Kent, 40, a five-time All-Star and the National League’s most valuable player in 2000, played 17 seasons in the major leagues and finally announced his retirement Thursday.

Kent says my time is over I leave this game proud that I have treated this game with the utmost respect but my time's over.

An end to a 17-year Major League career put Jeff into an emotion As a kid, we all aspire to be somebody someday, and more than likely it's what our dad is. My dad was a police officer, and more than likely I would have been a cop when I grew up... that's the moustache. It's a reminder of where I came from. And yet when we're kids, we fantasize about being an athlete: a football player, a basketball player. I wanted to be a baseball player that was my fantasy. For 17 years, I got to live in a fantasy, and I'm truly, truly grateful for that. saying in teary eyes in a conference.

He also says in a conference that the game where he found himself playing into fantasy is for everyone About 20 years ago, I started as a college player, probably a guy who was a fringe player. For the kids who want to be a baseball player someday, there's a chance that you can play this great game. If you're not the biggest guy, if you're not the fastest guy, even if you're not the smartest guy, you can still play this game, He added

Kent had a .290 career batting average, 377 homers, 1,518 RBIs and a .500 slugging percentage. He was drafted by Toronto in 1989 and also played for the New York Mets, Cleveland, San Francisco Giants and Houston.

In just four seasons with the Dodgers, Kent hit 75 home runs as a second baseman, ranking third on the club's all-time list, behind Davey Lopes and Jackie Robinson.

He made his only World Series appearance with San Francisco hitting three homers as the Giants lost to the Anaheim Angels in seven games in 2002. Kent had expressed interest in spending more time with his family, which includes four children.

We close a great chapter today on a great baseball player who finds himself to be the best offensive second baseman in the history of baseball, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said.

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