Jeff Kent Selected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

Jeff Kent became the first former California baseball player to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, as announced by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.

“On behalf of the Cal Baseball program, we’re incredibly proud to see Jeff Kent inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame,” Cal head coach Mike Neu said. “His journey from Cal to becoming one of the most complete players in the game reflects the toughness, discipline, and competitive spirit that define a California Golden Bear. It’s an honor to celebrate his legacy and the standard he continues to set for our program.”

Kent, who is already a member of the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame, will be enshrined in Cooperstown, New York, after being named on 14 of the 16 ballots submitted by the committee. He was the only candidate to cross the 75 percent threshold needed for election and will join the rest of the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 by the electees voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in January. Kent’s induction will take place next July 26.

A four-time Silver Slugger award winner and five-time major-league All-Star, Kent is one of the top second basemen in the history of the game. He  holds the record for most career home runs at the position with 377. In 2,298 career games, he amassed a .290 career batting average, .356 career on-base percentage,.500 slugging percentage, 1,320 runs, 560 doubles, 47 triples, and 1,518 RBI.

Kent, who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989, enjoyed a 17-year career and played for six different organizations but he truly began performing at a hall-of-fame level when he came back to the Bay Area to play for the San Francisco Giants. The 2000 National League most valuable player won three of his Silver Sluggers and earned three of his Midsummer Classic appearances while donning black and orange. He also helped lead the team win the 2002 National League pennant and finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in three other seasons. Kent won the team’s Willie Mac Award in 1998 for his spirit and leadership and was inducted into the Giants Wall of Fame in 2009.

When asked which cap he hopes to see on his Hall of Fame bust, Kent told MLB Insider he thinks it should be the interlocking ‘SF’ that is synonymous with the Bay Area.

“The turning point in my career was with Dusty Baker, the manager I got with in San Francisco,” Kent said. “He was a hitting coach that really motivated me to get the peak performance out of me… I started to turn it around in San Francisco, I went to the World Series with San Francisco and had so many great moments in the Bay Area with those fans…. It was such a terrific place to play, and I went to college up at Berkeley so it’s a place I was familiar with.”

Kent was a three-year starter at shortstop for the Bears from 1987-89 and helped Cal win the 1988 NCAA Central Regional to advance to the College World Series. Kent was named Second Team All-Pac-10 after his freshman season, posting a .349 batting average and .454 on-base percentage while also setting a single-season school record with 25 doubles.

Over the years Kent has continuously supported the Cal baseball program and has funded facility upgrades at Stu Gordon Stadium, including the Jeff Kent Batting Cages.