Jeff Kent announced his retirement from professional baseball today, ending an outstanding career as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kent has always brought out mixed feelings in me, and a lot of memories were dredged up today as I heard the morning guys on KNBR radio in San Francisco talking about him.
I first noticed Kent when he was playing for the New York Mets, and I considered him a hack. Why — who knows? I never saw him play anywhere but on TV, and only rarely. I had no rational basis on which to form an opinion.
Kent came to San Francisco by way of Cleveland in a stunner of a trade for Matt Williams, who at the time was one of my favorite Giants. So I didn’t exactly warm to Kent right away.
But what a run he had with the Giants. As Murph and Mac pointed out on KNBR, the Giants went from losers to winners as soon as he arrived, which didn’t happen when Barry Bonds came to The City a few seasons earlier. The team hasn’t been the same since Kent left. Of course, he left and later ended up with the hated Dodgers, and every time I’d see him in Dodger blue I’d seethe with rage.
For any good reason? Not at all. But as a Giants fan, I figure my DNA requires that I hate anybody wearing Dodger blue, especially somebody who turned on the Giants. And especially somebody as talented as Kent, who always seemed to get a key hit and wreck whatever the momentum the Giants had.
Now, in the middle of winter, I’m taking a mellower, more rational approach. What entitles us sports fans to decide that any particular player is a hero or villain? We don’t know these athletes, and the closest most of us will ever get is brushing past them as they walk off the field at the end of a game while we head from the cheap seats to the parking lot.
Kent was a fine player. Who am I to begrudge him getting a better deal for himself and his family by leaving the Giants for the Dodgers, or any team for another?
Here’s wishing Jeff Kent well in his retirement from playing. Whether in the role of hometown hero or archrival villain, he added to my enjoyment of baseball. His play is worthy of the Hall of Fame, in my judgment, and I hope he gets elected.
As for whether he should go into the hall with an “LA” or “SF” on his cap, don’t push me. I haven’t quite fully forgiven his move to Chavez Ravine.
The Ball Caps Blog 
If he goes, I would think he’d go in as a SF Giant; however, I wouldn’t vote for him. Perhaps I’m too harsh and perhaps I have a bit of the same negative feelings toward him, but can anyone make the argument that he was ever the best player on his own team?
You have a point about him not being the best player on his team. Of course, if we followed that line of reasoning, Lou Gehrig wouldn’t have stood a chance against Babe Ruth. 🙂
Thanks for the comment.
That’s a great point about Gehrig. I hadn’t thought about him.
He doesn’t have to be the best on his team but should be the best of his generation…and that one could go either way. My view is you have to look at the guy in 10 years and say he was memorable. Is Kent that?
I don’t think he was the best in his generation: Biggio and R. Alomar top him in my estimation. Kent would come in 3rd in my books.