Does Rice belong in the Hall?
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by user Bmoseley07
In 12 days, Red Sox Nation will find out if Jim Rice, among the greats of Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Mark McGwire*, deserves to be mentioned in the same building with the likes of Babe Ruth, Cy Young and Ted Williams.
The Boston Globe has been pushing voters for Rice. Actually, more like shoving, knocking down writers for not voting the Boston slugger in.
| "If there is truly justice, when the balloting closes Dec. 31, there will be enough voters who have checked off his name, as this voter has for the last 13 years." |
And as a Sox fan, I'm supposed to want to see Rice get the votes and be inducted while donning the most sacred cap in the country, but does a great player who put up some great numbers and served the Boston public for his entire career deserve a Hall of Fame plaque?
The key word in that sentence is some. He only put up some great numbers and only in some years.
Sure, Rice hit 382 home runs, which is good for 52nd on the all-time list, subsequently above Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez, both of which sit a few places back with 379 a piece and both of which somehow got enough votes to reach the Hall. This is true, but the thing is, they don't deserve to be there either.
When I think of Hall of Famer's, I think of the top of the crop. Names like Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, and Mickey Mantle. These are players that made opponents want to hide in a corner when their name was merely mentioned. They are names that 25 years later, everybody still remembers, not just every fan of his team.
When you look at Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle's stat sheets and then you go back and look at Rice's, it's like watching Jessica Alba and Carmen Electra on the tv, and then taking a peek back at your wife. I mean, sure, she'd be in your hall of fame but would she be in the world's hall of fame? Unless you're Johnny Damon or Daisuke Matsuzaka, then probably not.
Jim Rice definitely was a great hitter and proved that by going to the all-star game 8 times and winning an MVP along with a couple of Silver Sluggers. Nobody can take that away from him.
But just like your girlfriend with the nose a little too bird-like or ears a little too Dumbo-like, Rice had his imperfections too. There were a few years in the middle of his career (1980-1982) where he wasn't the best or even close to the top slugger in the league. Combine that with the fact that his peak years ended when he was 33 and you have a guy who was HOF-esque some of the time, but not all the time and certainly not for a long enough time.
Now of course, it is somewhat difficult to say whether he should be in the hall or not just by looking at his numbers, because numbers from 20 years ago have a different meaning than today, so eliminating that aspect of the process, the criteria is going to be based on the sheer number of awards they won or nearly won over their career.
Point in case is Cal Ripken Jr. When you take a look at his trophy case, which probably occupies half the guy's house, you see that he was a 19-time All-star, a 2-time MVP award winner, and an 8-time Silver Slugger. Those are numbers that speak for themselves and don't need to be put into a different context. An all-star is an all-star, regardless the year; same for an MVP being an MVP and a Silver Slugger being a Silver Slugger no matter the year. Those benchmarks are clear for any era.
Voters are forgetting some key criteria when voting for Rice. Those criteria are longevity and consistency. Greatness is obviously an important attribute and will be the main one to evaluate players with, but anybody can have a great year (e.g. Brady Anderson, 1996). But to be able to succeed at this game over decades; now that takes talent. The kind of talent that should only be reserved for the Hall of Fame.
This year, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn are on the ballot. Many are griping that those players will keep voters from giving Rice his due, but in actuality, these players will just make voters remember the criteria and re-evaluate whether or not the few good seasons from Rice warrants a plaque to sit beside the plaque's of two players that defined their era and will be remembered for lifetimes, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn.
Postscript: Baseball Reference is the best place to view the player stats and awards. I was too lazy to put in each player's link, but you can search for them on the site or head over to my blog for the linked version.
'For more from this author head over to: Here's to Next Year'
