GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – There are three new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame today and while Carlos Beltran, Andrew Jones and Jeff Kent don’t rate at the top of the Hall of Fame list, they are all deserving in their own way after being voted in or selected by the veteran’s committee.
If you are a Braves fan, you remember Andrew Jones bursting on the scene as a 19-year -old hitting two homers in the 1996 World Series. But his biggest impact was on defense where he won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves in centerfield and he and Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt and Ken Griffey Jr. are the only players in the Hall with at least 400 homers and 10 Gold Glove awards.
Beltran was a five-tool player and one of only eight players with both 300 homers and 300 stolen bases. He was a nine-time all star who could run the bases, hit, hit with power and play excellent defense. Tarnishing his legacy will be his involvement in the cheating scandal with the Houston Astros but there is no denying his playing numbers are Cooperstown worthy.
Kent was voted in by the Veteran’s Committee; a 2nd baseman who hit for extraordinary power at that position. It certainly helped that he hit behind Barry Bonds in his prime, but you still have to produce. He ranks 1st all time in home runs hit by 2nd basemen, 3rd in runs batted in and 6th in batting. These guys don’t have the big name recognition but all belong in Cooperstown.
Still trying to process LeBron James’ last process when he decided to go to the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency. I was surprised but certainly not shocked. James still wants to win championships and on paper, his move to Philly to join Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid gives him I think the best chance to win that title if they can stay healthy. The man can still play at a very high level into his 40’s and I’m anxious to see the role he carves out next season.
Finally, SEC Football Media Days is over and as usual, very little real news came out of the proceedings. The Gators were picked to finish 9th in the league by the media and as has been the case for many of the last few seasons, not a lot of individual Gator players received preseason all SEC recognition. But sadly some of the talk centered around the thought…Or the threat…Of the SEC leaving the NCAA if it didn’t get its way on some key issues. The commissioner talked about it…coaches talked about it, but to me, the solution is not walking away, its finding ways to fix what is wrong and make the sport better.
There are definitely areas of frustration for both league executives and fans alike. The powers that be can’t even agree on how many teams to put into a football playoff, and when you add issues over NIL, revenue sharing, lawsuits and possible federal legislation that could limit the power of the SEC there is plenty to chew on. The good news…Despite all the issues, football season is just a few short weeks away. I’m Steve Russell, that’s the Russell Report.
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