Is Jeff Kent a Hall of Famer?
September 5, 2009 2 Comments
Per request of a reader, I was asked to see if Jeff Kent is a HOF player (even though he retired way back in January). So of course, I obliged.
To do this, I compared Jeff Kent to all the 2b in the Hall currently. Below are tables that feature WAR, WAR/150, OBP, SLG, wOBA, and EqA. The tables also feature the average of each stat for the selected pool of players NOT INCLUDING Kent.
| Player | WAR |
| B. Mazeroski | 27 |
| R. Schoendiest | 40.3 |
| N. Fox | 44.6 |
| B. Doerr | 48 |
| T. Lazzeri | 48.1 |
| J. Evers | 48.3 |
| J. Gordon | 54.9 |
| B. Herman | 55.5 |
| B. McPhee | 57.8 |
| R. Sandberg | 61.8 |
| J. Robinson | 63 |
| F. Frisch | 74.7 |
| R. Carew | 79.3 |
| C. Gehringer | 80.9 |
| J. Morgan | 103.5 |
| N. Lajoie | 104.1 |
| E. Collins | 125.7 |
| R. Hornsby | 127.7 |
| Average | 69.2 |
| J. Kent | 59.4 |
| Player | WAR/150 |
| B. Mazeroski | 1.9 |
| R. Schoendiest | 2.7 |
| N. Fox | 2.8 |
| B. Doerr | 3.9 |
| T. Lazzeri | 4.1 |
| J. Evers | 4.1 |
| B. McPhee | 4.1 |
| B. Herman | 4.3 |
| R. Sandberg | 4.3 |
| R. Carew | 4.8 |
| F. Frisch | 4.9 |
| C. Gehringer | 5.2 |
| J. Gordon | 5.3 |
| J. Morgan | 5.7 |
| N. Lajoie | 6.3 |
| E. Collins | 6.7 |
| J. Robinson | 6.8 |
| R. Hornsby | 8.5 |
| Average | 4.8 |
| J. Kent | 3.9 |
| Player | OBP |
| B. Mazeroski | 0.299 |
| R. Schoendiest | 0.337 |
| R. Sandberg | 0.344 |
| N. Fox | 0.347 |
| B. McPhee | 0.355 |
| J. Evers | 0.356 |
| J. Gordon | 0.357 |
| B. Doerr | 0.362 |
| B. Herman | 0.367 |
| F. Frisch | 0.369 |
| T. Lazzeri | 0.38 |
| N. Lajoie | 0.38 |
| J. Morgan | 0.392 |
| R. Carew | 0.393 |
| C. Gehringer | 0.404 |
| J. Robinson | 0.409 |
| E. Collins | 0.424 |
| R. Hornsby | 0.434 |
| Average | 0.373 |
| J. Kent | 0.356 |
| Player | SLG |
| J. Evers | 0.334 |
| N. Fox | 0.363 |
| B. Mazeroski | 0.367 |
| B. McPhee | 0.372 |
| R. Schoendiest | 0.387 |
| B. Herman | 0.407 |
| J. Morgan | 0.427 |
| R. Carew | 0.429 |
| E. Collins | 0.429 |
| F. Frisch | 0.432 |
| R. Sandberg | 0.452 |
| B. Doerr | 0.461 |
| J. Gordon | 0.466 |
| T. Lazzeri | 0.467 |
| N. Lajoie | 0.467 |
| J. Robinson | 0.474 |
| C. Gehringer | 0.48 |
| R. Hornsby | 0.577 |
| Average | 0.433 |
| J. Kent | 0.5 |
| Player | wOba |
| B. Mazeroski | 0.293 |
| N. Fox | 0.324 |
| R. Schoendiest | 0.334 |
| J. Evers | 0.344 |
| B. McPhee | 0.354 |
| R. Sandberg | 0.355 |
| B. Herman | 0.362 |
| R. Carew | 0.37 |
| B. Doerr | 0.377 |
| J. Gordon | 0.377 |
| F. Frisch | 0.377 |
| J. Morgan | 0.382 |
| T. Lazzeri | 0.386 |
| N. Lajoie | 0.399 |
| C. Gehringer | 0.404 |
| J. Robinson | 0.412 |
| E. Collins | 0.414 |
| R. Hornsby | 0.459 |
| Average | 0.374 |
| J. Kent | 0.366 |
| Player | EqA |
| B. Mazeroski | 0.244 |
| N. Fox | 0.253 |
| R. Schoendiest | 0.258 |
| B. McPhee | 0.258 |
| J. Evers | 0.269 |
| F. Frisch | 0.274 |
| B. Doerr | 0.278 |
| T. Lazzeri | 0.284 |
| B. Herman | 0.284 |
| R. Sandberg | 0.284 |
| J. Gordon | 0.287 |
| C. Gehringer | 0.289 |
| R. Carew | 0.301 |
| J. Robinson | 0.308 |
| N. Lajoie | 0.309 |
| E. Collins | 0.311 |
| J. Morgan | 0.314 |
| R. Hornsby | 0.337 |
| Average | 0.286 |
| J. Kent | 0.292 |
According to Tom Tango the odds of someone making the HOF when their WAR is in the 50′s is 49%. Jeff Kent is sitting on a WAR of 59.4 If you vote based on precedent, Kent is obviously a HOF’er as Mazeroski and Schoendiest are in the HOF. If you vote on production, Kent should fall just short. In reality, he has a 50/50 chance, as Tango’s odds show. While he compares favorably to the pool in respect to SLG and EqA, he is below average when it comes to WAR, WAR/150, wOBA, and OBP.
The HOF is a museum where baseball greats are recognized (which is why I feel Bonds, Rose, etc should be allowed in). Considering Kent retired as the all-time leader among 2b in HR’s, he should be voted in and recognized for that accomplishment, even if his production is not enough to get in.
Thank you
I actually agree with you about the mention of him being an All-Time HR leader. Unfortunately, the BBWAA rules attempt to make sure single milestones aren’t used solely for HOF induction (just one reason Maris and his 61 HRs aren’t in). I’m not sure the Kent all-time leader example falls under that category, though.
I think Kent is a HOFer. I recently used a little different approach to predict Hall of Famers based on past inductions (or patterns of BBWAA voting). Based on past inductions, without taking into account position or fielding ability, the algorithm found Kent to be Hall worthy. Remember, this doesn’t necessarily mean he’s better than other candidates…it just means he fits the bill for what the BBWAA thinks is a HOFer.
The link to that is below. It’s a multi-post analysis. I include players that are considered “Snubs” in another article, along with inductees that just don’t seem to fit the pattern of BBWAA voting (but are in anyway). If anyone here does know how to easily find All-Star appearance numbers, I’d really appreciate it, as I think that would help me out. I’d suggest starting with the introduction into the method and going through to understand what the assumptions are. It’s not perfect, but I think it can add to the discussion of HOF induction patterns:
http://princeofslides.blogspot.com/2009/09/random-forest-predictions.html