No second baseman has more home runs than Kent’s 351. He’s also the all-time leader at the position with 1,389 RBIs, a .509 slugging percentage and 560 doubles.
We’re not supposed to call anyone a “clutch hitter” lest we risk the wrath of the sabermetrics crowd, but that’s exactly what Kent was. Was he the best with the glove? No, but he was good enough to man a premium defensive position for close to 90 percent of his career, which is more than can be said for, say, Edgar Martinez.
I also voted for Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Tim Raines, Mike Piazza, Trevor Hoffman, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling and Jeff Bagwell.
All are obvious once you remember this is a hall of fame and not a hall of saints. There are additional deserving players on the ballot, but 10 is the limit imposed on its voters by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Griffey, Piazza and maybe Hoffman figure to make it when results are announced at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The only drama will be how close Griffey comes to appearing on all ballots. Tom Seaver holds the record at 98.8 percent. A few dunderheads won’t vote for Griffey because Joe DiMaggio didn’t make it on the first ballot or some such nonsense. They, of course, should be publicly shamed and ridiculed.
ESPN’s Buster Olney annually abstains in his own little protest over how the balloting is conducted. Talk about taking yourself a bit too seriously.
Here’s a further look at the names checked on my ballot:
Jeff Bagwell: One of the best first basemen of all-time, he averaged 38 home runs and 128 RBIs per 162 games from 1993-2000. He also stole bases and was a better all-around player than Fred McGriff, who would fare better if the ballot were less crowded.
Barry Bonds: I've voted for him each of the four years he's been eligible. His probable steroid use occurred in the context of the so-called Steroid Era, which baseball heartily celebrated and even tacitly promoted. But nobody truly knows who used steroids unless they failed a test. Did he cheat? Depends on your definition. Pitcher Gaylord Perry threw illegal spitballs, even bragged about it in a book called "Me and the Spitter." That's technically cheating. If Bonds can't get in, they should toss Perry's plaque, and many others, out the window.
Roger Clemens: The Dayton native won seven Cy Young Awards and only Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson struck out more batters. You can't just vote for players you like. Steroids or not, he did way more than enough to have his face hanging from a Cooperstown wall.
Ken Griffey Jr.: Reds fans booed him even as he played through a litany of injuries during his eight years in Cincinnati. He hit 630 career home runs — all supposedly without banned substances in his body. If that's true, good for him. Can't wait to see who leaves him off the ballot.
Trevor Hoffman: Second all-time in saves with 601, trailing only Mariano Rivera. Not a lot of research required here.
Mike Mussina: Only one 20-win season. But he dominated during the Steroid Era, which should count for something, and his ERA was a run lower than league average 11 times. He was just as good or better than Don Sutton, another pitcher who compiled his way to Cooperstown.
Mike Piazza: No catcher hit more than his 427 home runs, and I don't care about his back acne and how he supposedly never took his shirt off in the clubhouse. Would have been a first-ballot choice without the steroid campaign mounted against him.
Tim Raines: Second-best leadoff hitter behind Rickey Henderson, who's already in. Stolen-base percentage is the best. Easy choice.
Curt Schilling: In 20 seasons, Schilling had 3,116 strikeouts and 711 walks, best ratio in the modern era. And he went 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason starts. What's keeping him out? His political views? His opinionated nature? The bloody sock? Anti-Red Sox sentiment? Ridiculous.
Sean McClelland covered the Mets and Yankees for a chain of New Jersey newspapers from 1990-97. From 1988-90 he periodically covered the Red Sox for The Southbridge News in Southbridge, Mass. He also served as Hal McCoy’s backup on the Reds beat with The Dayton Daily News for close to a decade.
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