Jeff Kent HOF? Alomar? Biggio ??

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Posted By: Misunderestimated (Brian H)

Jeff Kent just retired. I never felt he was that good (mostly a visceral judgment) but I know his stats make a strong case for the Hall of Fame.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kentje01.shtml

Kent won an MVP (his teammate Barry Bonds deserved it more) and is the all-time HR leader at his position, Second Base. Only Hornsby and Lajoie have more RBIs among 2Bs. His power numbers which are his most compelling argument came from the high-octane 1990s and 00's but there is no reason to believe his performance was enhanced. Although he played in San Fransisco, he is not identified in the Mitchell Report as a steroid use rand has spoken out in favor of testing.

http://sportsbybrooks.com/mitchell-report-posted-clemens-highlights-noted-15022

Two other second baseman will come up before him on the Hall of Fame ballot, Robbie Alomar (2010) and then Craig Biggio (2013), http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/visit/hof_weekend/ ,

Alomar and Biggio are more conventional 2nd Base HOF candidates: they got on base, scored alot and fielded the position at a gold glove level.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alomaro01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/biggicr01.shtml

Alomar was the superior player: hitting 300 lifetime winning an MVP and making more All-Star teams. But, he didn't stick around to get to get 3000 hits as Biggio did. Alomar's reputation is also a bit worse because of the incident where, near the end of his career, he spit at an umpire.

Biggio, meanwhile. was a throwback who played his whole career with one team and toughed out 300 Hits and broke the "modern record" for being hit by a pitch.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HBP_career.shtml
He is also a big favorite of Bill James and the SABR gang because of his his high on-base percentage.

Conclusion:
I rate Alomar first of the three followed by Biggio. I think that all three are Hall of Fame worthy. Alomar and Biggio rate among the upper 1/3 of the Hall of Famers and Kent makes the middle third. In terms of position there are 19 players who were primarily 2Bs:

Carew*
Collins
Doerr
Evers
Fox
Frisch
Gehringer
Gordon
Charlie Grant*
Billy Herman
Hornsby
Lajoie
Mazeroski
McPhee*
Joe Morgan
Jackie Robinson*
Sandberg
Schoendienst

Four of these players cannot be considered simply as second baseman: Carew (who played first and DHed a lot); Charlie Grant (a Black Pre-Negro League star); Bid McPhee (the only 19th century 2B on the list, who played primarily in the American Association); Jackie Robinson (broke the color barrier in the majors played only 10 seasons)

Of the remaining 15 Alomar and Biggio place somewhere in the top tier, with Collins, Morgan, Lajoie, Hornsby, and Gehringer. Kent is in the next group with players like Frisch, Doerr, Sandberg, and Gordon and clearly ahead of players like Mazeroski, Lazzeri, Herman, and Schoendienst.