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:
“Not everyone in the game is using HGH, but I would bet it still is being abused,” he says. “Why not have blood tests? If ultimately you want a clean game, then it needs to happen.
“They ought to be testing for drugs in the playoffs too. They never do that.”
…
“The Mitchell Report is probably just 1% of those who have cheated in the game. It gives a very small sampling of what was going on.“Now we’re hearing about some guys who cheat and the phony excuses like I got hurt, so I just used HGH one time. Whether they are telling the truth or not, people are finally having to answer to some things.”
There’s even more from Kent that I cut out so you really should read Simers’ full column to get it all. I like the story Kent tells about his son who thought he could easily steal a video game from Target. Kent equated that action to cheating and told his son that whether or not he could get away with it, it was still wrong, and that he might have to face the consequences for his actions. I agree completely with Kent on the subject and I am quite pleased to see him speak out about HGH the way he did. Though often considered a jerk in the game, baseball would be much better off if it were full of Jeff Kents. At least that way we know it would still be clean.
