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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Mormon Baseball All-Star Jeff Kent Possible MVP
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- After making the National League's All-Star
team for the first time this summer, LDS baseball player Jeff Kent is now
being considered for the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award,
confirming Kent's transformation from a good 2nd baseman to one of the best
players in major league baseball today. Members of the Baseball Writers
Association should receive ballots this week for the MVP and other annual
baseball awards. Kent is included on the ballot, which must be postmarked
October 2nd.
As little as two weeks ago, New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza seemed to have
the award sewn up. But in the past month, Piazza has slumped badly, while
the Giants have rocketed to the best record in the majors, making both of
the team's best players, Kent and superstar Barry Bonds, strong candidates
for the award. On paper, Kent has the better record, and will probably get a
few more votes than Bonds, but the fact that both players are on the same
team will probably hurt them both. "They'll probably cancel out each other,"
says San Diego player Tony Gwynn. "You could say Kent carried the Giants in
the first half and Barry carried the Giants in the second half, so it
depends on your druthers."
Meanwhile, Kent racked up a major league record recently, when he passed
Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornsby on Sunday, September 17th, for the most
runs-batted-in by a 2nd baseman over a four-year period. Kent hit his 33rd
home run, collecting his 474th RBI over the past four seasons. Kent now has
124 RBIs for this season and is hitting .335.
He is also getting some recognition for his charitable work. Last week, Kent
was chosen as one of six finalists for the Major League Baseball Player's
Union's Man of the Year Award, in recognition of his contributions to
women's athletics at his alma mater, California State University.
Sources:
MVP races heating up
CNNSI 17Sep00 S2
Kent, Bonds both MVP worthy
San Francisco Examiner 17Sep00 S2
By John Shea: Examiner Senior Writer
Giants Beat: Nathan bumped from rotation: KENT A FINALIST
San Francisco Examiner 16Sep00 S2
By John Shea: Examiner Senior Writer
Giants 5, Padres 1
Washington Post (AP) 17Sep00 S2
Associated Press
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