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Jim Rice

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Jim Rice
Left fielder
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
debut
August 19, 1974, for the Boston Red Sox
Last appearance
August 3, 1989, for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics
Batting average.298
Home runs382
Runs batted in1,451
Teams
Career highlights and awards
[[{{{hoflink}}}|Incoming Member of the {{{hoftype}}}]]
[[{{{hoflink}}}|Baseball Hall of Fame]]
Induction2009
Vote76.4%

James Edward Rice (born March 8 1953 in Anderson, South Carolina) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball and a Baseball Hall of Fame-electee. Rice played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1989. An 8-time American League (AL) All-Star, he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1978 after becoming the first major league player in 19 years to hit for 400 total bases, and went on to become the ninth player to lead the major leagues in total bases in consecutive seasons, and join Ty Cobb as one of two players to lead the AL in total bases three years in a row. He batted .300 seven times, collected 100 runs batted in (RBI) eight times and 200 hits four times, and had eleven seasons with 20 home runs, also leading the league in home runs three times, RBIs and slugging average twice each.

In the late 1970s he was part of one of the sport's great outfields along with Fred Lynn and Dwight Evans, who was his teammate for his entire career; Rice continued the tradition of his predecessors Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as a power-hitting left fielder who played his entire career for the Red Sox. He ended his career with a .502 slugging average, and then ranked tenth in AL history with 382 home runs; his career marks in homers, hits (2,452), RBI (1,451) and total bases (4,129) remain Red Sox records for a right-handed hitter, with Evans eventually surpassing his Boston records for career runs scored, at bats and extra base hits by a right-handed hitter. When Rice retired, his 1,503 career games in left field ranked seventh in AL history. Rice will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009, as the 103rd member to be elected in by the BBWAA.

Notable seasons

Rice's three-run home run was the key blow in helping the Pawtucket Red Sox (International League) defeat the Tulsa Oilers (American Association) in a 5–2 win in the 1973 Junior World Series. After he was AAA's International League Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Triple Crown winner in 1974, he and fellow rookie teammate Fred Lynn were brought up to the Red Sox at the same time, and were known as the "Gold Dust Twins".[1] [2] He was promoted in the Red Sox organization to being a full-time player in 1975, and finished in second place for the American League's Rookie of the Year honors, and third in the Most Valuable Player voting, after he finished the season with 174 base hits, 102 runs batted in, a .309 batting average and 22 home run; Lynn won both awards. The Red Sox won the AL's East Division, but Rice did not play in either the League Championship Series or World Series because of a wrist injury sustained during the last week of the regular season when he was hit by a pitch. A disappointed Rice appeared during the postseason player introductions, in uniform and without the cast on his wrist,[citation needed] which he had removed the night before, informing the team that he was fit to play.[citation needed] Red Sox management, however, persuaded him that healing would be in the best future interest of both Rice and the team. The Red Sox went on to lose the World Series, 4 games to 3, to the Cincinnati Reds of the National League (NL).

In 1978, Rice won the Most Valuable Player award in a campaign where he hit .315 (third in the league) and led the league in home runs (46), RBI (139), hits (213), triples (15) and slugging average (.600). He is one of only two AL players ever to lead his league in both triples and home runs in the same season, and he remains the only player ever to lead the major leagues in triples, home runs and RBIs in the same season. His 406 total bases that year were the most in the AL since Joe DiMaggio had 418 in 1937, and it made Rice the first major leaguer with 400 or more total bases since Hank Aaron's 400 in 1959. This feat wasn't repeated again until 1997, when Larry Walker had 409 in the NL. No AL player has done it since Rice in 1978, and his total remains the third highest by an AL right-handed hitter, behind DiMaggio and Jimmie Foxx (438 in 1932).

In 1986, Rice had 200 hits, batted .324, and had 110 RBIs. The Red Sox made it to the World Series for the second time during his career. This time, Rice played in all 14 postseason games, where he collected 14 hits, including two home runs. He also scored 14 runs and drove in six. The 14 runs Rice scored is the fifth most recorded by an individual during a single year's postseason play. The Red Sox went on to lose the World Series to the New York Mets, 4 games to 3, the fourth consecutive Series appearance by Boston which they lost in seven games.

Since his retirement at the end of 1989, the Red Sox have not reissued his jersey number 14, except during Rice's tenure as the team's hitting coach in the mid-to-late 1990s. The team's long-standing tradition has been to officially retire the number of players who have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Sox and have spent at least ten years with the team, although this policy may no longer be in effect following the retiring of Johnny Pesky's number 6 in September 2008.

