The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee has elected legendary San Francisco Giants second baseman Jeff Kent into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday night according to the committee and ESPN.
The all-time leader in career home runs by a second baseman with 351 at the position (377 total), Kent was a four-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger and the 2000 National League MVP.
Kent played 17 seasons in the majors, having 2461 hits, 560 doubles, 1518 runs driven in and an .855 lifetime OPS.
With 55.4 Wins Above Replacement, Kent was on the cusp of getting into Cooperstown for many years.
First eligible for election in 2014, Kent spent 10 years on the writer’s ballot, not receiving more than 46.5% of the vote, despite impressive career numbers. But finally, Kent’s time came as he received 14 of the possible 16 votes from the Era Committee.
Legends Omitted
Major baseball names were omitted from this year’s Era Committee. Most shocking of all was Kent’s former teammate and Giants legend, Barry Bonds, who once again missed enshrinement into the Hall of Fame.
Bonds is well known as the home run king. And yes, it is still in the record books.
The seven-time MVP, also an MLB record, and 14-time All-Star, has been under scrutiny for decades for alleged steroid use during his illustrious career.
Fans can debate all they want about whether or not he deserves to get in for this very reason, and it has been one of the hottest topics in baseball every year.
Another somewhat surprising omission was seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens, who was alleged to have used PEDs at some point in his career.
Clemens, for the same reason as Bonds, had been unable to reach the 75% threshold for the writer’s ballot and dropped off after the 10-year maximum. This time, both Bonds and Clemens were unable to make it into Cooperstown after failing to reach even five votes on the ballot for the Era Committee.
Other legends left out of the Hall of Fame were MVPs Dale Murphy and Don Mattingly, as well as Gary Sheffield, who hit 509 career home runs, Carlos Delgado and Fernando Valenzuela.
New Rules Could Leave Legends’ Candidacy in Danger
Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela were selected on fewer than five ballots. This creates an interesting conundrum that ESPN writer Bradford Doolittle talked about.
“According to a new protocol introduced by the Hall of Fame that went into effect with this ballot, players drawing five or fewer votes won’t be eligible the next time their era is considered,” Doolittle wrote. “They can be nominated again in a subsequent cycle, but if they fall short of five votes again, they will not be eligible for future consideration.”
This would mean that because of the current cycle with the Era Committee, these legends’ last chance at enshrinement would be in 2031, instead of 2028. If they once again fail to receive five or more votes, they would become, perhaps, permanently excluded from candidacy under the new guidelines.
With Delgado, Mattingly, and Murphy surpassing five votes, they will be eligible to be elected as soon as 2028.
The BBWAA will now vote on who will join Kent in Cooperstown on Jan. 20.
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