Until Barry Bonds is in the Hall of Fame, any news pertaining baseball’s greatest shine when it relates to the San Francisco Giants will always come with a Bonds angle. Especially when the second best player of Bonds’ Giants tenure gets inducted, the man who pitchers so often walked Bonds to get to. Jeff Kent was a great player. Elite throughout most of his career. But just as I’ve done in this notebook, his induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame comes with an elephant sized footnote.
Which is a shame. Because in and of himself, Kent is a hall of famer. He’s the best offensive second baseman the game has ever seen. He starred with the Blue Jays, most notably the Giants, Astros and Dodgers in his long tenure. Kent posted an impressive .855 OPS, slugging 377 homers and racking up 55.4 WAR. His bust in Cooperstown won’t be out of place.
Kent addressed the Bonds elephant immediately after his induction on Sunday night in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. Kent and Bonds were never exactly the best of friends, but he gave Bonds his flowers before giving a non answer on whether he thinks the home run king should be in the Hall of Fame.