Jeff Kent to announce retirement

He'll do it tomorrow at 11:30 at Dodger Stadium. I guess that's the down side to my move to PHX, I won't be able to be there to experience his charming personality for one last time. Give him credit, though, he kept this decision under wraps for the most part until now -- although you have to wonder if he would be retiring if any team out there had any actual interest in signing him. Also, give him credit for this: while he didn't always do it with class, at least he did it, putting together one of the most impressive careers by any second baseman in the game's history, and he will undoubtedly be rewarded for that with a spot in the Hall of Fame -- to which, ironically, he will be elected in a few years by those same writers that he so openly loathed.

This is the opening paragraph of a release sent out by the Dodgers 20 minutes ago:

Future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent, baseball's all-time leading home run hitter as a second baseman, will formally announce his retirement from baseball tomorrow at Dodger Stadium. Kent spent 17 years in the Major Leagues, tying for 20th on baseball's all-time list with 560 doubles, while ranking 47th with 1,518 RBI and 62nd with 377 home runs. His 351 career home runs as a second baseman are 74 more than Ryne Sandberg. Kent played the final four seasons of his career with the Dodgers, batting .291 with 122 doubles, 75 home runs, and 311 RBI. He ranks eighth in club history in batting average (minimum 1,800 AB), while also placing among franchise leaders with 73 home runs as a second baseman (third) and 497 games played at second base (fifth).