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="DocTee":2tskhj76]Spoke out against PEDs. [/quote:2tskhj76]
Meh, that could be in the methinks thou do protest too much sort of vein. Plenty of suspected roiders did speek out.
Hell, Gary Sheffield has spoken out against PEDs! To say nothing about Rafael Palmerio's finger wag at Congress, or Roger Clemens' defense.
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Fman99
Jan 21 2009 08:09 PM
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="metsguyinmichigan":3vmlfqei]Seemed to have issues telling the truth. The whole "got hurt while washing my monster truck" fib is classic.[/quote:3vmlfqei]
That was what I thought of also. What a load of crap. I'll miss him and his porntastic moustache and tendency towards Bonds punching.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Jan 21 2009 09:01 PM
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| ]September 15, 1992
BASEBALL; Mets Pull a Little Prank, But Kent Pulls a Big Fit
By JOE SEXTON,
In another season, the incident might have died without a remark. It might not have escalated to the heated moment it did in the clubhouse in Montreal on Sunday night. On another club, the issue of clubhouse politics might not be such a volatile one.
But these are the Mets, the bad, jinxed and endlessly controversial club for whom everything goes wrong. Always. Thus, Jeff Kent, a player with undetermined ability and the scantiest of reputations, found himself at the center of the latest clubhouse storm.
Kent, the second baseman acquired in the trade for David Cone last month, effectively squared off with the rest of the Mets Sunday night, refusing to submit to a clubhouse prank and wear the ridiculous outfit the players had substituted for his street clothes in his locker. Not Kent's Style
Kent's stand -- the second baseman pitched the clothes onto the floor of the clubhouse before Sunday night's game against the Expos and then again challenged the Mets to produce his regular clothes after the 7-5 loss -- ultimately required the intervention of Manager Jeff Torborg. The manager, in an explosion filled with expletives, ordered an end to the scene.
"It wasn't an attempt to air out the club or to protect anyone," said Torborg. "I wanted to get the heck out of there."
It appeared today that it was going to be difficult for Kent to extricate himself from his isolated clubhouse position, and, in fact, the 24-year-old, who doesn't bother to disguise his temper or arrogance, appeared determined not to soften his stance.
"I paid my rookie dues in Toronto," said Kent, who maintained that he had willingly gone along with similar stunts as a member of the Blue Jays. "I feel I have endured my embarrassments, my punishment."
"I felt I was being taken advantage of," Kent added. "They wanted to go overboard. I stuck up for myself. I won't be pushed around."
Kent was most emphatic in clarifying that, contrary to the way it might have appeared to the veterans on the club, he did not go to Torborg for help. And Torborg went out of his way to confirm Kent's claim, saying he had been informed of the problem by the club's traveling secretary.
"I'm not out to protect Jeff Kent," Torborg said. "He'll have to deal with it all himself."
Kent, who struck out twice with the bases loaded during the Mets' 10-8 victory over the Cubs tonight, appears eager to have his hands full, and the specter of problems with umpires and in the clubhouse recalls the experience of Gregg Jefferies, who never found happiness in New York.
Kent, barely 72 hours after pledging to reporters that he would be at his locker regardless of his personal fortunes in any game, evacuated the clubhouse in Cincinnati after his misplay of a ninth-inning grounder led to a defeat.
"Not tonight," Kent told reporters as he raced to the team bus.
Kent argued vehemently with Umpire Bruce Froemming in his first game with the Mets. And Sunday night after being called out on strikes by Jerry Crawford, Kent flung his helmet and bat near the umpire and complained all the way out to second base.
He was quoted in a Toronto Globe and Mail article last weekend as saying New York was worse than he had imagined, and was reported to have taken verbal swipes at Toronto third baseman Kelly Gruber, the man he had filled in for in 1992. While standing by his claim that he had lost some respect for Gruber, Kent today again insisted "80 percent of the quotes were misprinted."
"He was not well liked in his own clubhouse," a former official with the Blue Jays said of Kent's experience with Toronto's Class AA club. "He's totally oblivious to what it takes to fit in with a team. And he had problems with the umpires within the first month of the season last year."
Kent clearly has imperiled his position in the clubhouse. He was savagely ridiculed after Sunday night's episode by the club's veterans, who thought the rookie had deemed himself above standard hazing rituals and who resented the fact that the manager had been drawn into the scene.
But Kent remained defiant.
