Jeff Kent

Some voters might hold his prickly personality against him, but there should be no doubt that Jeff Kent is a Hall of Famer, although he certainly won't be a unanimous choice. . . . Of course, neither were Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan or Cal Ripken Jr. unanimous picks. . . . No Hall of Famer has been elected without dissent. . . . Thirty years ago, 23 voters snubbed Willie Mays and, in 1936, 11 turned their backs on Babe Ruth. . . .

From San Francisco The Dodgers return home Thursday, the former and present L.A. police chiefs probably arguing about who will get to throw out the ceremonial first fan. By then the thug detectors, special sections designated for gang members and parking lot guard towers should be in place at Dodger Stadium for Operation Overkill, although I'm not so sure this promise of everyone seeing a "sea of blue" is such a good idea. Make it a sea of red and maybe folks will take notice of the cops and Frank McCourt's overnight realization that Dodger Stadium is about as safe as a park restroom in the middle of the night.

Told that Jeff Kent was scheduled to announce his retirement at Dodger Stadium today, Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa expressed one regret about the future Hall of Famer's tenure in Los Angeles: That more of the team's young players didn't ask him for advice. "I don't think it's anyone's fault," Bowa said. "I think a lot of the young guys were intimidated by him. It's a shame because you could learn a lot from him."

I wish I could tell you the division is theirs, that the Dodgers are heading to the playoffs with smoky Santa Ana winds at their backs, that all is right in Chavez Ravine. I can't. After Sunday's ugly 4-3 loss to the lowly Padres, nobody can. Too much has become uncertain. There's too much unease. The players appear flat, the clubhouse feels stale. Trust me, it's not a divisive, negative place, as when bitter old Jeff Kent was around. It's just flat and stale because this has dragged on far longer, grown far tighter, than anyone had thought.

Jeff Kent, a Times second-team, all-county selection last season and the starting shortstop this year at Edison High School, has been removed from the team for what Charger Coach Ron LaRuffa called an "attitude problem." LaRuffa said he made the decision to drop Kent from the team last Friday. He was considering shaking up the struggling Chargers (2-5 in the Sunset League, 10-8 overall) by playing Kent at another position and said, "That was something (Kent) couldn't accept."

It isn't only the predominant color of the New York Mets' uniform that prompts Manager Dallas Green to think of second baseman Jeff Kent as blue collar. It's his "nose-in-the-dirt, grind-it-out" approach, Green said. The manager also colors Kent in shades of Pete Rose. "He treats every at-bat as if it's the seventh game of the World Series," Green said. "He can go three for four and come away mad at himself because of the hit he didn't get.

Maybe it's the winning. With the San Francisco Giants atop the National League West Division, one can hardly question Jeff Kent's hunky-dory outlook. Maybe it's the success. By the All-Star break, Kent was only one home run and one run batted in from tying San Francisco club records for a second baseman. His 18 home runs and 64 RBIs are--dare we say--in Matt Williams' territory. Maybe it's maturity.

Mike Edwards watches from the corner of his eye in the dugout. Jayson Werth takes a peek over his shoulder in the clubhouse. Jeff Weaver looks over to calm himself from the mound. Learning from Jeff Kent doesn't involve ears so much as eyes. His teammates observe the way he navigates a deceptively complex game and a road map becomes clear. Kent has distilled baseball's numbing routine to its essence.

The way he awkwardly stuck his chubby fingers into his eyes, it could have been old remnants of infield dirt. He would poke in, pull out, flick something to the ground, again and again. It wasn't until Jeff Kent raised his head that everyone realized those eyes were filled not with the tough guy, but the real guy. No dirt, just tears. On his way out the door, the most unbreakable man in the room finally broke.

