Yes. Jeff Kent made some errors. There were nine seasons in fact in which he was in the top 10 for errors for a second baseman with the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, and others. But -at the position- he: is 14th all time for double plays, was top-five five times for fielding percentage, is the all-time leader in home runs (351) , and is fourth in doubles. Those stats and a .290 career batting average should leave no doubt that the mustachioed Kent belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The newly-named Era Committee has agreed, with 14 of 16 voters signing off on his induction to Cooperstown.  It should have been an easy decision. His resume also includes four Silver Slugger awards, five All-Star teams, and the 2000 National League Most Valuable Player Award.

It took long enough, though.

Kent never received more than 46.5% of the vote in his ten years on the ballot. The errors and his occasional lack of patience with the media didn’t help much. Reporters had reason to be suspicious after Kent claimed to have broken his arm washing his truck. It turned out he had been spotted doing wheelies on his motorcycle just outside of Scottsdale Stadium and had wiped out, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman.  He also had a well-publicized feud with Bonds, which endeared him to those who had grown tired of Bonds’ wild mood swings and boorish behavior. Kent’s feud would endear him forever in the hearts of those who later discovered that Bonds was part of the Balco scandal. 

Kent came up through the Blue Jays’ farm system, but Roberto Alomar was already at the position by the time Toronto was ready to bring him up to the big leagues. So, the Jays dealt him for David Cone. The deal helped the Blue Jays win the 1992 World Series.

Alas, his teams would fall short in his career, sometimes spectacularly so. The 2002 San Francisco Giants reached the World Series, but the team could not hold a 5-0 lead in Game 6 and lost in seven games to the Anaheim Angels. His postseason resume was almost as good as the regular season: 276 batting average, .340 on-base-percentage, .500 slugging percentage.

San Francisco had became home in 1998. Kent hit half of his career homers in his 900-plus games there. He provided valuable protection in the lineup behind Barry Bonds. Kent played in 2298 career games and appeared at the plate 9537 times. All told, he hit .290/.356/.500 with 377 home runs, 1518 RBI, and 1320 runs scored.

Kent spent his final six seasons with the Houston Astros and the hometown Dodgers.

The Era Committee used to be known as the Veteran’s Committee. This year’s version of the Era Committee looked at the “Contemporary Baseball” (1980-present) era.  Next year’s ballot will focus on managers, executives, and umpires from the same timeframe. The 2027 ballot will consider candidates from the “Classic Baseball” era.

The vote tallies also mean Bonds won’t be on the next voting cycle in 2028. Because they received fewer than five votes on this year’s ballot, Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, and Fernando Valenzuela will not be on the Contemporary Players ballot until at least 2031.  If any of the four players don’t receive at least five votes in that year, they will be off of the list of possible players for the committee to consider in future years.

The writers’ ballots will be announced in a little less than six weeks. Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones are hoping to reach the 75% threshold. Jones is in his ninth try, while Beltran is in his fourth..  This year’s Era Committee was comprised of seven Hall of Famers (Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Kaat, Juan Marichal, Tony Perez, Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, Robin Yount), four former MLB general managers (Doug Melvin, Kim Ng, Tony Reagins, Terry Ryan), two current MLB owners (the Brewers’ Mark Attansio and the Angels’ Arte Moreno), two media members (the Athletic’s Tyler Kepner and Jayson Stark), and historian Steve Hirdt.