You Know What I Haven't Had in a While...Big League Chew

Where I opine about Jim Rice finally getting in to the Hall of Fame…

It’s been a long time coming but Jim Rice will finally be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Rickey Henderson.

ESPN had a roundtable debating whether or not Jim Rice should be in the Hall of Fame and SportsCenter made mention or possibility of Rice being overrated. I’m not sure how you can be overrated if you are one of the most feared hitters of your era. To me, that doesn’t make any sense.

When it comes to halls of fame, especially the Baseball Hall of Fame there is a premium placed on numbers. If I say Cooperstown and 300, 3000, 1500 or 500 any baseball fan worth his or her weight in cracker jacks and beer knows exactly what I’m talking about. But those milestone numbers don’t necessarily define what makes a hall of famer.

Obviously it helps but being a dominant player during the time you play in certainly makes you eligible for Hall of Fame induction.

Some say that Rice lacked longevity but I’d take one of the most feared hitters for 12 seasons over a good player for 15 or 20. Rice played 16 seasons, all with the Sox and finished with 2,452 hits, 382 home runs, 1451 RBI and a .298 lifetime batting average.

Those numbers (courtesy of baseball-reference.com) are a little bit shy of some of the sure fire Hall of Fame numbers but when you figure in the fact that he finished in the top five in MVP voting six times and was an eight time all star I think he’s definitely a Hall of Famer.

Alright, he’s in now. I don’t need to try and convince anyone that he belongs there, but it’s interesting how people have this view that adding players to the hall of fame somehow cheapens the honor. If you add the wrong players then yes I can see that but I don’t see anything wrong with adding players who were the best of their time period.

The baseball hall of fame as more than just a mausoleum paying tribute to legends of a bygone age but it’s also a chronicling of baseballs journey through the ages. It’s like that giant ball at Epcot Center, Spaceship Earth, baseball is living, growing thing so how can you leave out the best players of any given era or decade?

It was long overdue for Jim Rice to get the call from Cooperstown, hopefully it won’t be a similar experience for guys like Bert Blyleven.

Okay one more quick thing about Hall of Fame voting.

The Hall of Fame voting and all voting done by media members should be immune to people with personal vendettas or gripes about players. The Hall of Fame has nothing to do with whether or not a player was nice. It’s about whether or not that player was one of the greatest to play the game.

Was it the college football AP Poll voter that said they didn’t want to be the ones to make the final determination on who is named the national champion? Is that right? I’m going to be honest that could be totally inaccurate the BCS has kind of clouded my mind but I thought I remembered hearing that.

The voting for awards and hall of fame induction shouldn’t be a popularity contest and it shouldn’t be hastily thrown together. For example, I present you with the Curious Case of Edinison Volquez of the Cincinnati Reds.

Volquez got three second place votes for NL Rookie of the Year in 2008. Funny thing is Voloquez wasn’t a rookie. Granted if you asked me during the season I probably would have thought he was a rookie too but when you are voting for Rookie of the Year you have to know who is and isn’t eligible…don’t you?

I’m not saying the human element should be taken out of the voting (we’ve seen how well that can workout) or the voters are bad people but you shouldn’t be allowed to neglect someone because you have a grudge and you should have to pay attention to what you are voting for, that’s all I’m saying.

A Bunch of Random Incoherent Thoughts

I’m working on a few things but as usual I haven’t posted in a while so I figured I’d drop by and get a couple of ideas out. Not that anyone’s going to read them but hey it’s better than straight up talking to myself…or is it?

Moving on…

The 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is out, which means it’s about time for me to write my obligatory “why Jim Rice should be in the Hall of Fame” post. Oh it’s coming, bigger and better for 09 too. It’s Rice’s last year to get in on the ballot before he goes to the veterans committee.

Here's the list of guys ballot

Harold Baines
Jay Bell
Bert Blyleven
David Cone
Andre Dawson
Ron Gant
Mark Grace
Rickey Henderson
Tommy John
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Jesse Orosco
Dave Parker
Dan Plesac
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Lee Smith
Alan Trammell
Greg Vaughn
Mo Vaughn
Matt Williams


Let’s face it this is a great year for Rice to get in, probably his best shot, hopefully it will finally happen this year.

