Jeff Kent on Road to Baseball HOF
Statistics Compare Favorably with Second Basemen Now in Cooperstown
Jeff Kent, now playing in his 16th season in Major League Baseball, already has put up enough numbers in his career to earn induction into the Hall of Fame.
It’s a question that is raised and discussed periodically by the so-called experts in the media as well as friends socializing in a corner bar.
Which active players in (fill in the name of the professional sport) will make it to the Hall of Fame?
In this article, the sport is Major League Baseball (MLB). And any discussion regarding active players who will make it to The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum (Baseball HOF), located in Cooperstown, NY, HAS to include Jeff Kent.
What’s more, if Kent retired today, he already has put up numbers in his career, particularly as a batter, to have earned status as one of the GREATEST second basemen of all time.
An opposing argument could be that batting is easier now than in the past. One reason is the trend in stadiums. The bulk of stadiums that have gone into service in recent years (with the notable exception of PETCO Park in San Diego) are batter-friendly.
Nevertheless, based on his statistics, Kent deserves to be immortalized in the future in the Baseball HOF and be recognized as being among the GREATEST to have ever played second base.
Keep in mind that statistics have been kept from the start of the National and the American leagues. And the vast majority of statistical categories for both batting, fielding, base-running and pitching are the same now more than 100 years later (with the notable exception of the “save,” a category created for relief pitchers.) Thus, it’s easy to compare players from different eras.
Entering the scheduled game on July 27, it’s business as usual for Kent as a batter in 2007, his 16th season in MLB. Even though he is now 39 years old, Kent has a .295 batting average with 15 home runs and 55 RBI. He is first in home runs and second in RBI for the Los Angeles Dodgers, his sixth team in MLB. He also leads the Dodgers in doubles with 24.
On defense, his fielding percentage is .969, slightly below his career average -- .978.
Kent’s work with the bat and glove is a big reason the Dodgers are in first place in the National League Western Division.
Kent Versus Second Basemen in the HOF
In order to put Kent’s offensive and defensive statistics into context, let’s compare against those of the other second basemen already in the Baseball HOF.
Currently, there are 18 players in the Baseball HOF with second base listed as the primary position. However, for the purpose of this comparison, Rod Carew and Jackie Robinson were not included. They played second base, but spent a large portion of their career playing other position(s). And Frank Grant played only in the Negro Leagues, not in MLB.
Thus, Kent’s statistics were compared against those of the following second basemen in the Baseball HOF – Eddie Collins, Sr., Charlie Gehringer, Rogers Hornsby, Nap Lajoie Joe Morgan, Frankie Frisch, Ryne Sandberg, Bid McPhee, Bobby Doerr, Tony Lazzeri, Nellie Fox, Red Schoendienst, Billy Herman, Bill Mazeroski and Johnny Evers.
Kent’s current statistics are compared against those players in 10 categories -- nine batting and one fielding. The statistics were obtained from the Sports Illustrated/CNN Web site.
Players were ranked first through 16th in each category. Using a scoring system that awarded 16 points for first place, 15 for second, etc., Kent ranked seventh overall with 88.5 points. He trails Collins (123.5), Gehringer (123), Hornsby (123), Lajoie (110), Morgan (108) and Frisch (102).
Kent needs one walk to pick up .5 point in that category. Currently, he and Ryne Sandberg are tied for ninth at 761. Kent also could pass the next two players on the walks list -- Johnny Evers (778) and Bobby Doerr (809) -- later this season.
Kent’s largest point total – 16 – came in home runs. He already has hit the most home runs ever by a second baseman – 360. Hornsby is the runner-up in the category with 301.
Here is how Kent ranks in the other nine categories – eighth in batting average, .290 (leader: Hornsby, .358), 10th in runs, 1,258 (leader: Collins, 1,820), 12th in hits, 2,289 (leader: Collins, 3,314), fourth in doubles, 525 (leader: Lajoie, 657), 16th in triples, 46 (leader: McPhee 188), third in RBI, 1,435 (leader: Lajoie, 1,599), 11th in stolen bases, 94 (leader: Collins, 744), seventh in fielding percentage (all positions), .978 (leader: Sandberg, .989.)
For information about a second baseman who already is enshrined in the Baseball HOF, please read the Suite101 article, "Research Opens Eyes Re: Joe Morgan." Using the same formula, Morgan is fifth in the rankings, the highest position for a "modern" second baseman ( one who played in the second half of the 20th century). Morgan played in MLB from 1963-84.
