When Jeff Kent spilled beans on his strained relationship with Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent were among the San Francisco Giants' most feared power-hitting combinations for six seasons. The two batted a combined 479 home runs from 1997 through 2002. The Giants players battled as they slammed balls over the fence. On June 25, 2002, in San Diego, everything holding Bonds and Kent together in the same lineup came tumbling down.

The two started yelling and pushing each other during the second and third innings of their 10-7 loss to the Padres, with Bonds grabbing Jeff Kent by the throat and forcing him against the dugout wall. Bonds blasted a three-run home run in the inning following the altercation, and Kent followed suit with a home run in the sixth.

Kent told the San Francisco Chronicle, “We weren’t friends off the field. I’ve never really spent any effort trying to evaluate our relationship or care about it."

It's evident that winning and getting results on the pitch mattered to Kent. It didn't matter how he felt about Bonds as long as the Giants continued to perform well. With Kent and Bonds working together, the Giants won the NL West twice. The two fought in the dugout the same season the Giants advanced to the World Series.

Jeff Kent's MLB statistics

Jeff Kent, a former second baseman in professional baseball, was born in the United States on March 7, 1968.

Kent attended the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), where he competed for the Golden Bears in collegiate baseball before being chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 1989 MLB Draft.

From 1992 to 2008, he participated across 17 MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.

With the San Francisco Giants, Kent won the 2000 National League Most Valuable Player award and now holds the second basemen home run record. From 1997 to 2005, he drove in at least 90 runs. Kent has been an All-Star five times and his 560 career doubles rank him 30th all-time.