{"id":5532,"date":"2026-07-26T20:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T20:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5532"},"modified":"2026-07-26T20:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T20:06:14","slug":"san-francisco-is-home-jeff-kent-inducted-into-national-baseball-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5532","title":{"rendered":"‘San Francisco is home’: Jeff Kent inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Jeff Kent\u2019s father made him a simple bet.<\/p>\n

As Kent stood on the dais at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, he recalled his days of racing motorcycles and driving his grandparents\u2019 Plymouth Volare as a 16-year-old. Alan Kent, Jeff\u2019s father, knew his son\u2019s future wasn\u2019t in motorcycles. So, Alan made a wager: If Jeff earned a college scholarship, he would buy his son a pick-up truck.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s about all we could afford extra at that time in my life, and that truck meant everything to me. So, I quit racing and focused on school and baseball and won that baseball scholarship because I got that truck. That truck is still with me. It sits in my garage as a reminder that some of the simplest things \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent paused and chuckled to collect himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe simplest things can change the entire direction of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a bet that landed Kent a scholarship to Cal \u2014 and a 1985 Toyota 4\u00d74 pickup truck. It was a bet that paved the way for Kent to be enshrined in Cooperstown on Sunday, the sixth Giant to go into the Hall of Fame since the team moved to San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my wife and I had a chance to visit the Hall of Fame Museum just a few months ago, I finally realized the weight that this game carries,\u201d Kent said. \u201cThe halls are filled with stories that you can\u2019t experience anywhere else, and to know I get to be a part of that history standing alongside the legends I grew up watching \u2014 I\u2019ve used the word, and I still don\u2019t understand it, but overwhelming doesn\u2019t even begin to describe it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis day isn\u2019t about me, though. This day is about baseball. It\u2019s a celebration of baseball, and I just happen to be a part of it. Baseball was here long before me. It\u2019s going to be [here] long after I sit back down. But standing up here with these guys sitting behind me, I\u2019ve never felt more humbled and more grateful in my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Kent, one of three players inducted on Sunday along with former Giant Carlos Beltr\u00e1n and Andruw Jones, dedicated time during his speech to discussing his experiences with the Blue Jays, Mets, Astros and Dodgers. He remembered Dave Winfield taking him under his wing in Toronto; Eddie Murphy dishing out advice in New York; and Tommy Lasorda saying, \u201cThe money lies in the RBIs,\u201d in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

For all the memories he made in those cities, Kent spent the most time reminiscing about his years in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSan Francisco is home,\u201d Kent said. \u201cSan Francisco is where every lesson I learned came together. Brian Sabean, the general manager there, deserves a lot of credit for trading for me and bringing in a whole new core of players like J.T. Snow, Jos\u00e9 Vizc\u00e1ino, Kirk Reuter and Bill Miller. \u2026 He mixed us in with Barry Bonds, one of the most talented players the game has ever seen, and we were destined for success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent had been a fine player before joining the Giants in a controversial trade that sent Matt Williams to Cleveland, but San Francisco is where Kent placed himself on a Hall of Fame trajectory.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Over seven seasons with the Giants, Kent hit .297 with 175 home runs and 689 RBIs, earning three All-Star selections, three Silver Slugger Awards and the 2000 NL MVP. By the end of his career, which ended with the Dodgers, Kent owned the record for most home runs hit by a primary second baseman (377). Next month, the Giants will retire Kent\u2019s No. 21.<\/p>\n

Kent played every season in San Francisco under Dusty Baker, who could be part of next year\u2019s Hall of Fame class. Kent has credited Baker for his success on numerous occasions since being elected, and he made sure to acknowledge his former manager during his speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team wasn\u2019t complete without the leader, and I had the best one there was: Dusty Baker,\u201d Kent said with Baker in attendance. \u201cHe was the right man at the right time for me. I\u2019m naturally a [glass] half-empty guy; I see what\u2019s broken and I want to fix it. That\u2019s probably what drew me to this game. But looking back, I think I complicated the game a lot more than it needed to be. Dusty was the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cDusty didn\u2019t complicate the game; he respected it. I could feel his passion in winning in everything he did. Even those toothpicks he used to chew out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kent became the sixth Giant to be inducted into Cooperstown since the team moved to San Francisco<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n‘San Francisco is home’: Jeff Kent inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5532\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"‘San Francisco is home’: Jeff Kent inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kent became the sixth Giant to be inducted into Cooperstown since the team moved to San Francisco\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5532\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T20:06:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"‘San Francisco is home’: Jeff Kent inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T20:06:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532\"},\"wordCount\":828,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/7e0cad1dd86dccf51fc57ee32046d001-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5532\",\"name\":\"‘San Francisco is home’: Jeff Kent inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame - 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