Do you think Jef Kent should be in the Hall of Fame?

Pretty simple question: Do you think Jeff Kent should be in the Hall of Fame?

I've had threads like this before for other players and wanted to see what members thought via poll and comments.

For me, I simply do not. My reasoning: He played 17 years, lead the league in nothing ever and has zero milestones and isn't close to any either. Yes, he won an MVP once but that is (and never will be) an automatic for the HOF and not every MVP is in the HOF. People are also pointing to him at his own position (2nd base) but he never won a gold glove!

Really curious what other people think. I can try and get those who have commented on other threads about this to come in an share those thoughts. It's a mixed bag so far, so curious how this will come out.

Hall of Fame? No. Hall of Very Good? Yes. Unfortunately, many HOF'ers should belong in the latter. Don't get me wrong, I liked Kent as a player. Very solid numbers all around.

I like to compare players like Kent to Todd Helton career wise. The reason I do this is because people give the same Hall of Very Good argument for Helton as well as Kent (and they have very similar career stats). Here's a breakdown:

Kent:
17 years played
2298 games played
career .290 ba
career 560 2b
career 47 3b
career 377 hr (351 at 2b - ML record)
career 1518 rbi to 1522 strikeouts
5 time all star
4 time silver slugger
0 gold gloves

Helton:
17 years played
2247 games played
career .316 ba
career 592 2b
career 37 3b
career 396 hr
career 1406 rbi to 1175 strikeouts
5 time all star
4 time silver slugger
3 gold gloves

The career #s of these 2 are very similar. I find it interesting how the hall of fame vote works. I think actual player input should have more weight in the voting process. They are the ones who competed against one another.

I don't think Jeff Kent has the credentials to be in the hall of fame. He was a good hitter, but let's remember he hit behind Barry Bonds for a number of years and saw lots of good pitches. Batting before or after one of the best hitters to play the game is going to help your stats!

As an aside I can say Jeff Kent gave me one of the best memories in baseball. I used to live across the street from Minute Maid Park back in 2004 and his walk off HR to beat the Cardinals in game 4 was awesome! Even if you're not an Astros fan, look it up on youtube, it's a fun one! Unfortunately they didn't win to get to the WS, but man was that HR sweet and it was party time in Houston that night!

I'll give him some more kudos for doing that survivor TV show, I've never watched, but did for his season. He seems like a cool guy.

Ryan

raddison1972 said:

I don't think Jeff Kent has the credentials to be in the hall of fame. He was a good hitter, but let's remember he hit behind Barry Bonds for a number of years and saw lots of good pitches. Batting before or after one of the best hitters to play the game is going to help your stats!

As an aside I can say Jeff Kent gave me one of the best memories in baseball. I used to live across the street from Minute Maid Park back in 2004 and his walk off HR to beat the Cardinals in game 4 was awesome! Even if you're not an Astros fan, look it up on youtube, it's a fun one! Unfortunately they didn't win to get to the WS, but man was that HR sweet and it was party time in Houston that night!

I'll give him some more kudos for doing that survivor TV show, I've never watched, but did for his season. He seems like a cool guy.

Ryan

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raddison1972 said:

" but let's remember he hit behind Barry Bonds for a number of years and saw lots of good pitches."
"saw lots of good pitches" this is not correct!

This is why he should be in the HOF. Can you imagine what kind of numbers he would have had batting in front of Bonds?

Let go back wayyy back, what kind of numbers would Gehrig have if he hit in front of Ruth?
This is why I think Gehrig is the greatest hitter of all time.

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No chance in Hell. I mean no chance in Hall

What if Kent didn't play 2nd but played Left Field or another position? Would we be having this conversation? I mean it sounds like the ONLY argument for Kent is because he played 2nd base and because of that, you compare to other people who played 2nd and he stacks up when it comes to hitting and hitting alone... which in any other arena are good numbers for a career but not great by any means.

MansGame said:

What if Kent didn't play 2nd but played Left Field or another position? Would we be having this conversation? I mean it sounds like the ONLY argument for Kent is because he played 2nd base and because of that, you compare to other people who played 2nd and he stacks up when it comes to hitting and hitting alone... which in any other arena are good numbers for a career but not great by any means.

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Ask Ozzie Smith.
and he stacks up when it comes to fielding and fielding alone. He has some of the worse hitting stats of any non-pitcher in the Hall
OBP=.337 SLUG=.328 OPS= .666

No.chance.the.end.

But, he, Jeff Bagwell and Larry Walker can have dinner to discuss pretty good careers

Mansgame position absolutely has to factor in. Kent put up hof numbers at his position for years. I didn't think he deserved it, but I checked his numbers and they were great for a second baseman.

Leaf said:

No.chance.the.end.

But, he, Jeff Bagwell and Larry Walker can have dinner to discuss pretty good careers

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Haha!! Can The Rock come too?


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It's a good point that Kent only merits consideration as he is one of the top 2-3 all-time power hitting second basemen. It is doubtful that he would look as "good" if he were a corner outfielder or first baseman. That said, his primary position *was* second base and he has to be given consideration for what he accomplished. He is by no means a strong candidate, but he is a candidate nonetheless. I do agree that the Hall is watered down and that is what makes all these debates fun. Why does Phil Ruzzuto and Pee Wee Reese make it and Alan Trammell does not....????

I have to disagree that Bagwell only had a "pretty good career." He has amazing numbers while having played the early part of his career in the Astrodome. Also MVP and RoY. His candidacy is much stronger than Kent's.

Kent was a real nice player at the start of his career. Then when he went to S.F. his numbers exploded. Barry Bonds was a definite influence.

I don't think he was one of the greatest of all time. I don't think he was the best 2B of his era. And I don't think he was regularly considered the best player on his team.

But he had a really solid career, period.

jay1065 said:

Hall of Fame? No. Hall of Very Good? Yes. Unfortunately, many HOF'ers should belong in the latter. Don't get me wrong, I liked Kent as a player. Very solid numbers all around.

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Thank you for agreeing with me!!!!

Yes.
Pretty good analysis comparing him to other second basemen.
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2013/12/13/5200664/hall-of-fame-2014-jeff-kent

Numbers don't lie. His numbers are comparable to current 2Bers in the HOF. True that this years ballot has better candidates. But he should go in at some point.

As for milestones, how many did Alomar have? How many MVP's? His gold gloves were well deserved but they don't mean much anymore.

No, I don't think Kent is a Hall of Famer.
I think for middle infield players, if they don't have great offensive stats like Ripken or Hornsby, they must be an incredible fielder, like Ozzie.

Kent had very good stats, but he was an average fielder.
In contrast, other HOF second basemen like Sandberg and Alomar were all-around great players, offensively and defensively.

How many MVP awards have been handed out and how many of those guys are in the HOF?

I think it's said that he gets the nod because (and only because) his main position was at 2nd. Otherwise no conversation. Why is that?! Not like he performed in the field at 2nd... Just happened to be where they plugged him.


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HOF - no, HOVG - yes.

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Austin said:

No, I don't think Kent is a Hall of Famer.
I think for middle infield players, if they don't have great offensive stats like Ripken or Hornsby, they must be an incredible fielder, like Ozzie.

Kent had very good stats, but he was an average fielder.
In contrast, other HOF second basemen like Sandberg and Alomar were all-around great players, offensively and defensively.

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Great post.


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Joe Gordon was a stud too.

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