Jeff Kent is a changed man since his baseball playing days ended after the 2008 season.
During his 17 MLB seasons distributed among six teams (1992–2008), Kent, who earned a reputation as stoic and at times dismissive with reporters, displayed a softer side on Sunday when delivering his acceptance speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
During his 17 MLB seasons distributed among six teams (1992–2008), Kent, who earned a reputation as stoic and at times dismissive with reporters, displayed a softer side on Sunday when delivering his acceptance speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Kent is MLB’s all-time home run leader (377) among second basemen. One of three new members to the Hall of Fame’s 354-member roll call, he was in the leadoff spot at the podium, offering thanks to those who helped pave his way into baseball’s shrine in Cooperstown.
Kent’s emotions got the best of him early on in his speech, as he shed tears of joy with 60 Hall of Famers sitting behind him on stage, and his family looking on from front-row seats at the Clark Sports Center grounds.
“I never felt more humbled and more grateful in my entire life. Standing up here, with these guys behind me is incredible,” Kent said.
This is a sensitive side of Kent, 58, that caught many of the estimated 12,000 fans present at the induction ceremonies by surprise. Perhaps coming to receive MLB’s top honor in Cooperstown was the avenue Kent needed to exhale some of the baggage he stored up during his years in the game.
A day earlier before addressing the masses, Kent provided a hint of the pressures he put on himself during his career that could have accounted for his prickly presence with the media. During his National League MVP 2000 season with the San Francisco Giants, when the former five-time All-Star clubbed 33 home runs, drove in 125 RBIs, and hit for a .334 average, Kent was worried that it would be difficult at best to duplicate such statistics the following season.
“When I got to spring training, I felt scared in a sense almost trying to repeat, or you set a standard of why you can’t do that again. So it was kind of scary going into spring training,” Kent told The Epoch Times on the Saturday prior to teeing off at Cooperstown’s Leatherstocking Golf Course in the Hall of Fame golf tournament. “The nervousness was there, and that was in the middle of my career. I never really felt anxiety like that. Going in and trying to repeat what I had done, it took a little while to adjust and get over it. I don’t think I got off to a good start [in 2005] that year.
“Then things settled down because I was trying to do too much. I was trying to be better than my MVP year. That was too good of a year to try and be better.”
Kent is among the Hall of Famers who benefited from getting a second chance at being elected, after failing to get the necessary votes during his 10 years on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) ballot. Never receiving more than 46.5 percent by BBWAA members, it was the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee this past December that ultimately elected Kent. He received 14 of the 16 votes, to join Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones for enshrinement on Sunday.
Among those Kent credits as influencing his career is the late Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda. Kent, who lives on a ranch in Texas, spent his final four pro seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers skipper reinforced to Kent the importance and correlation of driving in runs and the riches that go with it.
A day earlier before addressing the masses, Kent provided a hint of the pressures he put on himself during his career that could have accounted for his prickly presence with the media. During his National League MVP 2000 season with the San Francisco Giants, when the former five-time All-Star clubbed 33 home runs, drove in 125 RBIs, and hit for a .334 average, Kent was worried that it would be difficult at best to duplicate such statistics the following season.
“When I got to spring training, I felt scared in a sense almost trying to repeat, or you set a standard of why you can’t do that again. So it was kind of scary going into spring training,” Kent told The Epoch Times on the Saturday prior to teeing off at Cooperstown’s Leatherstocking Golf Course in the Hall of Fame golf tournament. “The nervousness was there, and that was in the middle of my career. I never really felt anxiety like that. Going in and trying to repeat what I had done, it took a little while to adjust and get over it. I don’t think I got off to a good start [in 2005] that year.
“Then things settled down because I was trying to do too much. I was trying to be better than my MVP year. That was too good of a year to try and be better.”
Kent is among the Hall of Famers who benefited from getting a second chance at being elected, after failing to get the necessary votes during his 10 years on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) ballot. Never receiving more than 46.5 percent by BBWAA members, it was the 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Committee this past December that ultimately elected Kent. He received 14 of the 16 votes, to join Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones for enshrinement on Sunday.
Among those Kent credits as influencing his career is the late Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda. Kent, who lives on a ranch in Texas, spent his final four pro seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers skipper reinforced to Kent the importance and correlation of driving in runs and the riches that go with it.
Jeff Kent takes questions from the media during the Baseball Hall of Fame Golf Tournament in Cooperstown on July 25, 2026. Courtesy of Donald Laible
“I learned a long time ago from Tommy Lasorda, one of the best motivators in the game, a simple truth that I lived by for my whole career—‘The money lies in the RBIs,’” Kent said during his nearly 15-minute acceptance speech.
The weekend in Cooperstown brought back memories of many of Kent’s top accomplishments and afforded him to reunite with some of those who helped him become a better ballplayer. Playing in the 2002 World Series with the Giants, along with his MVP performance two seasons later, were leading contributors as to why Kent decided to have a Giants logo on his Hall of Fame plaque. Being with the San Francisco organization meant more to Kent than any of the other stops in his career. He experienced the transition with the Giants from playing at Candlestick Park, first in 1997, through 1999, to a new home stadium in San Francisco in 2000 (then known as AT&T Park).
Even a day after his induction, during the taping of The Road to Cooperstown—the Hall of Fame’s official podcast at Doubleday Field, Kent was still in awe of his name being added to the game’s greatest roster of all-time.
“I had my mom and dad stand next to me,” Kent said of his plaque installation on Monday morning. You just take a couple of seconds of that evolution, of your journey of being on the way … never believing you’d get hung on the wall with a plaque that’ll stay forever, so to have that moment with your family was awesome.
“I don’t know how to explain it still. It’s still something that I’m [going to] have to go and try to process.”
From being a walk-on to UC Berkeley’s baseball program to finding permanent residency in Cooperstown, Kent’s journey playing on the diamond is one that will continue to be talked about by generations to come.
The weekend in Cooperstown brought back memories of many of Kent’s top accomplishments and afforded him to reunite with some of those who helped him become a better ballplayer. Playing in the 2002 World Series with the Giants, along with his MVP performance two seasons later, were leading contributors as to why Kent decided to have a Giants logo on his Hall of Fame plaque. Being with the San Francisco organization meant more to Kent than any of the other stops in his career. He experienced the transition with the Giants from playing at Candlestick Park, first in 1997, through 1999, to a new home stadium in San Francisco in 2000 (then known as AT&T Park).
Even a day after his induction, during the taping of The Road to Cooperstown—the Hall of Fame’s official podcast at Doubleday Field, Kent was still in awe of his name being added to the game’s greatest roster of all-time.
“I had my mom and dad stand next to me,” Kent said of his plaque installation on Monday morning. You just take a couple of seconds of that evolution, of your journey of being on the way … never believing you’d get hung on the wall with a plaque that’ll stay forever, so to have that moment with your family was awesome.
“I don’t know how to explain it still. It’s still something that I’m [going to] have to go and try to process.”
From being a walk-on to UC Berkeley’s baseball program to finding permanent residency in Cooperstown, Kent’s journey playing on the diamond is one that will continue to be talked about by generations to come.
Jeff Kent holds his Baseball Hall of Fame plaque after his enshrinement in Cooperstown on July 26, 2026. Courtesy of George Napolitano
