The San Francisco Giants gave Jeff Kent his long-awaited moment on Saturday, retiring No. 21 at Oracle Park during the break between games of a day-night doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The ceremony came with plenty of familiar faces. Jon Miller kicked things off with stories about Kent, including his first walk-off home run at Oracle Park, then still called Pacific Bell Park. Dusty Baker, Juan Marichal, Barry Bonds, Will Clark and Giants President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey joined Kent’s family on the field for the honor.
Kent made his entrance to AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and shared a hug with Bonds, his former teammate. Afterward, he threw the ceremonial first pitch to his father, Alan Kent, before riding around the field in a truck while mascot Lou Seal gave chase.
At 58, Kent became the 15th player recognized by the Giants in this way, and No. 21 is now the franchise’s 13th officially retired number. The list of honorees includes Christy Mathewson and John McGraw, even though neither played in the era when major leaguers wore numbers.
The Giants had originally planned to hold the ceremony before Saturday’s single game, but the schedule shifted after a rainout makeup game in Atlanta pushed Sunday’s series finale against Arizona into a Saturday doubleheader. That moved Kent’s celebration to the gap between games.
Kent spent six of his 17 major-league seasons in San Francisco, playing 900 games for the Giants and posting 175 home runs, 689 RBIs and a .290 batting average. His biggest year in orange and black came in 2000, when he won the National League MVP award after hitting .334 with a 1.021 OPS and 33 home runs.
Jeff Kent officially gets his No. 21 jersey retired by the Giants 🔥
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 30, 2026
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He also picked up three of his four career Silver Slugger Awards and made three All-Star teams while wearing a Giants uniform.
Across his 17-year career, Kent also played for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. He finished with 377 home runs, the most by any MLB second baseman, and 1,518 RBIs, which ranks third all-time at the position.
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