Baseball Hall of Fame

The idiots have done it again. They have failed to elect Jim Rice to the HOF.

It amazes me that a guy who was arguably the most feared hitter in the game during much of the time he played cannot get the nod into Cooperstown. This is the guy who the great Hank Aaron himself thought would break his homerun record. The baseball writers of America must not be the sharpest tools in the shed, as they are ignoring the facts.

Rice's ability to hit for average (.298 career) and power (382 HR in a non-steriod, juiced ball era) is only paralleled by a few. The other retired players to hit as many HR and have as high a career average are Aaron, Foxx, Gerhig, Mays, Musial, Ott, Ruth, Mantle, and Ted Williams. All of these men are Hall of Famers.

Rice hit more home runs (46) in 1978 then anybody did in the period between 1969 (Harmon Killebrew) and 1987 (Mark "I don't want to talk about the past" McGwire).

From 1977 to 1979 Rice was the most dominant hitter in baseball history for any 3 year period. He had 35+ homers each year, and 200+ hits each year. Nobody else has EVER done this.

I can guarantee if you ask ANY of Rice's peers from his playing days, they will tell you he is most certainly worthy of induction. Unfortunately, it is the writers call at this point.

While he was reportedly surly with the writers (probably a big reason why he doesn't garner enough votes), Rice certainly had a compassionate side. I still recall him jumping into the stands and carrying an injured young boy who had been struck in the head by a Dave Stapleton foul ball to receive medical attention. The stars of today jump into the stands to start fights with spectators. Not Rice. He did the right thing. Someday I hope the writers do the same.