Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Jeff Kent

Coach HoJo 20
May 10, 2001
The name Jeff Kant (not a misspelling) brings up different thoughts.

When the Mets first traded David Cone Head to the Blue Jays for Kant (and Thompson) my views were mixed. I loved the fact that Cone was leaving. I wasn't a big fan of him at all, but he was a solid/good pitcher. Kant on the other hand had potential. So it didn't seem like a bad trade, but what if he had been another Mets failure? Well, it's safe to say he wasn't a failure. He improved himself over the years on the Mets and became quite good. But..... he was a whiner, but to be honest I didn't mind it when he was on the Mets. He was good enough for me to ignore it. Besides he was on the Mets during the dog days, I cant see any player being happy about that.

The then traded Kant (and Vizcaino) for Carlos Baerga (and Espinosa). When this trade went down I thought it was a brilliant trade. He traded a solid 2b for an awesome 2b, or so I thought. Baerga went on to be a HUGE disappointment while Kant went on to be one of the best 2B in the game on the Giants.

Last season (as we all know) The Mets defeated the best team in the NL in the NLDS, the SF Giants. This is where Jeff's whining finally pissed me off, He said "Even though they beat us we are still better than them." Kant how do you figure this? If you were better than us then where were the Giants come World Series time? At the golf course!!

Kant you're a good player but you need to be a good sportsman. You didn't deserve the MVP either, Mike Piazza deserved it. The man (Piazza) single handedly brought the Mets to the WS, while you whined about how the Giants are better than the Mets.

Jim
September 18, 2001
"Who's in the car?" I will never forget Jeff Kent uttering those words time and again outside Shea Stadium. I had just finished watching a May, 1994 game in which he had a solid game, couple of hits, RBIs, etc. After the game, we stuck around and saw him in his car signing autographs. I was about 15 at the time, my brothers were 13 and 11. Kent signed my hat, signed my brother's hat, and then it was my youngest brother's turn. Kent was seated in his car with the car running and his window open. The next thing I see is Kent looking straight ahead, repeating: "Who's in the car? Who's in the car? Who's in the car?" I looked down and saw that my younger brother was gently leaning on Kent's car, and this apparently was not something Kent wanted to see. My brother removed his forearms from the car, and Kent signed his autograph. Never again will I hear that phrase without thinking of Jeff Kent.

beans
October 4, 2001
Who's in the car? A stuck up, whiny a-hole, that's who. One of his very first days with the Mets, John Franco and some other guys stole his clothes and replaced it with a Bozo the Clown outfit as sort of a welcome to the team prank. He literally burst into tears and went screaming and crying to the manager. What a loser. He deserves to be pistol-whipped.

Mr. Sparkle
October 25, 2001
My first memory of Kent was when he acted like a baby when Franco got him with the new guy initiation of replacing his travel suit with a lud and ugly suit and Jeff whined and wouldn't get on the plane until he got his suit back. Ryan Thompson on the other had took it like a man and left wearing the lousy suit. Who would have thought Kent would have turned out the better part of that deal? Kent was always a sour puss but I didn't mind him too much because he had a decent bat although nothing like he turned out to be in SF. Kinda like Kevin Mitchell.

I had a friend who took a journalism course at a local college and he got to hang out at Shea before a game as an assignment. He said that Jeff Kent was the nicest guy there, gave him plenty of time to ask questions and was just a good all around guy. That's probably because no one else would talk to him. He also said Mike Cubbage was the biggest jerk in the clubhouse. No great loss there.

Overall he was an underdeveloped talent that the Mets let go before his time. He supposedly has no friends on the Giants either but I'd take him back.

a mets fan
January 21, 2002
I hate to admit it I liked this clown when he was a met.as being a Mets fan and now living in san francisco he just is a real full of it guy.this coming 2002 season I am going to a giants- Mets game at pacbell park.I cant wait to boo him!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. Baseball
February 22, 2002
I was with my son whwn I found out that the Mets had traded David Cone . I had heard of Kent with the Jays. To tell you the truth he was not a bad hitter but he could never make it in NY. He is not a NY kind odf guy and the Mets should have known this before making the deal but Al Harazuin was just looking to dump salary.

