Second Baseman,
San Francisco Giants
Age: 32
4th season
with Giants
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 185
Prior to 2000:
A native
Californian from suburban Los Angeles, Kent was a star hitter and pitcher in
high school. Making the Univ. of California at Berkeley baseball team as a
walk-on, he had a strong season in 1988 that was followed by a lesser
performance in ’89, after which he was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the
amateur draft. He signed and was initially assigned to St. Catherines of the
short-season Class A New York-Pennsylvania League where he played third base
and, over the course of 73 games, hit .224 with a league-leading 13 home runs
with 37 RBIs. In 1990 Kent was with Dunedin of the advanced Class A Florida
State League and batted .277 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs. Appearing regularly
at second base, he topped the league defensively with 404 assists and 261 put
outs. Moving up to Knoxville of the Class AA Southern League in 1991, Kent hit .256
with 34 doubles, 12 home runs, and 61 RBIs. Kent jumped up to the Blue Jays in
1992, where he appeared at all four infield positions and batted .239 until he
was traded to the New York Mets in August as part of the deal that brought RHP
David Cone to Toronto. His batting average in 37 games with the Mets the rest
of the way was .239 while he played almost exclusively at second base. The
starting second baseman for the Mets in 1993, Kent hit .270 with 21 home runs
and 80 RBIs while leading NL second sackers with 18 errors. During the
strike-shortened 1994 season he batted .292 with 14 home runs and 68 RBIs and
showed some defensive improvement. Kent’s hitting remained solid in 1995 as he
batted .278 with 20 home runs and 65 RBIs. He was shifted to third base in 1996
and was dealt to the Cleveland Indians at the end of July along with
second baseman Jose Vizcaino for second baseman Carlos Baerga. Appearing at
both second and third base for the Indians, Kent did not hit well and, for the
year, batted a combined .284 (.265 for Cleveland) with 12 home runs and 55
RBIs. He was dealt again in the offseason, this time to the Giants where he was
once more a starting second baseman in 1997 and hit .250 with 29 home runs with
121 RBIs. Kent had another strong season in 1998, batting .297 with 31 home
runs and 128 RBIs. He was an All-Star for the first time in 1999 on his way to
a .290 average with 23 home runs and 101 RBIs.
2000 Season Summary
Appeared in 159
games
2B – 150, 1B –
16, PH – 2
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 695 [8]
At Bats – 587
[15]
Runs – 114 [8]
Hits – 196 [5]
Doubles – 41 [8,
tied with Mark Grace]
Triples – 7 [7,
tied with six others]
Home Runs – 33 [16]
RBI – 125 [4]
Bases on Balls
– 90 [15, tied with Shawn Green]
Int. BB – 6
Strikeouts – 107
Stolen Bases – 12
Caught Stealing
– 9 [16, tied with Jullio Lugo, Mark Kotsay & J.D. Drew]
Average - .334
[5]
OBP - .424 [6]
Slugging Pct. -
.596 [10]
Total Bases – 350
[7]
GDP – 17 [10,
tied with Jose Vidro, Phil Nevin & Mark Kotsay]
Hit by Pitches
– 9 [16, tied with five others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 9 [9,
tied with six others]
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 23, RBI – 85, AVG - .355, SLG PCT - .673
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 6 AB) at Oakland 6/4, (in 6 AB) at Houston 6/24
Longest hitting
streak – 12 games
HR at home – 14
HR on road – 19
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 6 AB) at Oakland 6/4, (in 4 AB) vs. LA Dodgers 7/2
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 6 vs. Pittsburgh 8/3
Pinch-hitting –
1 of 2 (.500) with 1 2B, 1 R & 3 RBI
Fielding (2B)
Chances – 706
Put Outs – 302
Assists – 394
Errors – 10
DP – 96
Pct. - .986
Postseason: 4 G
(NLDS vs. NY Mets)
PA – 17, AB – 16,
R – 3, H – 6, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 1, IBB – 0, SO – 3, SB – 1, CS
– 0, AVG - .375, OBP - .412, SLG - .438, TB – 7, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF –
0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Silver Slugger
All-Star (Started
for NL at 2B)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Jeff Kent, SF: 392
pts. - 22 of 32 first place votes, 88% share
Barry Bonds, SF:
279 pts. – 6 first place votes, 62% share
Mike Piazza,
NYM: 271 pts. – 3 first place votes, 60% share
Jim Edmonds,
StL.: 208 pts. – 46% share
Todd Helton,
Col.: 198 pts. – 1 first place vote, 44% share
---
Giants went 97-65
to finish first in the NL Western Division by 11 games over the Los Angeles
Dodgers in their first season playing at Pacific Bell Park, while leading the
league in walks drawn (709) and on-base percentage (.362, tied with Colorado).
Lost NLDS to the New York Mets, 3 games to 1.
Aftermath of 2000:
Kent followed
up in 2001 with a .298 batting average while his doubles reached a career-high
49, with a lesser home run of 22, along with 106 RBIs. He began the 2002 season
on the disabled list due to a broken wrist suffered in an off-field mishap, but
went on to bat .313 with 37 home runs and 108 RBIs as the Giants secured the NL
Wild Card slot for the postseason, from which they won the league pennant. Kent
hit three home runs in the seven-game World Series loss to the Angels. A free
agent following the season, he signed with the Houston Astros for two years and
$18.2 million. For 2003 he batted .297 with 22 home runs and 93 RBIs. He was an
All-Star once more in 2004 in a season in which he hit .289 with 27 home runs
and 107 RBIs. A free agent once again, Kent joined the Los Angeles Dodgers,
where he spent the last four years of his career until age and injuries caught
up to him. Over the course of his major league career, he batted .290 with 2461
hits that included 560 doubles, 47 triples, and 377 home runs. He further
compiled 1518 RBIs and 94 stolen bases. His best seasons came with the Giants,
where he hit .297 with 247 doubles, 22 triples, and 175 home runs, with 689
RBIs. A five-time All-Star (three with the Giants), Kent finished in the Top 10
in NL MVP voting on four occasions (including the one win). In 49 postseason
games, he batted .276 with 9 home runs and 23 RBIs.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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