Good morning, baseball fans!
For the first time in my decade-long tenure at McCovey Chronicles, the San Francisco Giants have a new player heading to the Hall of Fame.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Jeff Kent would be the lone inductee from this year’s Contemporary Baseball Era committee. Players on this ballot had to receive at least 12 votes from the 16-person committee in order to be successfully inducted, and Kent received 14.
He also received boos from those assembled for the announcement,
according to reporting from Alex Simon of SFGate (which cites reporting from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale). But that was not necessarily aimed at Kent, so much as it was aimed at the the fact that Kent was the lone inductee from a group that included popular players like Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, and Kent’s own former teammate Barry Bonds.
Unfortunately for Bonds, he did not even receive the required five votes to stay eligible for the next contemporary era ballot, so he will be unable to try again until 2031.
I thought Alex Simon summed up the situation very well in his reporting, saying:
“…it sure is odd that the player who benefited from Bonds’ presence in the Giants lineup more than anyone else will be in the Hall of Fame, while Bonds himself is kept away from Cooperstown.”
And I think that’s where I land as well.
Of course, I’m thrilled to see Kent receive his well-deserved flowers. He had a phenomenal career, and it was a joy to watch him play growing up.
So I want to clarify that none of my criticisms about the institution itself are meant in any way to devalue this accomplishment for him. I think it’s fantastic, well earned, and I look forward to celebrating his jersey number retirement, which I can only assume is coming as well.
But with that said, I can’t help but feel like any Hall of Fame that doesn’t include the greatest to play the game just kind of feels like a sham.
It’s just more shadowy, unwritten rules from a sport-wide culture that seems to be made up entirely of them. Rules that are enforced inconsistently, which is one of the most frustrating things about being a baseball fan, in my experience. Some players who were embroiled in their own PED scandals seem to have had no problem getting voted in while others are kept out arbitrarily.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s extremely hypocritical, and does the sport a massive disservice.
How do you feel about the Hall of Fame announcement?