Metsmind
December 24, 2002
We used to call him Jeff Cant. Well, apparently he could. His trade to Cleveland is now lining up to be worse than the Amos Otis or Lenny Dykstra deals. Joe Foy vs. Carlos Baerga vs. Juan Samuel. I dunno, you choose. None of them were as good as OUR THROW INS Bob Johnson, Jose Vizcaino, Roger McDowell.

Jujo
December 26, 2002
At least Kent didn't get BIG dollars for his work with SF. True, he is a slugger, but he would not have reached these heights without Bonds. He will probably continue to do well with Houston with all their hitting. But Kent could not pass the NY test and that makes him a LOSER!

Bob R.
January 9, 2003
Okay, enough Kent bashing. It sounds like sour grapes to me. He's been the best second baseman in the league over the last five years. He helped get the Giants into the World Series. Don't blame him that he did it for the Giants instead of the Mets. And come on, maybe he got better pitches because he batted around Barry Bonds, but it takes talent to put up the numbers he did. As a Giants fan (and former Mets fan), I'm sorry he went to Houston. Yeah, he's kind of a jerk, but so are a lot of great players (including Bonds). Don't let that overshadow his genuine talent.

Karl de Vries
January 10, 2003
I absolutely hate this guy. Always struck me as a whiner, a guy who didn't want to play for the Mets and hated New York. Glad that the world is starting to catch on to this guy being a complete jerkweed, love that highlight of him and Bonds getting into a shoving match.

Chris
April 30, 2003
Last night, I was watching my tape of the game where Kent gets his first Met hit (an RBI triple) against the Reds and I can't believe they couldn't put up with his crappy personality in exchange for his hard-nosed play. His kind of fire is what the Mets have been missing since they dumped him for Bubble-Butt Baerga and Alvaro (I Was TOO A Yankee) Espinosa. Serves the Mets right.

albanymetsfan
June 12, 2003
I was 12 when Jeff came to the Mets. I liked his style at first, but I think something about him always bothered me. Maybe it was his moustache. Really this guy's a straight up jerk. He's not a likeable player, not someone who fits in well with any club, despite his great performance. He burned bridges on the Mets. Sure they were bad those years (92-96) but he had no sense of humor, no endearing qualities, just that stupid highway patrol look. I guess it is his pure Mormon upbringing that makes him so straightlaced, but watching him I get the feeling he doesn't like baseball. He's into his motorcycles and being a hick. Burned bridges in SF, and he'll do it again in Houston.

Me
November 10, 2003
Born and raised in Southern California, spent his childhood surfing, and later attended Berkeley. Who knew he'd turn out to be a hickish, backwoodsy, Deliverance-type person? He also has a fake Southern drawl. Freak.

Kiwiwriter
September 12, 2004
He's an interesting guy...he has all the tools to be great, and has the MVP to prove it, but his whole outlook and make-up for baseball is entirely wrong.

He seems to have no love for or interest in the game beyond playing it and cashing the checks, and even his playing seems mechanical. He just doesn't seem to have ever made the effort to fit in with his teams or with the milieu of baseball. I don't think he has the slightest grasp of the game's importance in American culture or even sees it as something pleasant and positive.

He certainly doesn't have many social skills, which is something I can relate to -- I don't have any, either.

Jeff should not have been with the Mets at that point in his career. He had no ability to cope with the situation the Mets were in.

Bill H
November 18, 2004
You guys don't really care about personality do you? You guys would cheer for anyone that drives runs in, that's the bottom line.

