LOS ANGELES , Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent plans to retire after a 17-year major league baseball career. MLB.com reported the 40-year-old Kent will make his decision final at news conference Thursday. The 2000 National League MVP ends his career with a .290 career batting average , 377 home runs, 1 ,518 RBI , and a .500 slugging percentage. Kent hit 351 home runs while he played second base , 74 more than the next closest second baseman , former Chicago Cubs great and hall of famer Ryne Sandberg. Last season , Kent became the first 40-year-old in Dodgers history to go into a season as a starting position player. "They don't have my stats on a World Series ring ," Kent once told the Los Angeles Times about not having played in a Fall Classic with the club. "They usually put the wins and losses , but they don't put the stats." He was a five-time All-Star and won the Silver Slugger award four times.

• Jury selected in school shooting trial
• Ad protests Bush speech at Calvin College
• AEI Election Watch senses energized voters