All-Time Top ABL Players: #3 Jeff Kent

#3 Jeff Kent
2B - 1987 Anchorage Bucs
Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Height: 6'1" - Weight: 185lb
Drafted: 1989, Toronto Blue Jays, 20th Round
MLB Career: 1992-2008
MLB Teams: Toronto, New York (NL), Cleveland, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles

Last week we picked John Olerud as #4 on the all-time top ABL players countdown. Olerud, of course, was taken in the third round by the Blue Jays in the 1989 draft. Interestingly enough, this week's pick -- Jeff Kent -- was picked by the same team in the same year. And although he was picked later (the 20th round), Kent managed to squeak in one spot ahead of his fellow '89 draft classmate in the #3 slot in our rankings.



Jeff Kent's stay in the Alaska League was a shining example of the way in which a summer in AK will either toughen a player up or weed them out. No, it wasn't just the long road trips, less-than-pro-quality ballpark amenities, or first taste of everyday play. For Kent, it was the spirited "bleacher creatures" who flock to Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer to, shall we say, "communicate with" players of the visiting team and their home-town Mat-Su Miners alike. As Lew Freedman explains it in his excellent book "Diamonds in the Rough",

"The fans thought the young man playing shortstop for the Anchorage Bucs was a prima donna. They decided the player, whose first name was Jeff, had rabbit ears and was easily bothered. They thought his manner was quite cocky and that irked them, too. So he was serenaded with 'Jeff-rey,' the entire game."

It's no doubt that Kent's time with the Bucs helped mold him into the superstar that he would become with the Giants, but perhaps the Miners had a little something to do with it as well.

Whatever the case may be, Jeff Kent would rise to the top of the Major Leagues and become one of the greatest second basemen of all time. It was his stint in San Francisco that defined him, as he teamed up with a fellow ABL product -- Goldpanners star Barry Bonds -- to establish himself as an offensive machine. Bonds got on base and Kent hit him home. It was the same story day in, day out.

And so it happened that Kent, who played a position known more for swift legs and good gloves, began a streak from 1997 to 2005 in which he would hit at least 90 RBI's, peaking at 128 batted-in in 1998. While it certainly didn't hurt that he had Bonds on base in front of him nearly all the time, Kent's hitting was for real. He could hit the ball, and hit it hard, and from '97 onward he was a safe bet for 20-30 homers.

As his career wound down after the 2008 season, Kent could look back on five All-Star appearances, four Silver Sluggers, and an MVP selection in 2000. He can also make a strong argument that he was the top infielder to ever come out of the Alaska Baseball League. Without any hesitation, I'm happy to say that Jeff Kent is our #3 pick off all time.

Photo Courtesy of AnchorageBucs.com