Jeff Kent got a bum deal in NY. He was on a horrible Met team. He was one of the few hustlers and non hasbeen on that team. His downfall, I think, was directly related to him being moved to third base. As soon as he was moved there he started to unravel in the field and then at the plate. As long as he plays 2nd (that goes for the Giants or Astros) he has done fine. Who else is providing anywhere near the power numbers as Kent from a 2nd baseman (with little defensive dropoff).

Also. Kent does not need Bonds in front of him or behind him to hit well. He is a very professional hitter.

Gary Ramsey
January 27, 2005
Beyond being a very good offensive player, I met Jeff Kent after a Mets game when Gooden and everybody else went out through the bullpen so they wouldn't be bothered by the kids. Jeff Kent stayed for 2 hours signing autographs and talking to the kids and was the only Met who did so. Everyone with all the negative comments, is it first hand experience, or what the press says?

original mets
July 9, 2005
It was August 27, 1992 I was with my 1 year old son, and I just heard that the our favorite team had traded one of my favorite Mets, David Cone, to the Blue Jays for Ryan Thompson and Jeff Kent. I had seen Kent play earlier in the season and knew he was a decent hitter. The problem with Kent is that he is not a NY type of player and played the game for the money only. He would have always had problems in NY with the media had he stayed here. He is perfect player in California and Texas.

James Damion
July 12, 2005
Kent was the perfect fit for the Met's during those memorable years. A constant crybaby, complained and made the clubhouse the place to not be. He along with Coleman, Murray, Bonilla and Saberhagen made the Mets the worst, most unprofessional, unlikeable team in baseball.

KMT
August 27, 2005
Whether you love him or hate him, the guy flat out produces. I happened to like him when he was here. He gave his all on the field, but was surrounded by a bunch of malcontents, who shared the "We'll get 'em tommorrow" attitude! This guy wanted to win, every day, and couldn't stand being trapped with the other losers who were at Shea back then! If that made him prickly with the press, so what!

Jeff In Florida
October 2, 2005
Kent was a really good player when we had him. Why did we ever get rid of him? Had we kept him it would have been part of a second great David Cone deal. We got Cone for almost nothing and if Kent was still with the Mets then trading Cone for Kent would have been another steal.

Rob F.
October 13, 2005
I had the opportunity to meet Jeff when he was in between positions with the Mets. It was at the New Haven Auto Show in CT for an appearance and he was one of the most authentic, nicest athletes I have had the chance to meet. All he wanted was one position to concentrate (second or third) on. Too bad a few negative stories about clubhouse politics clouded others' view of a real authentic star. Another loss for the Mets as he will go down as the best offensive second baseman ever. Move over Morgan, Gehringer, Sandberg!

Jonathan Stern
October 13, 2005
After the Mets traded Jeff Kent and Jose Viscaino to the Cleveland Indians for, um... Carlos Baerga and Alvaro Espinosa, soon-to-be-fired manager Dallas Green told the Mets front office: "I hope you did your homework."

Jeff Kent is a talented head-case. If you don't like Kent (and he is hard to like, or so I have heard), you either learn to live with him or you trade for equal value. Kent is a rock-solid, hard-working, power-hitting 2Ber/3Ber who is great with kids, lousy with adults, and, very likely, on his way to Cooperstown! He is a nut, but he honestly wanted to win while he was here. And he never got fat or lazy or complacent. That's more than I can say for most of his Mets teammates!

While the 1993 Mets were in the process of losing their 100th game, Green had to bench Kent in favor of Doug Saunders. Seems Kent was taking better cuts at dugout walls than pitched balls. And here is Kent on how it feels to lose 100 games, courtesy of Westchester Gannett Suburban Newspapers, 9/21/93:

"A while ago it was a goal of mine not to lose 100 games. It kind of puts a cherry on top of the sundae. It's not a very happy time. I'll always remember this season."

Jeff Kent: Talented Head-case.

