Former Dodgers, Giants slugger Jeff Kent voted

The National Baseball Hall of Fame is peppered with gamers who completed long, distinguished careers by donning a Dodgers uniform, their efficiency dwindling as their age elevated. Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson, Juan Marichal and Eddie Murray are among those who leap to thoughts.

An exception was Jeff Kent, who Sunday obtained 14 of 16 doable votes by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, the only participant among eight on the poll with enough for induction into Cooperstown.

With unmatched energy as a second baseman and an unrelenting method to his craft, Kent was a Dodger for the last 4 seasons of his 17-year profession, solidifying his Hall of Fame credentials statistically while also serving as a curmudgeonly chief on a roster crowded with younger 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 bike police officer and a product of Huntington Beach Edison High, Kent grew to become emotional during a news convention 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 I’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 I’m running out of time. This team has that mentality.”

The Dodgers never gained a World Series during Kent’s tenure, but he shortly fell into the function of a veteran chief, making himself accessible to the media after robust losses to defend youthful gamers from the glare.

He said what was on his thoughts, 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 checklist of candidates that included all-time home run chief Barry Bonds, 354-game winner Roger Clemens, 509-home run slugger Gary Sheffield, Eighties stars Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, and Dodgers icon Fernando Valenzuela was sudden.

Even Kent was stunned.

“The emotions are overwhelming — unbelievable,” Kent said. “I didn’t even expect it. For me, there were so many quality guys that the committee had to argue through and vote for. I’m grateful that they considered me and gave it a shot at putting me in.”

Valenzuela, Bonds, Clemens and Sheffield each had fewer than 5 votes, that means they won’t be eligible the next time their period is taken into account in 2031. They may be nominated once more at that time, but is not going to be eligible for consideration if they again fall short of 5 votes.

All of the candidates already had been spurned by the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. Seventy-five p.c of the votes are mandatory for induction, and Kent never obtained even 50% during his 10 years on the BBWAA poll 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 helpful participant in 2000 with the San Francisco Giants, the crew with which his profession is most related. 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 carrying a Giants cap.

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

Kent completed with 377 profession homers, 351 as a second baseman, the most ever for the place. He also is the only second baseman to accumulate 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 supervisor with the Dodgers was Joe Torre, who described Kent’s impression on the franchise.

“He’s one of those players whose actions are supposed to make you understand what he thinks,” Torre said. “It’s the old pro thing.”