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Kent rips HOF voting process: 'Head-scratching embarrassment'

MONICA DAVEY / AFP / Getty

Jeff Kent isn't thrilled with the Baseball Writers' Association of America after coming up short in his final year on the ballot for induction into the Hall of Fame.

"The voting over the years has been too much of a head-scratching embarrassment," Kent told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Baseball is losing a couple generations of great players that were the best in their era because a couple non-voting stat folks keep comparing those players to players already voted in from generations past and are influencing the votes. It's unfair to the best players in their own era and those already voted in, in my opinion."

Kent received 46.5% of the vote in his 10th year of eligibility, well below the 75% needed for induction. The 2000 National League MVP played for six clubs over his 17-year career. His 377 home runs are the most ever by a second baseman, and he sits third in RBIs at the position.

Kent's next opportunity to get inducted into the Hall of Fame will come in 2025 when the contemporary era committee meets to discuss candidates for the class of 2026.

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