"I'll be the first to throw a punch in a barroom brawl if anybody makes any comments about the Mets. The Mets are my team."

Bonbolito
June 9, 2006
I kind of liked his fire. I remember seeing him on TV once and he let out a loud curse word that went out over the air after he struck out. Defensively it always seemed that the ball was just an inch or two too far away from his glove. Like when two magnets push each other away. It was tough to watch.

Jared K
August 24, 2006
The only time I EVER rooted for Barry Bonds was when these two went at it one night in the San Francisco dugout! I was hoping he had enough roid rage in him to snap Kent in half! I was so glad to see this crybaby leave. I didn't care how good he was after. Nice porn mustache and fake Texas hillbilly accent! You're from the greater Los Angeles area, you phony! How'd you break your wrist again? Falling off your pickup when you were washing it?

Jamey Bumbalo
October 22, 2006
His very good career numbers are negated by his bad personality. Everywhere he's played he's had problems being a team player and getting along with his teammates.

Dan Gurney
November 8, 2007
Kent is not the most likable player ever but isn't that true of a number of great players? Very often the drive to succeed has its dark side. I'm not sure how bad his personality has been when his teams have been to the post season a number of times. He has done some things he shouldn't have..getting injured riding dirt bikes when his contract prohibited it. But I find it interesting that Kent has had the longest career of all the promising second baseman that came up around 1990: Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar, Chuck Knoblauch. Gregg Jefferies, Delino DeShields.

I will say he came into a bad situation when he got traded to the Mets. He was leaving a team that was going to the World Series, he got traded to a team of high salary jerks that thought it was fun to threw a quarter-stick of dynamite at a child (Vince Coleman) or squirt a sports writer with bleach and deny it (Brett Saberhagen). This team was more interested in having Kent dress as a pimp (a ritual he already did in Toronto) instead of going out and winning games. Their manager (Jeff Torborg) was greedy; signing a big salary and insisting on doing a daily spot with Mike and the Mad Dog. Kent seems good compared to that bunch.

Doctor Worm
August 28, 2008
Hall of Fame. End of story.

feat fan
September 6, 2008
HOF???? I say no, he is simply a "compiler". Guys like Gil, Santo, Rice and K Boyer should get the call before him.

V Pockmarx
October 6, 2008
I am certain that major league clubhouses are filled with arrogant, immature fools and jerks of all kinds. I am also sure that the pressboxes of major league stadiums are also filled with the same kind of arrogant, resentful people as well. Having to interview uncooperative and nasty twenty somethings when one has a deadline to face cannot be a pleasant or easy task, but having your character held up to question or ridicule and your motives deliberately misrepresented by angry and resentful middle aged sports "writers" can not be a ball of fun either. How the fans who have never met Jeff Kent can assume he was a bad guy is a mystery to me. All I know is that Jeff Kent is going to the Hall of Fame due to the fact that his batting record for a second baseman is surpassed only by Rogers Hornsby. If the writers don't like Kent because he was nasty and unpleasant that does not mean a campaign to get him out of New York was warranted. The game has always been the same for gutless writers from Dick Young to Mike Lupica. If you don't like a guy personally you try and spread the fiction that he is a bad ballplayer. If you are unable to do that then the fairy tale that he is a bad person is then applied. McReynolds didn't want to talk so "toughguy" Howie Rose told us that McReynolds didn't take showers after games. Sometimes the real punks are the ones covering the players and not the players themselves.

Joe Figliola
January 28, 2009
In JF scorebook lore, Kent was the first Met to reach the 100-hit mark (1996). In fact, in his final year for me he hit .412, and he finished with 19 lifetime scored home runs. He even had three triples for me (1994), when triples were about as rare as an uncooked piece of T-bone.

But when I put my scorebook aside, the guy simply was not friendly. And when he tried to come across as being one of the nice guys, it came across as phony. A classic example for this was when he did a commercial for ESPN the Magazine (I think) and tried to be funny and nicey-nicey. It didn't work.