Career accomplishments

Rice led the AL in home runs three times (1977, 1978, 1983), in RBI twice (1978, 1983), in slugging average twice (1977, 1978), and in total bases four times (1977-1979, 1983). He also picked up Silver Slugger awards in 1983 and 1984 (the award was created in 1980). Rice hit at least 39 home runs in a season four times, had eight 100-RBI seasons and four seasons with 200+ hits, and batted over .300 seven times. He finished his 16-year career with a .298 batting average, 382 home runs, 1,451 RBIs, 1,249 runs scored, 2,452 hits, and 4,129 total bases. He was an American League All-Star eight times (1977-1980, 1983-1986). In addition to winning the American League MVP award in 1978, he finished in the top five in MVP voting five other times (1975, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986).

Rice is the only player in major league history to record over 200 hits while hitting 39 or more HRs for three consecutive years. He is tied for the AL record of leading the league in total bases for three straight seasons, and was one of three AL players to have three straight seasons of hitting at least 39 home runs while batting .315 or higher. From 1975 to 1986, Rice led the AL in total games played, at bats, runs scored, hits, homers, RBIs, slugging average, total bases, extra base hits, go-ahead RBIs, multi-hit games, and outfield assists.[3] Among all major league players during that time, Rice was the leader in five of these categories (Mike Schmidt is next, having led in four).

His biggest flaw as a hitter was his tendency to hit into double plays. Rice's ability to hit a baseball dangerously hard, coupled with having many slow-footed teammates on base in front of him (e.g., Wade Boggs, Bill Buckner, etc.) resulted in many double plays. In 1984 he set a major league single-season record by hitting into 36 double plays. His 315 career times grounding into a double play ranked third in major league history behind Hank Aaron and Carl Yastrzemski when he retired; he broke Brooks Robinson's AL record for a right-handed hitter (297) in 1988, and Cal Ripken, Jr. eventually surpassed his mark in 1999. Rice led the league in this category in four consecutive seasons (1982-1985), matching Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi for the major league record. It should be noted that the on-base prowess of Rice's teammates placed him in a double play situation over 2,000 times during his career, almost once for every game he played, and that he posted a batting average of .310 and slugging percentage of .515 in those situations, better than his overall career marks in those categories. In addition, the Red Sox were far more successful as a team in the games in which Rice faced at least one double play situation, posting a winning percentage of .572 in those games compared to a mark of .489 in games when Rice didn't face a double play situation.[citation needed]

Rice could hit for both power and average, and currently only nine other retired players rank ahead of him in both career home runs and batting average: Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Stan Musial, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

In 1981, at a point in his career when it looked like he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

Fielding ability

Rice was an adequate left fielder who finished his career with a fielding percentage of .980 and had 137 outfield assists (comparable to Ted Williams' figures of .974 and 140). Although he never enjoyed great speed, he had a strong throwing arm and was able to master the various caroms that balls took from the Green Monster (in left field) in Fenway Park. His 21 assists in 1983 remains the most by a Red Sox outfielder since 1944, when Bob Johnson had 23. Rice also appeared as a designated hitter in 530 games.

Community activities

Rice was associated with a variety of charitable organizations during his career, primarily on behalf of children, some of which have carried on into his retirement. He was named an honorary chairman of The Jimmy Fund, the fundraising arm of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, in 1979,[4] and in 1992 was awarded that organization's "Jimmy Award", which honors individuals who have demonstrated their dedication to cancer research.[5] Rice is also active in his support of the Neurofibromatosis Foundation of New England.[6] Rice's involvement with Major League Baseball's RBI program (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) resulted in the naming of a new youth baseball facility in Roxbury, Massachusetts in his honor in 1999.[7] A youth recreation center in Rice's hometown of Anderson, South Carolina is also named in his honor. Rice's most notable humanitarian accomplishment occurred during a nationally televised game on August 7, 1982, when he rushed into the stands to help a young boy who had been struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Dave Stapleton. As other players and spectators watched, Rice left the dugout and entered the stands to help 4-year old Jonathan Keane, who was bleeding heavily. Rice carried the boy onto the field, through the Red Sox dugout and into the clubhouse, where the young boy could be treated by the team's medical staff. Team doctor Arthur Pappas later said that Rice's actions may have saved the boy's life.[8]

