Jeff Kent Trashes Alex Rodriguez During Spring Training Broadcast Over 1998 Injury

Alex Rodriguez took Jeff Kent out with a late slide into second base in 1998. | ESPN / YouTube

Hall of Fame second baseman Jeff Kent joined Jon Miller in the booth during the Giants' spring training game against the Cubs on Sunday afternoon. During the appearance Miller brought up the time that Alex Rodriguez once came in hard to second base and injured Kent.

There was no question that Kent remembered it because he immediately went in on Rodriguez. Miller was right to remember the play as Kent had to be helped off the field and then missed a month with a sprained right knee. Here's what Kent remembered about the play:

"He tore my knee up," said Kent. "He slid and rolled his fat a-- past the base, the son of a b----. And put me out for a little while. I was not happy about that. Because he was a middle infielder and we were beating them up pretty good. He didn't need to be doing that."

"He tore my knee up. He slid and rolled his fat ass past the base, the son of a bitch."

Jeff Kent was asked about the knee sprain he got when Alex Rodriguez slid into him in 1998 pic.twitter.com/gjmmB3VO02

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 22, 2026

Amazingly, there's video of the incident because someone uploaded all the baseball highlights from the June 9, 1998 edition of SportsCenter to YouTube. It's an incredible time capsule with Rece Davis narrating the highlights from the game. To help set the mood I've queued the clip to start with Rodriguez's strikeout to end the 4th inning. You know, in case you're a true hater like Kent and want to see him get frustrated and throw his bat. And then as a nice bonus you get to see Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run with one of the sweetest swings in baseball history.

And then there's A-Rod sliding late and rolling into Kent's legs.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Kent remained on the ground for five minutes before he was helped off the field.

"He's tough. He was walking," said vice president Larry Baer, adding that trainer Mark Letendre "told me once (Kent's) the toughest player he's ever treated."

But manager Dusty Baker was cautious. "I didn't see the replay, and I don't want to see it," he said. "I heard it was pretty ugly."

He didn't appreciate that Rodriguez hit Kent's right knee on "a rolling slide," said Baker, who added, "We won the game, but we lost one of our top guys. It's mixed emotions."

Kent had played 64 of the Giants' first 65 games of the season, but missed the next 25 before returning a month later.

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