COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — It was an old-school reminder to the way baseball used to be played, the way we looked at the game, and the stats that shaped our opinions Sunday afternoon at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The new Hall of Fame trio of Jeff Kent, Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were here to remind everyone that the traditional statistics should still matter. Runs batted in should not be considered a fluke stat in a box score. There really is a clutch element in a players’ psyche. And while everyone is engrossed with on-base percentage these days, even if some sluggers are only clogging the bases by drawing a rash of walks, future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker has a question for you:
“If driving in runs or scoring runs isn’t important,’’ future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker said, “then why are we bothering to keep score?’’
Kent, Beltran and Jones, who were inducted into the Hall of Fame with a record 60 Hall of Famers in attendance and 12,000 fans in attendance, certainly represented baseball’s greatest values throughout their brilliant careers.
They didn’t celebrate drawing a walk with a runner on third base with less than two outs, instead wanting to drive them in, not letting the responsibility fall to someone else.
They didn’t sit out games when they weren’t feeling well, or treat the injured list like a paid vacation. They posted, season after season, oftentimes playing in pain, knowing that they were a whole lot more valuable to their teams at 70% than sitting on the bench.
They didn’t try to create a brand. They didn’t try to draw attention to themselves. They played to win, game after game, season after season.
Go ahead, check out their resumes:
➤ Kent, who hit the most home runs by a second baseman in history, hit at least 20 homers and drove in 100 or more runs in six consecutive seasons, and eight times in his career.
➤ Jones played more than 150 games in 11 seasons with Atlanta, including four seasons playing more than 160 games.
➤ Beltran, a nine-time All-Star, had eight seasons of at least 100 RBIs and seven seasons scoring 100 or more runs.
And there wasn’t a single whisper, rumor or innuendo that any of the trio used performance-enhancing drugs, with Kent talking about how he wanted to emulate Chicago Cubs great Ryne Sandberg, whose legendary Hall of Fame speech emphasized the importance of playing the game the right way.
“I never had the chance to meet Ryne,’’ Kent said, “but I watched him play every day because I wanted to be like him. He played with toughness, and he played with quiet fire. I hope he knows that a lot of us who came after him play that way as well.’’
Andruw Jones: 'I took so much pride in my defense'
Jones, the first player from Curaçao to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, said it was his father who stressed the importance of showing up to work every day. It was no different than if you were a postal worker, a fisherman, or you made a living on the ballfield.
“Everything started with my dad,’’ Jones said. “My dad told me from the beginning, if a shrimp goes to sleep, the water, the storm, will take him away. So, when I put the uniform on, I showed up ready to play because I could go oh-for-4 and have an impact. That’s why I took so much pride in my defense. Every time I walked on that field, I was trying to do something special to help my team.
“You focus on the team, not yourself.’’
Jeff Kent: Proud to be a run-producer
Kent, who hit .334 with 41 homers, 125 RBI with a 1.021 OPS during his 2000 MVP season with the San Francisco Giants, was proud to be a run-producer. If Barry Bonds walked ahead of him, he was determined to drive him in. He wasn’t going to be satisfied taking a walk and passing on the responsibility to the next hitter. He embraced the responsibility.
“Tommy Lasorda, one of the best motivators in the game, said a simple truth that I lived by for my whole career,’’ Kent said. “Money lies in the RBIs ... It stuck in my brain forever, and it never left.
“If I was going to win, I knew I needed to produce runs. That became my focus, and as a middle infielder in my era, I’m proud that I set the bar for run production. That focus on run production defined a big part of my career.’’
Kent made the generations before him proud the way he acted on the field. He wasn’t playing the game to make friends. He wasn’t hanging around the batting cage and hugging opposing players. It was fine to talk and hang out in the off-season, but certainly not during the heat of competition.
“When you play this game, you have to play with a little hatred,’’ Kent said. “People call it cockiness or arrogance or confidence. They call it so much, but you have to play this game with a chip on your shoulder. Well, that chip on the shoulder is a little bit of anger. You’re mad. You just have to define your own way to stay mad.’’
And, oh, how did he love to take that anger out on pitchers, saying that Baker was one of the greatest influences of his career, helping turn him into the most fierce-hitting second baseman in the game.
“I was just passing on the knowledge I got from Tony Perez, Hank Aaron and Bob Watson,’’ Baker said. “Those guys taught us how to drive in runs. ... Those are some of the things I passed onto Jeff.’’
Carlos Beltran: A legacy for future generations
It was Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer George Brett who helped shape Beltran’s career. He was just being elected into Cooperstown when Beltran broke in as a 21-year-old, and retired at 40, becoming the only switch-hitter to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases in his career. Brett taught Beltran the importance of playing every day, and as hard as he could, and not only played all 162 games in 2002, but missed just one game in 2008 when he was 31 years old.
Beltran went to Houston, became teammates with future Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, who reinforced the advice Brett gave him when he broke into the big leagues.
“You told me something very special,’’ Beltran said, looking back at them on stage. “You told me that in order for me to aspire to have a long career in baseball, I needed to learn how to play with pain. I saw the you guys grind, day in and day out. That was very special to me and was something that I carried for the rest of my life.
“There’s no way I could have lasted 20 years in the big leagues without learning how to play with pain.’’
Beltran, fighting back tears speaking to his parents in Spanish, also was emotional about taking about what his homeland of Puerto Rico means to him. He waved a Puerto Rican flag to the thousands of Puerto Rican fans who wildly cheered.
Beltran hopes that he made a difference in his career, just like Kent and Jones, and that their legacy will be an inspiration to young players in today’s game.
“When I was growing up in Manati, Puerto Rico, many of these guys were teaching me the game of baseball,’’ he said. “I know some of you guys opened a lot of doors, and went through a lot of situations in hour career. Then, my generation was able to walk through those doors because you open the path for us.
“I just want to say thank you for making this game better ... I always say that every generation has the responsibility to continue to make the game of baseball better.’’
Certainly, they did their job.
Let’s see if it rubs off on the next generation.
Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame class represented the sport's greatest values | Opinion
