Maybe There's More to Jeff Kent Than You Think

Perception: Jeff Kent is a jerk. Reality: Jeff Kent is the second least-liked player in baseball (according to SI). But is Jeff Kent really that bad? Well, if you checked out the recaps from the Dodgers 6-2 loss to the Angels Saturday night, you would have read some quotes from Kent trying to explain the Dodgers' lack of hitting with men on base. Just what was he doing, rambling on like a mad-man? Maybe not. According to Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, Jeff Kent was showing off some veteran smarts that most people did not pick up on. Kent rambled on-and-on after the game, allowing himself to become the focal point of attention for the media, sparing his teammates from the peppering.

He gave it [his response] for several long minutes, long enough for teammates to slip out the clubhouse undisturbed, long enough to make you realize that, despite his distaste for being a leader, he was being a leader.

I'm glad that Plaschke picked up on Kent's trick and decided to share it with us all. The perception may be that Kent's a jerk, but here's an example (that would have otherwise gone unreported to the public) of Kent quietly and slyly being a leader. On a similar note, I think it's something really cool that goes on -- the way players decide to take bullets for each other. A few weeks ago, Dodgers PR director Josh Rawitch explained in his blog that Nomar Garciaparra did the same thing after a loss -- taking all the blame and media attention so as to spare his teammates from criticism and negative attention. So while there are many things that go noticed on the field, there are several smaller things that go unnoticed off of it. For Jeff Kent, this was one of those moments, and thankfully, it did not fall into the unnoticed category.