Jeff Kent will wear SF Giants cap on Hall of Fame plaque; Beltrán to wear Mets

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Jeff Kent will have a San Francisco Giants hat on his Hall of Fame plaque, Carlos Beltrán will have a New York Mets cap and Andruw Jones will have an Atlanta Braves logo.

The hall announced its decisions Tuesday, two weeks after Beltrán and Jones were elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Kent was voted into the hall in December by the contemporary era committee.

Inductions will take place on July 26.

A five-time All-Star second baseman, Kent hit .290 with 377 homers and 1,518 RBIs over 17 seasons with Toronto (1992), the New York Mets (1992-96), Cleveland (1996), San Francisco (1997-2002), Houston (2003-04) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2005-08). His six seasons with the Giants were his most with a big league team.

“Each of the stops along my career path was important to me, but it was with the Giants where I had the most success and spent the most time during my career,” Kent said.

A nine-time All-Star center fielder, the switch-hitting Beltrán batted .279 with 435 homers and 1,587 RBIs over 20 seasons with Kansas City (1999-2004), Houston (2004, ’17), the Mets (2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the New York Yankees (20014-16) and Texas (2016). He earned five All-Star selections and three Gold Gloves with the Mets.

 

“With the Mets, I experienced my greatest individual growth and success,” Beltrán said in a statement released by the hall. “I’m honored that my Hall of Fame plaque will feature the Mets logo.”

Jones batted .254 with 434 homers, 1,289 RBIs and 152 stolen bases in 17 seasons with Atlanta (1996-2007), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and the Yankees (2011-12). The center fielder finished his career with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League from 2013-14. He earned all five of his All-Star selections and all 10 of his Gold Gloves with the Braves.

“The Braves were the team that gave me my first opportunity to chase the dream I wanted since I was a little kid,” Jones said in a statement. “I am proud to wear the ‘A’ on my plaque.”