Jeff Kent elected to baseball Hall of Fame by Era committee - ESPN

ORLANDO — Jeff Kent, who holds the record for home runs by a second baseman, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Kent, 57, was named on 14 of 16 ballots by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, two more than he needed for induction.

Just as noteworthy as Kent's selection were the names of those who didn't garner enough support, which included all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, 354-game winner Roger Clemens, two MVPs from the 1980s, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy, and Gary Sheffield, who slugged 509 career homers.

Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Dodgers great Fernando Valenzuela were named on fewer than five ballots. According to a new protocol introduced by the Hall of Fame that went into effect with this ballot, players drawing five or fewer votes won't be eligible the next time their era is considered. They can be nominated again in a subsequent cycle, but if they fall short of five votes again, they will not be eligible for future consideration.

The candidacies of Bonds and Clemens have long been among the most hotly debated among Hall of Fame aficionados because of their association with PEDs. With Sunday's results, they moved one step closer to what would ostensibly be permanent exclusion from the sport's highest honor.

If Bonds, Clemens, Sheffield and Valenzuela are nominated when their era comes around in 2031, and fall short of five votes again, it would be their last shot at enshrinement under the current guidelines.

Kent, whose best seasons were with the San Francisco Giants as Bonds' teammate, continued his longstanding neutral stance on Bonds' candidacy, declining to offer an opinion on whether or not he thinks Bonds should get in.

«Barry was a good teammate of mine,» Kent said.