Active home run leaders in major league baseball: *--* Barry Bonds 715 Ken Griffey Jr. 542 Frank Thomas 457 Gary Sheffield 453 Jeff Bagwell 449 Jim Thome 448 Manny Ramirez 446 Alex Rodriguez 442 Juan Gonzalez 434 Mike Piazza 404 Carlos Delgado 384 Jeff Kent 337 Jim Edmonds 336 Chipper Jones 335 Jason Giambi 325 *--*

The shape of Blake DeWitt's season changed one day early in Dodgers camp when news of Orlando Hudson's signing reached the second-year infielder's locker. A conversation with Manager Joe Torre the next day confirmed what DeWitt already knew. Hudson would be the Dodgers' starting second baseman, not DeWitt. "Anybody who's competitive wants to win, wants to be in there playing," DeWitt said. "I don't think you're jumping up and down. But you've got to understand the situation."

This morning's first full workout of the spring will be preceded by the Dodgers' first full-squad meeting, which raises a question about which players, if any, will talk. Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe and Brad Penny spoke regularly at these types of gatherings in recent years, but everyone from that group is retired, thinking of retiring or is with another club. Will any of the younger stars fill the leadership vacuum in the clubhouse?

These people live among you: Robert Arvai: "My puli is more of a human being than you are." Didn't think the AKC looked favorably on cross-breeding. Frances Smith: "You are really quite a humorless writer. I am the proud owner of three Scottish Deerhounds. The Deerhound was bred in Scotland to hunt deer. A hunter would take their dog on hunts and the deerhound would both chase down and hold a deer until the hunter made the kill." Funny, funny stuff. Bill Todman Jr.

It's time for Dodger baseball! The Dodgers start the countdown to spring training this weekend, with an eight-day celebration that includes a publicity caravan across Southern California, a neighborhood Super Bowl party at Dodger Stadium, community service events and even a festive departure ceremony for the trucks carrying clubhouse equipment to the team's new spring home in Arizona.

First of all, what a hypocrite. Hey, I've enjoyed covering the confounding grouch for the most part, but if there's anyone upon retirement who should have heard and appreciated the words, "don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out," it's Jeff Kent. In a perfect world, if only Vin Scully had been at the news conference and said just that, while adding, "That guy cries too much."

Some voters might hold his prickly personality against him, but there should be no doubt that Jeff Kent is a Hall of Famer, although he certainly won't be a unanimous choice. . . . Of course, neither were Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan or Cal Ripken Jr. unanimous picks. . . . No Hall of Famer has been elected without dissent. . . . Thirty years ago, 23 voters snubbed Willie Mays and, in 1936, 11 turned their backs on Babe Ruth. . . .

So Milton Bradley thinks Jeff Kent can't deal with African Americans? Sounds more like Kent can't deal with asinine Americans. BEN COATS Ventura Milton Bradley is upset that we don't understand that he just wants to play baseball, have fun, be a nice guy and feed his kids. Don't dare judge him on his performance -- his stats are of no importance (13 home runs and 38 runs batted in prove that). I'm sure he made the Dodgers aware of this philosophy when he signed his contract.

Jeff Kent, second among the San Francisco Giants with 49 runs batted in and the team leader with a .301 batting average, wants to start tonight in an exhibition against the club's triple-A affiliate in Fresno and, if all goes well, aims for a return this weekend at Colorado. Kent, the Giants' cleanup hitter, was injured by a sliding Alex Rodriguez of Seattle on June 9. "If you give us Jeff Kent the last three weeks, are you going to tell me we wouldn't have been markedly better?"

The way he awkwardly stuck his chubby fingers into his eyes, it could have been old remnants of infield dirt. He would poke in, pull out, flick something to the ground, again and again. It wasn't until Jeff Kent raised his head that everyone realized those eyes were filled not with the tough guy, but the real guy. No dirt, just tears. On his way out the door, the most unbreakable man in the room finally broke.

Told that Jeff Kent was scheduled to announce his retirement at Dodger Stadium today, Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa expressed one regret about the future Hall of Famer's tenure in Los Angeles: That more of the team's young players didn't ask him for advice. "I don't think it's anyone's fault," Bowa said. "I think a lot of the young guys were intimidated by him. It's a shame because you could learn a lot from him."