Congratulations, Jim Rice, Hall Of Famer

Finally, the esteemed Baseball Writers of America figured out what New England baseball fans knew all along: that Jim Rice was a Hall of Fame baseball player. It only took them 15 years to get the message, in what was Rice's final year of eligibility. Jim's relationship with the media wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy, so that may be big part of the reason why he had to wait so long. On a dreary day that struggled to get out of the 20's in New England, this news was about as sweet as a Sunday in June. Some of us, who have gone back many decades with the Red Sox (before the Impossible Dream year of '67) will tell you that, next to Manny Ramirez, Jim Rice was the most feared hitter they had ever seen play for the Red Sox. Very few who've played in the big leagues could hit the ball harder or farther than Rice. His career statistics are here. The numbers speak for themselves. His MVP year of '78 (46-139-.970 OPS) was simply otherworldly. It was simply a shame that "Game 163" of the season turned out so painful. In '86, he also had another 200-hit season, as the Red Sox came within one strike of grabbing the elusive brass ring.

Over the course of his career, he gave Red Sox fans a lot of thrills, and some aggravations as well. The only flaw in Rice's game was the uncanny knack of grounding into double plays (6th all-time with 315) stuff, but he more than made up for that with his titanic home runs (55th all-time with 382). He didn't make it into the Hall of Fame on the basis a sustained period of greatness, like Stan Musial, or longevity like Yaz, but simply for the fact that he was the dominant hitter of his era. From '75-86, he was about as good as there was. Most Red Sox fans remember that he suffered a broken wrist coming down the stretch in September of '75 when he was hit by a pitch in a meaningless game against Detroit. One can only wonder if the outcome would have been different in the unforgettable World Series against Cincinnati had he been in the lineup.

Every Red Sox fan who remembers Rice has their own favorite moment. Mine involved an incident at Yankee Stadium. Rice was at the plate and the Yankee pitcher tried to move Rice off the plate with a high and tight fastball. With the following pitch, Rice drove the ball way back, into the cavernous bleachers in left field that absolutely silenced the normally boisterous Yankee Stadium crowd. As Rice circled the bases, he cussed out the Yankee pitcher something awful. It was a while before anyone pitched Rice inside again.

So congratulations to Jim Rice for his long overdue selection to Baseball's Hall of Fame. We remember him, and all of those great Red Sox teams from his era fondly. We look forward to his enshrinement in Cooperstown in July and the day when his number 14 joins the list of the all-time Red Sox greats above the right-field grandstand. It's about time!