Jeff Kent's angry tirade last week -- only the most recent in Kent's long history of discontent -- drew the ire of the younger teammates he was criticizing as having no sense of "professionalism," as if unloading to the media at the end of the year is in any way professional. Kent's teammates fought back, and now former pitcher Dave Stewart, blogging at NBX, has some words for Kent: Lead or shut up.
There's no question that experience is a tremendous asset, and Kent's right, you can't give someone experience. However, you can mentor and teach. Every winning ball club I was ever on had a combination of solid veteran leadership and good rookies who knew how to take constructive criticism when it was presented to them properly. In other words, a veteran player like Kent should have been pulling the younger players aside and guiding them. Instead, he chose to publicly blast and blame the younger players on the Dodgers for the team's demise.Hear hear, Dave. Kent backers might have his back, bit Jeff's history of locker room antics precedes him. There were at least three or four different ways to handle the situation, and Kent chose the most incendiary. He deserves the criticism, and some of the blame, for the Dodgers' disappointment this year.
Bottom line ... I think the way Kent handled this whole situation is complete garbage. I wasn't in that clubhouse, but chances are he didn't say a damn thing all year long and waited until they got eliminated to criticize and cry like a baby. If you have concerns speak up. Don't wait until September to let your frustration come to a head. Furthermore, if a veteran player doesn't want to play a leadership role, that's obviously their choice. However, if you don't want to be a leader then you need to shut-up.
(HT: BBTF)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-26-2007 @ 6:58PM
Ptreb said...
I was never so glad that the Astros dumped that arrogant self proclaimed super star. He was not quite as bad in Houston as Jeff Bagwell kept players the likes of him in check. Good luck with Kent LA. Im glad the unprofessional brat is with ya'll. We don't need him in Houston as we have a lot of rookies who are on fire now, having fun and playing good baseball. A little too late, but they will do alright. Good riddance Jeff.
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9-26-2007 @ 1:28PM
Diane Loya said...
Thank you Dave Stewart for shedding some wisdom to an otherwise empty mouthpiece who is crying like a baby.
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9-26-2007 @ 2:12PM
jerry said...
Let me put it a little more succinctly than the well-meaning but less than brilliant first poster ("shedding some wisdom"? whatever). The world is full of people who simply have bad personalities and are never going to assimilate into any environment they're in very well. Jeff Kent has had a great career, brilliant when compared to other 2nd basemen historically, but he's made few friends along the way and is plain and simply not a particularly savory human being. Nothing new here.
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9-26-2007 @ 10:36PM
Dave said...
Terrible personality for sure, but sorry Ptreb, the guy did win an MVP and is one of the greatest offensive middle infielders of all time, so you need to distance yourself from the "self-proclaimed superstar" nonsense as he does have a legitimate chance to reach Cooperstown.
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