the Hall of Fame, or been to an induction ceremony.
“I didn’t think about it much, you know, during the 10 years of opportunity to get voted in,’’ Kent said. “It would come up every year and the moments seem to, you know, pass by. And not utter disappointment, but just disappointment, you know, frustration, a little bit that I wasn’t better recognized.’’
Kent, 57, never completely gave up on the idea of one day being elected into the Hall of Fame, but took particular disdain at the narrative that he was a poor defensive second baseman, and admired only for his offensive numbers. Yet, he said he took pride in his defense, was much more bothered by making an error than striking out three times in a game.
“I can tell you this, it truly mattered to me more about playing defense than offense …’’ Kent said. “I think I turned the double play better than anybody in the game during my era. So, you know, it irked me when I made an error, it didn’t bother me so much when I struck out three times, but when I made one error, boy, it bothered the heck out of me. So maybe that gives you a little bit of an understanding of how much defense mattered to me.’’
It also didn’t help, of course, that when Kent started his career in Toronto, he was blocked by Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar, and struggled defensively when he played for the New York Mets.
“I probably started out in the wrong direction in New York a little bit,’’ Kent said, “so I think that there was this perception when I left New York and came to the West Coast that he wasn’t a good middle infielder. That was so false. It never mattered to me to try to change that. I was a big guy playing up the middle. …
“You know, I wasn’t a flashy guy,’’ Kent said. “I wasn’t a guy that sought out headlines. I played on the West Coast, so some of the best parts of my career on the West Coast. So, everybody was in bed on the East Coast, they never got to watch me.’’
He also was never considered the best player on any of the six teams he played for in his 17-year career, but as Baker can attest, few players wanted to win more than Kent.
“Jeff was just a ballplayer that was out to beat you,’’ said Baker, who was praised effusively by Kent for helping him develop into perhaps the best power-hitting second baseman in history. “Barry and Jeff made each other better, especially Barry making Jeff better, whether he wants or Barry wants to admit it.’’
And now, one is in the Hall of Fame.
The other likely never will be.
Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.