On Sunday the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame were inducted in Cooperstown, New York. It’s a celebration of a baseball career that made its mark well beyond the impact a player had on an individual team. There are 354 members of the Hall of Fame, including just 281 players. This year’s class of players included Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent.
Kent spent most of his career in the National League, playing for the Mets, Giants, Dodgers and the Houston Astros (back when they were
in the Cubs’ division). He had 264 plate appearances against the Cubs, slashing .267/.330/.446 with 10 home runs against Chicago’s NL team. It’s a solid, if unremarkable line. His wRC+ of 101 against the Cubs is almost exactly league average. A worthy adversary, for sure, but not the bod
But yesterday, as Kent was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he invoked Ryne Sandberg, one of the greatest Cubs of all time, as a key influence on him as a second baseman:
Kent was choked up as he mentioned the Cubs Hall of Fame second baseman who passed away last year. I was choked up as he noted that Ryne Sandberg not only set the standard for a generation of second basemen, but played with “respect, toughness and a quiet fire.” It made me flash back to Sandberg’s Hall of Fame induction speech, which revolves around the theme of what it means to respect the game.
It was a beautiful day to celebrate the long legacy of baseball, and the newest members of baseball’s most exclusive fraternity. Kent’s remarks were a fitting tribute to the man who set the standard for Cubs fans as well.
