2000 National League MVP Jeff Kent speaks against him Baseball Hall of Fame vote After failing to make it to Cooperstown in his tenth and final year on the writer’s ballot.
“Voting over the years has been pretty awkward,” Kent told the newspaper. San Francisco Chronicle On Tuesday, after the Baseball Writers Association of America voted Scott Rollin Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Kent – considered one of the greatest baserunners in league history – polled 181 votes, receiving 46.5% of the vote, short of the 75% required for induction.
Kent added, “Baseball is losing two generations of great players who were the best of their era because a couple of non-voting people keep comparing those players to the already voting players from past generations and influencing the votes.” “It’s unfair to the best players of their era and those who actually voted, in my opinion.”
Although this was Kent’s last year on the writer’s ballot, he could still make it to the Hall of Fame. He is eligible to participate in the 2026 Contemporary Games Age Committee ballot.
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Kent’s 17-year MLB career included five All-Star appearances, four Silver Players, and a National League Most Valuable Player Award. He played for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, and Los Angeles Dodgers, but his career didn’t take off until he was traded after the 1996 season to the San Francisco Giants.
In 2000, he was named the National League Most Valuable Player over teammate Barry Bonds. Kent, who with Bonds led the Giants to the NL West title, was the first baseman to win the award since Ryne Sandberg for the Cubs in 1984. He hit . 334 with 33 homers and 125 RBI that season.
290 batters, holds the all-time record for most home runs by a second baseman with 351 (of 377). That’s more than Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg (277), Joe Morgan (266) and Rogers Hornsby (265).
Kent has also topped 20 home runs and 100 RBI in eight different seasons. Among second basemen, Hornsby has accomplished the feat only five times while no other player has done it more than four times.
Kent finished his career with 2,461 hits and 1,518 RBI.
Contributing: Scott Buick
This article originally appeared in the USA TODAY: Jeff Kent: Voting into the Baseball Hall of Fame is an ’embarrassment’