"I won't hold it against them," said Kent of his teammates. "What they do, I don't know. Maybe they'll know next time. I'm going to play the game the best I can, good reputation or bad. It was an incident. That's all." |
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Edgy DC
Jan 22 2009 07:44 AM
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That was a pretty balanced article by Sexton. Is he the one that became the metropolitan editor at <i>The Times</i>?
I think it's the Kent Incident<font size="1"><sub>TM</font></sub> that has led all clubs to officially haze their rookies at the same time (in the same stupid way), to keep Kents of the future from getting traded and getting hazed twice.
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Frayed Knot
Jan 22 2009 09:52 AM
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Kent was always a bit of an odd duck in MLB in that he admittedly was never a big fan of the sport of baseball. He played it because he was good at it and could make a lot of money doing so, but otherwise it wasn't a big priority in his life and his friends and interests remained outside the game.
Now I've never had a problem with those who admit that they're in it for the money and there's certainly nothing wrong with refusing to let being a pro athlete define everything you are. Plus hunting, ranching, and declaring your wife to be your best friend beats the hell out of what a lot of athletes do in their down-time. But it does tend to keep you from being one of the guys and I'm sure his sometimes prickly personality didn't help there either.
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Vic Sage
Jan 23 2009 11:46 AM
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is he a HOFer? Borderline-No, to me.
He was more Joe Gordon than Ryne Sandberg. Other than those few great seasons hitting behind Bonds (and who wouldnt have great numbers hitting behind Ole Big Head?), he was a very-good-(not great) hitting, less-than-good fielding 2bman. But unlike Gordon, i don't think he'll have many friends on the Veterans committee to vote him in.
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Nymr83
Jan 23 2009 12:17 PM
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I'm still on the fence with Kent, perhaps the 5 year wait will give me some beter perspective.
Is Roberto Alomar a HOFer to you guys? if Roberto's defense (compared to Kent's) is worth 10 points of OPS+ then he's slightly better than Kent. I think I'd be willing to take that leap.
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A Boy Named Seo
Jan 23 2009 12:32 PM
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Seems hitting in front of Bonds would be the better place to be. Hitting behind him, you always have someone one base, but you still have to hit well and stuff.
Kent's a douche, but a great hitting second baseman. I think he and Alomar both make it.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Jan 23 2009 12:45 PM
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75 more HRs than the next second baseman.
I think there will be some softening of his image in years to come as a sort-of "anti-athlete" who didn't seek the spotlight and deliberately stood apart from those who cheated and mugged and goofed off.
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Benjamin Grimm
Jan 23 2009 12:49 PM
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I remember when the Mets got Roberto Alomar, he was considered as a sure-thing. One article I remember reading said he'd be in the "inner circle" of the all-time greats.
Whoever said that must have been assuming that he'd maintain his level of production for a few more years. Instead he fizzled out earlier than expected, which will hurt his chances, as will flopping in New York when the spotlight was brightest.
The most-homers thing will probably get Kent in. I'm not sure about Alomar, though.
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Vince Coleman Firecracker
Jan 23 2009 02:01 PM
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Alomar is a Hall of Famer, easy. According to Jay Jaffe's JAWS, he's the fifth best second baseman of all time:
WARP PEAK JAWS
1. Eddie Collins 174.0 57.2 115.6
2. Nap Lajoie 164.5 56.7 110.6
3. Joe Morgan 157.7 61.9 109.8
4. Rogers Hornsby 150.7 63.2 107.0
5. Charlie Gehringer 126.7 54.2 90.5
X. Roberto Alomar 126.8 47.3 87.1
6. Rod Carew 111.8 49.4 80.6
7. Frankie Frisch 113.4 40.9 77.2
8. Billy Herman 98.3 47.9 73.1
9. Bobby Doerr 100.8 44.3 72.6
10. Jackie Robinson 84.8 55.0 69.9
11. Bid McPhee 95.0 38.0 66.5
12. Bill Mazeroski 89.2 37.5 63.4
13. Nellie Fox 86.2 38.7 62.5
14. Red Schoendienst 85.8 38.9 62.4
15. Tony Lazzeri 77.8 37.8 57.8
16. Johnny Evers 65.7 31.8 48.8
Not sure if he's that high up on my list, but I'd vote for him if I could.
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Edgy DC
Jan 23 2009 02:05 PM
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What do those number thingies indicate?
