Larry Brown Sports

A most unlikely former All-Star is joining the cast of “Survivor” to compete on the latest season of the reality TV game show.

Jeff Kent, who was known throughout his MLB career as a surly character, will attempt to make friends with his fellow tribesmen in hopes of becoming the sole survivor.

In the video below, the former NL MVP says he doesn’t want to embarrass himself on the show:

So that’s your story: Jeff Kent, Blair from “The Facts of Life,” a bunch of ex-beauty queens, and several randoms will be competing on “Survivor: Philippines,” which debuts on Sept. 19.

Kent joins former NFL tackle Steve Wright and former NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom as ex-professional athletes who have competed on the show. Former NFL and college football coach Jimmy Johnson also competed on the show, though he didn’t last long.

If Kent could withstand six seasons as teammates with Barry Bonds, we bet he can handle the elements of the Philippines.

H/T Eye on Baseball

Once teammates in San Francisco from ’97-’02, Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds will be forever linked. The two formed a powerful duo in the heart of the Giants order for several years, leading San Francisco into the World Series in ’02 where they got served by the Angels. Both have strong personalities and were known to fight while in San Francisco despite winning many accolades. Bonds finished second in MVP balloting to Kent in 2000 — Kent’s only MVP season — while Bonds went on to win the next four. Each player enjoyed remarkable success offensively throughout his career. Bonds’ aided statistics may only be second to one in the history of the game, Babe Ruth. Kent’s offensive statistics as a second baseman are second to none when it comes to power. Both players were standouts during their time and changed the game. But both were also undoubtedly dicks.

So that begs the question: with Bonds not playing last season and Kent set to retire, who will get into Cooperstown first? It takes five years for retired players to be eligible for the Hall. Bonds will be eligible first but the ominous steroids questions will loom and enough voters might be deterred from electing him. Heck, if they couldn’t all vote for Rickey, Cal, or Tony, how are they going to all vote for Bonds? Then the question becomes whether or not Bonds gets elected in his second year, and whether or not Kent’s poor attitude toward the press will keep him from being elected in his first year. Kent’s going to get there because he doesn’t have any steroids questions surrounding him. But will he make it on the first ballot? It will be close. So the three outcomes are: Bonds gets there first, they get elected in the same year, or Kent gets elected first. I’m going with Kent first. Who you got?

Normally I don’t like to mix politics on the site here, but I thought there were a few interesting points raised by this issue. California has a proposition in its upcoming election that would ban gay marriage statewide. Surefire Hall of Fame second baseman and current Dodger Jeff Kent has donated $15,000 in favor of the measure — a good indicator of how some athletes would feel about gays in the locker room. In addition to Jeff Kent, one of the greatest proponents of the proposition seems to be members of the Mormon church. That’s where Steve Young comes in. Young went to BYU and is a Mormon, but his wife is a staunch supporter of gay marriage and he’s not stopping her:

Former San Francisco 49ers’ Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, who ironically just had his number 8 jersey retired by the team, has two official “No On 8″ signs in the windows of his house in Palo Alto.

On Friday, there were also three Halloween-themed signs in Young’s yard that also urged people to reject the gay marriage ban.

In addition, records show Young’s wife, Barbara, has donated approximately $50,000 to the “No On 8″ campaign aimed at defeating Proposition 8.

Barbara Young made it clear that she’s the one behind the political push and that Steve supports whatever her interests are. No word yet from the Mormon church on the matter, but you can be certain they’re not too happy with the Young family right now. I mean, wasn’t that university freaking named after Steve’s family??

(the tombstone pictured was actually a decoration piece at the Young household for Halloween, according to CBS)

He’s just one of those guys — the kind you hate when he’s on the other team, and the kind you, well, begrudgingly accept when he’s on yours. Actually, for my family, it was quite easy to not only accept Jeff Kent, but moreover, embrace him when he came to the Dodgers. The man works hard, stays out of the spotlight, shows up everyday, and is a superior hitter. You have a team full of Jeff Kents — odd as that is to imagine — and you have yourself a championship. One other aspect about Jeff Kent that goes often overlooked is his genuine honesty. T.J. Simers was able to break the wall that usually shields Kent from most reporters, and through Simers, we’ve received a great look at who Kent really is. And from his latest comments, it appears as if Jeff Kent accomplished everything in his Hall of Fame career cleanly:

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