Yes, I do remember the fit he threw regarding the rookie hazing in 1992. I also remember him shoving a camera after he made out during a game (1992 or '93, I can't recall). I tolerated the stats, but not the substance.

The Hall of Fame for Kent? No. Like Rik Aalbert Blyleven, he was a compiler. Edge? Yes, Kent had edge. Edge shaving cream, that is.

Steven Gallanter
March 9, 2009
Am I the only one who has noticed that the Mets and the Indians had a bizarre, symbiotic relationship with second basemen?

Kent, Baerga, Fernandez and Alomar all played for both teams.

As far as Kent being a "compiler"; career statistics are certainly a valid criteria for the Hall of Fame.

Relatively few second basemen put up league leading seasonal numbers so career stats are relatively more indicative of true value.

Kent compiled his numbers by having a long career of improving his teams.

The vast majority of players aren't good enough to play long enough to put up the kind of numbers that Jeff Kent has.

Having said that..his defense was merely adequate to good. The Giants moved him first base and played Ray Durham at second in the World Series which is a telling comment on his prowess at second.

Jeff Kent was not a good interview but he played with a lot of intensity and put up numbers that are Hall of Fame worthy.

It is also worth remembering that Kent nearly leaped through the TV screen celebrating his walk-off home run for the Astros in the 2005 playoffs.

As far as playing with Barry Bonds goes there were times when Kent hit before Bonds and times when he hit after Bonds.

This is shown quite clearly when you compare his Runs Scored totals for various years.

Sure playing with Bonds made him better but he still had to hit the ball.

Quality Met
February 17, 2011
Jeff's alma mater, the University of California, has decided to discontinue its baseball program. He was a member of the Golden Bears when they were in the College World Series in 1988. This has to be very disappointing to him!

Sha-Le
August 21, 2012
In his Mets By the Numbers book, Matthew Silverman put it perfectly:

"The joke was ultimately on the Mets, who paid too much to get Kent (David Cone) and too little in return for him four years later (Carlos Baerga and forgettable No. 12 Alvaro Espinosa)."

Imagine a late 1990s infield of Olerud, Kent, Ordonez and Alfonzo. That would've gotten the Mets a championship for sure in 1999 and 2000. Sure, Ventura wouldn't have been there, but Kent was a much better overall player. As for the clubhouse persona and team chemistry, I wouldn't be able to say the same. Kent hated to be around people and played baseball as if it was a job and to get a nice paycheck.

Oh yeah, why did Barry Bonds start juicing up even more before the 2001 season? It was because he saw Kent, whom he hated win the 2000 NL MVP Award. That infuriated him enough to crush 73 home runs a year later and win his fourth of seven MVP awards.

Shickhaus Franks
September 18, 2012
Guess who is gonna be on the new "Survivor" this September on CBS? Jeff Kent!!! Just wondering if he's gonna make Blair from "The Facts of Life" cry. What's next: Todd Zeile on "Dancing With The Stars" or maybe they'll bring back "The Surreal Life" featuring Felix Millan.

Ken
February 7, 2014
I'm really surprised about the positive remarks about this clown especially with kids. Let me set the story: May 11, 1996 at Shea Stadium vs the Cubs. I was 11 at the time attending the game with my 13-year-old cousin. We went down to the field during BP to try to get some autographs. There stood Mr Kent with his glove tucked under one arm clipping his nails in the corner of the dugout. I said Mr Kent can we have your autograph? He said no. My cousin, wearing his jersey, said, but you're my favorite player. To which Kent responded, "If I'm your favorite player, how many home runs do I have this year so far?" He said three. Kent says, "No, you're wrong. Four. I'm not signing your ball." We thought he was kidding at first but this assclown was dead serious. If I was older I would have cursed his ass out. Ever since that day I hated that jackass. You don't do that to a 13-year-old kid.