I’ve been working on something about Jason Varitek and whether he’ll stay or go but I’m not quite there yet. I want him to stay, I know he didn’t have a great year but I’d much rather have him stick around for another year while the team tries to develop a young catcher then let him go.

Offering him arbitration was a solid idea, if he accepts whatever deal he gets through arbitration it will be a definite win for the Sox and it gives Tek a season to get himself back on track. And if the doesn’t go with arbitration the Sox will at least get a couple of compensatory picks, with the way they’ve drafted the last few years I wouldn’t mind a couple of extra draft picks.

Overall I’d like Tek to stay but can you really blame him if he leaves? It’s probably his last chance at a somewhat sizable contract and if he hits .220 again I can see fans starting to turn on their beloved captain.

Hopefully he’ll take arbitration and both sides can have a strong 2009 season but if he goes let’s not turn on him. I think one of the reason Boston fans get so much flak from other fans around the nation is because of how fickle we can be with our support of players. Sure there are guys we stick with through thick and thin but sometimes we’re quick to change our minds.

This happens a lot when guys leave town or hold out for more money. Some players warrant our distain. Namely Johnny Damon, f him, but we have a history of selling players out for leaving. You never want to see guys bail out on your teams but be reasonable. Unless they bail for the Yankees, Jets, Steelers or Canadians then they can rot in hell for all I care.

More to come on Varitek, it’s a weird situation, especially because his agent is a super d-bag.

A couple of other quick thoughts…

Curt Schilling’s moving from 38 Pitches to weei.com – I’m liking weei’s focus on the web. They have a large fan base that listens on the web and they’ve become a powerful source for sports news and opinion in Boston, now they are making a strong bid at becoming the top source for Boston sports news on the web.

They’ve scooped up a couple of great Boston media types, like Rob Bradford, and added the always interesting musing of the blogosphere’s Luke Skywalker, Will Leitch. Smart moves by weei in my opinion.

As for Schilling…he’s always interesting, he might be kind of a windbag and I’m not a huge fan of his uber-right wingness but to each his own. The guy says what he feels, which people either love or hate. I for one think it’s really interesting to get insight from perspective of a professional athlete. Plus I’m all about taking things with a grain of salt so I think that helps me enjoy it.

There’s a ton of other stuff going on but I wanted to at least post something.

more to come…

Vote Rice for '08

Would you vote for Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens/any of the players named in the Mitchell Report if you had a Hall of Fame vote? That’s a pretty tough question and one that will definitely be a hot topic when they both become eligible. I’ve got a question with an easier answer though. Should Jim Rice finally get into the Hall this year?

The answer, in short is hell yes. This year might even be a better year than any other. I’m not just griping because he isn’t in and he’s only got one more chance after this year – or because I am greedy for more Boston sport success. I truly believe that he should have been named to the Hall long ago but this year should be the year.

Consider the fact that baseball is on the verge of troubled times with the steroid skeletons being let out of the closet so why not vote in Rice. He was a dominant power hitter before the steroid era, the more drug cheats that are named make his stats look even better and his they are certainly worthy as it is.

Look at it this way Rice finished in the top five in MVP voting six times in his 16 year career, including his rookie season when he finished third in MVP voting and second in Rookie of the Year voting to his teammate Fred Lynn.

He also won an MVP, in 1978 of all years, and was an eight time all star. In ’78, one of the most important Red Sox seasons ever, he played in 163 games had 213 hits, 25 doubles, 15 triples, 46 home runs, 139 RBI and hit .315 with a .370 on base percentage. Thus the MVP award but over the course of his career Rice put up Hall worthy numbers.

Take into consideration the fact that from 1975 to 1986 he was in the top ten in virtually every category in the American League. He led the league in slugging twice, OPS once games once, at bats twice, hits once, total bases four times, triples once, home runs three times, RBI twice and extra base hits once.

All of those numbers are courtesy of baseball-reference by the way. Since stats have become so incredibly complex nowadays and are so prevalent in Hall of Fame talk consider this…Six times Rice was in the top six in runs created and ‘batting wins’ he led the league in both in ’78.

Anytime Rice and the Hall of Fame come up you hear about his relationship with the media and how he wasn’t the most cordial guy. I can understand a writer not liking a player or vice versa

I know we sometimes expect athletes to always cater to the every need of the media and fans but imagine if a crowd of reporters (by no fault of their own) jamming their tape recorders, cameras and microphones in your face every morning after you got out of the shower.