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Edgy DC
Jan 23 2009 02:17 PM
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Holy crap. Brother choked up.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S9qWyOzqnFk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S9qWyOzqnFk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
The report said the announcement was accompanied by congratulatory messages from his former teams --- the Giants, Astros, and Mets. Where are the Indians and Blue Jays? Do the Dodgers only have NL teams in thier rolodex?
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Benjamin Grimm
Jan 23 2009 02:22 PM
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They're all making nice now because they want their team's cap on his HOF plaque.
My hunch is that he'll have an SF.
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Vince Coleman Firecracker
Jan 23 2009 02:31 PM
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="Edgy DC":2bo27oq0]What do those number thingies indicate?[/quote:2bo27oq0]
[url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=477:2bo27oq0]Here's the link[/url:2bo27oq0]. It's based off of [url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?mode=viewstat&stat=195:2bo27oq0]WARP3[/url:2bo27oq0], which attempts to factor in all contributions a player makes.
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Frayed Knot
Jan 23 2009 02:32 PM
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Kent & Alomar had almost opposite careers
Alomar was the phenom who was so consistently good so early that by age 32 there was no way he could play his way out of it - and yet he almost managed to do exactly that.
Kent, a little older coming in to begin with after going the college route, was fairly pedestrian through about age 29 before exploding with an MVP season and a string of 100+ RBI years to the point where it took folks almost until he retired before they realized that the guy put together a 17-year career with HoF-type numbers.
I still Alomar is more a lock than Kent. Both will eventually get in IMO and, with time, I think Kent's anti-jock image might cancel out his otherwise prickly self and could even work in his favor over time.
I found it surprising that Kent even had a press conference much less an emotional and thoughtful one. Not that I think he's a rock-head, just thought he'd ride off into the Texas sunset barely taking the time to even wave.
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DocTee
Jan 24 2009 10:02 AM
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A persepective from Bay Area columnist Bruce Jenkins:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 15FUV9.DTL
Expecting the worst, I sat down for an interview with Jeff Kent in the spring of 1997, his first season with the Giants. I was amazed at his candor, his utterly forthright nature. We'd never met before, but he told me about the harsh lessons delivered by his father, an Orange County cop, and how they shaped his life.
"My father watched everything I did, and whatever it was, I had to do it right," he said, gazing intensely into the distance. "He'd let me know if I did something half-ass, and then I'd feel that I let him down. I had two younger brothers, but as the oldest by six, seven years, I was more roughed up, if you will.
"So if I went 3-for-4, I'd criticize that fourth at-bat. If I hit .350, I could have hit .400. I could go out and pitch a one-hitter, and he'd say, 'You could have gotten that guy on a curveball.' That's the way it was with my father, and I'm still that way. I have a tremendous fear of failure. I'm afraid of letting even one guy down."
After about an hour's conversation that day, I felt I understood Kent, or at least his basic nature.
From that moment on, I knew him a little bit less each day.
The next time I saw Kent, he brushed past me without making eye contact, as if he'd never seen me in his life. He had no problem with the column I'd written in The Chronicle, or so I heard, but he was done with me until further notice. No hello, no small talk. I was just another face on the baseball landscape, like every teammate he ever had. I'd seen some grouchy guys in my time - Dave Kingman, John Denny, Mike LaCoss - but no one so completely removed from everyone in his profession as Kent.
He doesn't have one friend on the team. That's what I heard from sources along every stop in Kent's career, including the last one, Los Angeles. But there was an interesting comment from Bob Milano, his coach at Cal, where Kent helped lead the Bears to the 1988 College World Series. "If something goes wrong with this guy, it's not a team problem," he said. "It's just a problem for Jeff. He always found a way to beat you on the field."
I'd like to think that's how Kent will be remembered, along with his genuine display of emotion during Thursday's news conference. He was an exceptional player, solid in the clutch, a winner, the greatest slugging second baseman in history. He played the game with unrelenting desire, and he played hurt. Those attributes should earn him a place in the Hall of Fame (he'll have my vote).
Turns out the man has a heart, as well.
That was no phony at the podium, trying to win over critics who had ripped him for years. That was the real person inside Kent's uniform, a man only his family and friends (all of them outside the game) recognized. There were times in his career when Kent's brutal honesty served him well, especially after a tough loss, when he'd come out to give reporters his perspective while the rest of his teammates were nowhere to be found. But that hard-line persona never cracked. He had taken it upon himself never to show emotion, vulnerability or weakness.
We see those things now, as he walks away. I'm thinking there will be more tears from Kent in the coming days. And here's a nod of admiration to someone who truly gave his life to the game.
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