Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Jeff Kent and the Hall of Fame

by at
Me and the future Hall of Famer
has a running topic on their blog discussing the Hall of Fame worthiness of players who are about to be eligible for the ballot.

Today it is 's turn.
I am solidly in the camp that he should be in the Hall and not just because I got my picture taken with him. His 6 seasons with the Giants were pure magic. I can still remember the short powerful swing that launched balls into the wide open gaps of AT&T park.

With him and there was never a shortage of offensive power and unlike now a 2 or 3 run deficit felt like nothing and that it was just a matter of time before the Giants prevailed.

His numbers back up these warm and fuzzy feelings. He is among the best hitting 2nd Basemen of all time. Kent is in the top 10 for OPS+ for 2nd baseman, 14th among 2nd basemen in WAR, for batting runs he's 6th all-time among 2nd basemen.

Here are his number from his Giants peak:

Year G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ Awards
1997 155 651 580 90 145 38 2 29 121 48 133 .250 .316 .472 .789 105
1998 137 594 526 94 156 37 3 31 128 48 110 .297 .359 .555 .914 142
1999 138 585 511 86 148 40 2 23 101 61 112 .290 .366 .511 .877 124 ,
2000 159 695 587 114 196 41 7 33 125 90 107 .334 .424 .596 1.021 162 ,,
2001 159 696 607 84 181 49 6 22 106 65 96 .298 .369 .507 .877 131 ,
2002 152 682 623 102 195 42 2 37 108 52 101 .313 .368 .565 .933 147 ,
SFG (6 yrs) 900 3903 3434 570 1021 247 22 175 689 364 659 .297 .368 .535 .903 136
Provided by :
Generated 8/10/2010.


He wasn't just a one trick pony either, he was a solid defender finishing his career right around average and during his Giants years finishing with a tally of 17 runs above replacement.

During his Giants years he accumulated 32.9 wins above replacement, second only to over the same period.

He didn't always have the best relations with the media and left the team on not the best of terms but time has healed those wounds for me. I remember the good things that he did for the Giants and the playoff teams he helped lead.

He was a big part of the teams success, he played the game hard and deserves to be in the hall of fame. I encourage you all to go vote at for .


If your on Twitter you should definitely follow the . If you're not you should really consider joining, lots of good stuff going on there.

Labels: Debate, Hall of Fame, Jeff Kent

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