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Bradford Doolittle
ORLANDO, Florida — Jeff Kent, who holds the record for home runs by a second baseman, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
The 57-year-old Kent was nominated by the Contemporary Baseball Era committee on 14 of 16 ballots, two more than required for inclusion.
Equally notable as Kent’s selection were the names of those who did not earn enough support, including all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, 354-game winner Roger Clemens, two MVPs of the 1980s, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, and Gary Sheffield, who belted 509 career homers.
Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and dodgers The name of the legendary Fernando Valenzuela was placed on less than five ballots. According to a new protocol introduced by the Hall of Fame, which took effect with this ballot, players receiving five or fewer votes will not be eligible the next time their era is considered. They may be nominated again in the next cycle, but if they again fall short of five votes, they will not be eligible for future consideration.
The candidacy of Bonds and Clemens has long been one of the most hotly debated among Hall of Fame fans due to their association with PEDs. With Sunday’s results, they move one step closer to being permanently stripped of the game’s highest honor.
If Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela are nominated when their era arrives in 2031 and fall short of five votes again, it will be their last chance to be enshrined under current guidelines.
Kent, whose best season was with san francisco giants As Bonds’s teammate, he continued his long-standing neutral stance on Bonds’ candidacy and declined to offer an opinion on whether he believed Bonds should be elected.
“Barry was a good teammate of mine,” Kent said. “He was a man who inspired me and pushed me. We bickered a little bit. He was a man who inspired me at times, in desperation, in love, sometimes in both.”
“Barry was one of the best players I ever saw play the game, amazing. To me, I’ve always said that. I’ve always avoided the specific answer you’re looking for, because I don’t have one. I don’t have one. I’m not a voter.”
Kent played 17 seasons for six franchises and became emotional at times recalling the various milestones of his Hall of Fame career, which ended in 2008. He remained on the BBWAA ballot for all 10 years of his eligibility after retiring, but topped out with 46.5% in 2023, his last year.
“Time has passed, and you leave it alone, and I leave it alone,” Kent said. “I loved the game so much, and I left everything I gave to the game on the field. Today in this moment, the last few days, I was just not ready. Emotionally unstable.”
A five-time All-Star, Kent was named NL MVP in 2000 as a member of the Giants, posting career highs with a .334 average while posting 33 homers and 125 RBI. Kent hit 377 career homers, 351 as a second baseman, a record for the position.
Kent is the 62nd player elected to the Hall who played for the Giants. also played for torontoThe New York Mets, cleveland, houston And the Dodgers. Now, he will symbolically play for baseball’s most elite team – the ones that have plaques hanging in Cooperstown, New York.
“I haven’t been through the Hall of Fame,” Kent said. “And once I get there it’s going to be awesome.”
Carlos Delgado was named on nine ballots, the second highest number of ballots out of the eight under consideration. Mattingly and Murphy got six votes each. All three are eligible to be nominated again when the contemporary era is next considered in 2028.
The next step in the Hall calendar is for the BBWAA to vote on this year’s primary Hall of Fame ballot. Those results will be announced on January 20.
Anyone selected through that process will join Kent on July 26, 2026, on the field at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.
