On Wednesday morning, the same day this year’s baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced, Duane Kuiper joined Murph & Mac and talked about the careers of former Giants, and Hall of Fame-hopefuls, Jeff Kent and Omar Vizquel.
“Probably Jeff Kent isn’t going to get enough votes, don’t you think?” Kuiper said. “I don’t think he’s close. I don’t think he’ll get to 30 percent. And I don’t know why.”
Kent spent six of his 17 years in the Major Leagues with the Giants, where he flourished during the Barry Bonds-era with a .297 batting average, 175 home runs in San Francisco. In 2000, Kent batted .334 with 33 home runs to receive the MVP award. All told, he bounced around between six teams during his playing days and boasts a .290 career batting average and 377 combined home runs.
“I almost feel like, if you look at the people that vote for Kent, it’s the people that saw him play everyday because I think that’s the only way you can truly appreciate him,” Kuiper said.
As for Vizquel, this will be his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot and it very well could be enough. In 24 years in the Major Leagues, batted .272 and played more games at shortstop than any other player in baseball history (2709). By the time he signed with the Giants in 2004, where he played for four years from 2005-2008, Vizquel was 38-years-old and didn’t retire until he was 45 in 2012.
“What really hurts Omar is the argument that we hear a lot about those teams in the mid-90s, the Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez team with the Indians, and where he ranked on that team,” Kuiper said. “I’ll tell you he was the fifth or sixth best player and I think that probably hurt him a little bit because he played with those great guys.”
Prior to joining the Giants, Vizquel was a part of the revived Cleveland Indians that made five consecutive playoff appearances from 1995-1999. He was teammates with Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez and other great talents that could ultimately outshine his greatness when considering him for the Hall of Fame.
“It’ll be interesting to see if Omar gets in,” Kuiper said. “I looked at the Chronicle today and it showed the people and who they voted for. Again, he gets a lot of votes from writers from the towns where he played in because he made an impact obviously on the field, but also because of the kind of guy he was. He was friendly, he was helpful, he didn’t blow anybody off. He’s just a good guy.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and start from the beginning for Kuiper on Kent and Vizquel.
