Jeff Kent, the formidable second baseman, found himself overwhelmed with emotion upon his election to baseball’s Hall of Fame, more than 17 years after his final game.
"Absolutely unprepared. Emotionally unstable," he confessed following Sunday’s announcement of the vote. "Thoughts are so far clouded."
Kent secured 14 of 16 votes from the contemporary era committee, comfortably surpassing the 12 ballots required to meet the 75 per cent minimum threshold.
In contrast, stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, whose careers have been marred by steroid allegations, were among seven players who once again failed to gain induction.
The induction ceremony for Kent is scheduled for July 26 in Cooperstown, New York. He will be enshrined alongside any individuals chosen by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, whose ballot results are due to be announced on January 20.
Recalling the moment, Kent’s voice cracked as he described the immediate aftermath of the phone call.
"I hugged my wife after the the phone call had come in," he said, "and I told her that a lot of the game had come rushing back to me at that moment. Similar to my retirement speech, my farewell speech that I did in LA, it reminds me of the 'no crying in baseball.' Well, I was bawling when I left the game because all that emotion just overcomes you."
A five-time All-Star, Kent boasted a .290 batting average, 377 home runs, and 1,518 RBIs across 17 seasons.
His career spanned stints 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).
His 351 home runs as a second baseman remain a record for the position. Kent’s most prolific years were spent with the San Francisco Giants, where he played alongside the record-setting Bonds.
"I think I’ve turned the double play better than anybody in the game during my era," Kent asserted.
Among the other candidates, Carlos Delgado received nine votes, while Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy each garnered six.
Bonds, Clemens, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela each received fewer than five votes, meaning they will not be eligible for consideration again until 2031.
Bonds and Clemens had also missed out in 2022 during their tenth and final appearances on the BBWAA ballot. Bonds has consistently denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs, while Clemens maintains he never used PEDs.
Reflecting on his relationship with Bonds, Kent stated: "Barry was a good teammate of mine. He was a guy that I motivated and pushed. We knocked heads a little bit.
“He was a guy that motivated me at times, in frustration and love, at times both. If you’re talking about moral code and all that, I’m not a voter and I’m trying to stay away from all of that the best I can because I don’t, I really don’t have an opinion."
Kent’s tenure with the Giants was not without its controversies. His relationship with the club became strained in 2002 when he broke a bone in his left wrist during spring training.
Kent initially told team athletic trainer Stan Conte he was injured washing his truck, but Giants general manager Brian Sabean later claimed there was "mounting evidence from all sorts of eyewitnesses that says he fell off a motorcycle popping wheelies."
He also famously scuffled with Bonds in the dugout during a game in San Diego that June.
In his previous attempts at Hall of Fame induction via the BBWAA ballot, Kent received 15.2 per cent in his first appearance in 2014, peaking at 46.5 per cent in his final year of eligibility in 2023.
"The moments seemed to pass by in not utter disappointment but just disappointment, frustration a little bit that I wasn’t better recognized," he admitted.
His early career also saw a perception challenge. Drafted by Toronto, Kent was traded to the Mets for David Cone just four months after his debut.
"The rap for me probably started out in the wrong direction in New York," Kent said. "There was this perception when I left New York and came to the West Coast that 'he wasn't a good middle infielder,' and that was so false."
The Hall of Fame restructured its veterans committees in 2022 for the third time in 12 years, establishing panels to consider the contemporary era (from 1980 onwards) and the classic era.
The contemporary baseball era now features separate ballots for players and for managers, executives, and umpires.
Each committee convenes every three years, with contemporary managers, executives, and umpires next considered in December 2026, classic era candidates in December 2027, and contemporary era players again in December 2028.
Under a rule change announced last March, candidates receiving fewer than five votes are ineligible for that committee’s ballot during the subsequent three-year cycle.
A candidate dropped and later reappearing who again receives fewer than five votes would be permanently barred from future ballot appearances.
The December 2027 vote marks the first potential opportunity for Pete Rose to appear on a Hall ballot, following baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision in May that Rose’s permanent suspension would end with his death in September 2024.
The Hall currently prohibits anyone on the permanent ineligible list from appearing on a ballot.
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