It’s definitely all part of the game but there are some people that relish that and other guys that just want to be left alone. You would certainly rather have guys be good to the media so that you as a fan can know what is going on but you just aren’t going to get that from everyone.

I only can speak from what I have read about his playing days but I have met Jim Rice on a couple of occasions and he’s a really nice guy. Not to mention the fact that he can drive a golf ball wicked fah kid.

My point is that as far as the Hall of Fame goes it really doesn’t matter if you were a super nice guy that granted every interview request and signed an autograph for every one that asked or if you were a total jerk that scowled at the mere sight of a newspaper or autograph seeker.

That stuff doesn’t matter when it comes to the Hall of Fame. There are obviously certain red flags – like gambling (see Pete Rose and the 1919 Black Sox) or steroids – time will tell on that one – just like which movie will be bigger E.T. or Krush Groove – With those exceptions aside the only thing that should really matter in Hall voting for a player is what they did between the lines. It’s not a popularity contest like All-Star Games have become.

Keeping a guy out of the Hall of Fame because he wasn’t nice to you is like being a bouncer at any bar sitting in your tower holding dominion over all the poor suckers waiting outside in the cold so they can get in on nine dollar beer night. That is getting a little too drunk with power, if he doesn’t deserve to get in then he shouldn’t get in but if he deserves it then he should be enshrined.

The bottom line when it comes to the Hall of Fame is numbers and Rice’s numbers are up to snuff. He has very similar stats as Orlando Cepeda, Duke Snider, Billy Williams (not to be confused with Billy D. Williams) and Willie Stargell – all Hall of Famers. In short the guy was a dominant player during his time and should be in the Hall of Fame.

Let’s hope that the Baseball Writers of America agree and finally give him his due before he gets left up to the veterans committee.

A couple of random thoughts…

Why is everyone hating on Tony Romo for Jessica Simpson? Seriously I’ve seen stories about why he needs to chill out with the ladies. Ah…no Holden McNeil…clearly these guys have never heard of rule number one.

Good for Tony Romo, his performance against the Eagles was miz but do you really think it has anything to do with Jessica Simpson or Carrie Underwood. Maybe the Cowboys should bring Carrie Underwood in to sing the national anthem then Romo can try and pull a Beckett.

I was a little harsh on the dolphins the other day. That was meant to be tongue and cheek and I thought it would be funny to find some similarities between the movie and the team. You could do the same with any athlete or team and any movie. You have to admit it kind of makes sense with the fins thought doesn’t it?

Fred Taylor should have made the Pro Bowl, trust me. I made the mistake of under valuing him on my fantasy team and instead of playing in the championship I was relegated to the consolation bracket…what an idiot…I will never underestimate a guy that grew up chasing rabbits in burning sugar cane fields.

I miss a lot of things from college, as I’m sure everyone does, but I have to thank xbox live because I think it is going to allow one of the greatest Keene State Cross Country traditions to carry on. The Ivy Bowl – where we used to all take an Ivy League (because they were ranked so low D’s mostly) team and play a tournament on NCAA Football. Got us through some seriously rough winter training camp days.

What is the deal with the Winter X Games Rumor Alerts on ESPN? I was so confused until I went to the website and saw that it is some kind of weird ass marketing plan – And frankly, I’m still pretty confused. Regardless of whether or not Buttermilk Mountain is a geothermal zone and potential volcano (like Yellowstone in that Discovery Channel movie) I’m still going to watch the X Games.

I went over this last year when I first started the site but I love the X Games – a pair of guys to watch out for – Mason Aguirre (Snowboard Superpipe & slopestyle) and Simon Dumont (Skiing Superpipe). I have no idea if they are competing but if they are you should tune in. Dumont got robbed of the goal last year and absolutely hucks himself out of pipe, expect the 1260 – Aguirre could be the guy that unseats Shaun White in the pipe.

After talking to Riggity Reynolds the other day about modern music played on the radio and how bands like The Receiving End of Sirens don’t get radio play I’ve been rehashing their first CD (Between the Heart and the Synapse) and I can’t get enough of it. If you’re looking for a pump up song try “the War of All Against All”.