He got 72% of the vote last time, this is his last time on the ballot, and BBWAA members don't want to risk looking bad and have the Veterans Committee vote someone in that missed election by a few votes. Rice will pick up enough votes to push him over the top. There are legitimate arguments why he shouldn't get in, but Tony Gwynn thinks he should be in, so I'll defer to Tony. Here's some stats to chew on:16 seasons
2452 hits
382 homers
1249 runs
1451 RBIs
.298 batting average
.352 on base %
.502 slugging %
.854 OPS
8 All star appearances
1978 AL MVP award
Ok, so he's not in the Elite Pantheon of Golden Greek Baseball Gods. He is one of the absolute best hitters of his era. Besides, it's taken him 15 years to get this far. Now before you stick up your nose at his numbers, consider this: does a player deserve to be shut out of the Hall of Fame because he didn't play in an era with expansion, performance enhancers, a tightly wound ball and smaller ballparks? Because when you try to compare Rice's numbers to the numbers today, that's essentially what you're saying. Rice was a beast in the '70s and '80s. Let him in already.
Prediction: elected with a 77% vote total.
Card pictured: 1981 Topps
Rookie card: 1975 Topps
5 comments:
Couldn't agree more. Rice was one of the premier hitters of his day, and I think he will finally get in this time...
I totally agree. Maybe if enough of us post about getting him in, the writers with votes will finally get it.
Ugh ... if Rice gets in, he will be one of the least worthy Hall of Famers ever. I certainly hope that your prediction is wrong.
Here's a fun little exercise. Set up 2 pages that enable you to bounce between Jim Rice & Mickey Mantle's batting & fielding statistics. You will see similar # of season's, AB's, fielding %, & the the exact same career batting AVG. Mantle wins in homers, walks, OBP, and SLG %. Rice wins in RBI's & hits. Also, Rice had over 200 hits I believe 4 times- Mantle never even had 190. Pretty good in an era where pitchers were dominant. This is not apples & oranges. Both careers cut short by bad knees and both played the outfield position. Mantle in the tough Bronx center and Rice up against the green monster. Interesting?? Oh, Mantle's postseason avg? 256...
RICE SHOULH HAVE BEEN IN YEARS AGO. oNLY PLAYER IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY WITH 3 SEASON WITH 200 H AND AT LEAST 39 HR (3 IN A ROW BY HE WAY). aLSO 6 TOP 5 MVP FINISHES WINNING ONCE. 11 PLAYERS IN HISTORY HAVE DONE IT ND THE OTHER TEN ARE IN . hiS 406 TOTAL BASES IN 1978 WAS THE FIRST TO GET 400 SINCE DIMAGGIO DID IT IN 19FREAKING37 AND NO AL PLAYER HAS SONE IT SINCE. let the man in.
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