The Cal 100: No. 28 -- Jeff Kent

The National League's 2000 MVP and all-time home run leader among second basemen has provided great support to Cal Athletics.

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 28: Jeff Kent

Cal Sports Connection: Kent was Cal's starting shortstop from 1987 through '89 and, since retiring as a major leaguer, donated more than $600,000 to help save the Bears' baseball program and to endow a women's sports scholarship.

Claim to Fame: He was the National League MVP in 2000 and hit more career home runs than any second baseman in history.

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There are 22 second basemen in the Baseball Hall of Fame, including Rogers Hornsby, Jackie Robinson and Joe Morgan. 

Cal alum Jeff Kent is not among them, despite the fact that he hit more home runs — 377 — than any of them.

He finished his 17-year major league career with 1,518 RBIs — more than any second baseman in the past 85 seasons.

Kent, who spent six of his most productive seasons with the San Francisco Giants, was disappointed in January when he fell short of entry to the Hall in his 10th and final chance through the regular voting process.

“The voting over the years has been too much of a head-scratching embarrassment,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

We hope it’s some small consolation that Kent quite easily made the cut for our “Hall of Fame” — checking in at No. 28 in The Cal 100.

Jeff Kent running the bases at Cal / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Originally a non-scholarship walk-on with the Bears, Kent was never an All-American or an all-conference selection. A three-year starter (1987-89) at shortstop, he was taken in the 20th round of the 1989 draft, the 523rd overall selection by the Toronto Blue Jays.

But Kent blossomed while playing for six clubs in the big leagues, compiling a .290 career batting average with 984 extra-base hits (including 560 doubles). He collected at least 100 RBIs eight times.

He was a five-time All-Star and a four-time Silver Slugger award winner.

Kent's best years were in San Francisco, where he averaged 29 homers, 115 RBIs and batted .297. He was a top-10 finisher in the National League’s MVP voting in four of those six seasons, including in 2000 when he won the award after batting .334 with 33 homers, 41 doubles, seven triples, 114 runs, 125 RBIs, and a .596 slugging percentage.

Kent’s time with the Giants ended when he left as a free agent after the 2002 season to sign with the Houston Astros. He made the move after his sometimes rocky relationship with superstar Barry Bonds boiled over in a shoving and shouting match in the dugout during a June 26 game that season at San Diego.

Jeff Kent prepares to deliver a throw / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

A proud alum, Kent has continued to impact baseball and athletics at Cal.

In 2011, when the university put baseball on its list of sports to eliminate due to budget issues, Kent stepped up to help. Former Cal pitcher Stu Gordon led an aggressive fund-raising effort with his own donation of $550,000 and Kent contributed $100,000 as supporters raised $9 million to save the sport.

Three years later Kent delivered again, donating $531,000 to create the Jeff Kent Women Driven Scholarship Endowment. The preference was that the scholarship would go to a non-recruited athlete with a minimum of 2.8 grade-point average from soccer, softball, tennis, track or cross country.

"Having the opportunity to get an education at Cal can make a profound difference in life. I know how much I benefited,” Kent said at the time. “Everybody should have a shot, and this is my chance to ensure others have their shot."

-- No. 29: Chuck Muncie

Cover photo of Jeff Kent at spring training in 2013 by Matt Kartozian, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo