Carlos Delgado denied again, as Jeff Kent gets Hall of Fame nod

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ORLANDO, Fla. — All Blue Jays great Carlos Delgado wanted was a second chance … and that came to the prolific Puerto Rican slugger here on Sunday.

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It wasn’t good enough to elevate one of the career franchise greats into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, however.

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Delgado was snubbed by the Contemporary Era committee, getting nine of 16 votes when 12 were required to join the 2026 class, which will be enshrined in July.

The only player to get in via this route to Cooperstown was slugging infielder Jeff Kent, who played briefly for the Jays but forged his Hall of Fame credentials with the New York Mets.

Delgado, a two-time all star during his brilliant career with the Jays — the highlight seasons of his 17-year career — has long been revered by Canadian baseball fans.

The power-hitting first baseman had eight consecutive 30-plus homer seasons and is the Jays’ career home run leader with 336.

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The left-handed slugger was elevated to the Jays’ Level of Excellence in 2013.

He won a Silver Slugger Award three times (in 1999, 2000 and 2003) and was an American League all-star in 2000 and 2003.

In the latter of those two seasons, Delgado finished second to Yankees great Alex Rodriguez in AL MVP voting.

After a two-game cameo with the Jays as a 21-year-old in 1993, Delgado starred for 11 years in Toronto. He played one season (2005) with the Florida Marlins before wrapping up his career in ’09 with the Mets.

“I had a good career (and) 10 years later, I’m getting a second chance,” Delgado said recently during an appearance on MLB Network Radio. “At the end of the day, that’s what’s important. We all need a second chance sometimes.”

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Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to earn Delgado lasting fame in Cooperstown.

Though small consolation, he did finish second to Kent, who had 14 votes (or 87.5 per cent).

Following Delgado’s nine votes was Yankees great Don Mattingly, who left his role as Blue Jays bench coach following the World Series, with six votes.

Others among the eight on the contemporary era ballot to receive votes were Dale Murphy (six), while the Hall announced that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela each received less than five votes.

Delgado first appeared on the main Hall of Fame ballot in 2015 but received just 3.8 per cent of the votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America electorate and was thus dropped from all subsequent ballots.

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That didn’t dull his legendary status with Jays fans, though.

Besides being the career leader in homers, Delgado is also tops in RBIs (1,058), runs (889), total bases (2,786) and is second in games played with the team (1,423.)

The voting committee met here on Sunday in advance of the Winter Meetings, which are scheduled to hit full stride on Monday.

A 20th-round pick of the Blue Jays in 1989, Kent began his career with 65 games in Toronto in 1992 before being traded to the Mets for pitcher David Cone. He still earned himself a World Series ring from the Jays’ first of back-to-back championships that season.

Kent went on to play 16 more seasons in the majors, batting .290 for his career and belting 377 home runs, the most ever by a major-league second baseman.

He was also voted the National League MVP in 2000.

Kent will join the other members of the Class of 2026 — who will be announced on Jan. 20 — at the official induction ceremony at Cooperstown, N.Y. in July.

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