Retirement activities

Rice has served as a roving batting coach (1992-1994) and hitting instructor (1995-2000), and remains an instructional batting coach (2001-present) with the Red Sox organization. While the Red Sox hitting coach, the team led the league in hitting in 1997 and players won two batting titles. Since 2003, he's also been employed as a commentator for the New England Sports Network (NESN), where he contributes to the Red Sox pre-game and post-game shows. He had a cameo appearance in the NESN movie Wait Till This Year[9] and in the film Fever Pitch.[10] The former slugger has been known to pass his wisdom on to the current Sox players and stars from time to time. Rice was elected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame when it first opened in 1995, and he is the 40th member of Ted Williams' Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, having been inducted along with Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield and Robin Yount in 2001.[11] On November 29, 2008, the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced that Rice would be the recipient of the Emil Fuchs Award for long and meritorious service to baseball.[12]

Hall of Fame

Rice, who was elected in January 2009 to the Baseball Hall of Fame, is now eligible to have his number (14) retired by the Red Sox. The Red Sox have employed a rather strict policy on retiring uniform numbers; to be considered, one need first to have played a minimum of ten years with the team and then must also be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Only one exception to the rule has been made- Johnny Pesky's number 6 was retired by the Red Sox in September 2008; Pesky played 10 years with the Red Sox, but is not considered a strong candidate for the Hall.[13]

The sign at McCoy Stadium inviting fans to sign the jersey

While Rice was generally regarded as one of the better hitters of his era based upon the statistics traditionally used by the BBWAA to evaluate players' Hall of Fame qualifications, he was not elected until his 15th and final year of eligibility, netting 76.4% of the votes. Over the years he was on the BBWAA ballot, he received 3,974 total votes, the most ever collected by any player that was voted on for baseball's highest honor. In 2006[14] and 2007,[15] he received over 63% of votes cast. Rice just missed being elected in 2008 when the count found him on 72.2% of the ballots, only 2.8% short of the required 75%. Rice became the third enshrinee to get into the shrine on his last chance on the ballot, and the first since Ralph Kiner (1975).

Rice's delay in being elected to the Hall of Fame stemmed in part from more current statistical analysis of player performance. This analysis suggested that Rice's HOF credentials might have been more questionable than they were considered during his career.[16] The delay may also have been related to his often difficult relationship with the media during his playing career, many of whom are still voting members of the BBWAA.[17] Some writers, such as the Boston Herald's Sean McAdam, said that Rice's chances improved[18] with the exposure of the "Steroids Era" in baseball. In the same article, McAdam expanded this subject by adding: "In an era when power numbers are properly viewed with a healthy dose of suspicion, Rice's production over the course of his 16 years gains additional stature. As such, he has received increasingly more votes each year since the 2003 ballot, improving his vote totals by 133 votes over the last five years on the ballot.[19] However, from several sabermetric standpoints (not including Black Ink, Gray Ink or HOF Monitor) it can be argued that Rice falls short of his peers in the Hall of Fame.[20]

During the 2007 season, the Pawtucket Red Sox started a campaign to get Rice inducted which included having fans sign "the World's Largest Jim Rice Jersey."

Although other players have compiled career statistics more similar to Rice's, most notably 1999 Hall inductee Orlando Cepeda, perhaps the most similar player to Rice was 1968 inductee Joe Medwick. Both were power-hitting left fielders who batted right-handed and played their home games in stadiums which favored hitters, and both had a period of a few years in which they enjoyed a remarkable burst of offense, each winning an MVP award at age 25 – Rice after collecting 400 total bases, and Medwick after becoming the last NL player to win the Triple Crown. Both retired at age 36 due to the cumulative effect of various minor injuries. Their career totals in games, at bats, runs, hits, RBI, steals, on-base percentage, slugging average, extra base hits and total bases are all fairly similar, with notable differences only in batting average and home runs; Medwick's higher average (.324 to .298) can be partially attributed to the higher emphasis on batting average in the 1930s, while Rice's advantage in home runs (382 to 205) is largely the result of a dramatic increase in homers over the 40 years between their careers (Rice ranked 10th in AL history upon his retirement, while Medwick ranked 11th in NL history upon his). Medwick was elected to the Hall in his final season of eligibility in 1968, which Rice also duplicated.

See also

Reference(s)

  1. ^ Boston Red Sox @ fenwayfanatics.com: Red Sox Legends : Jim Rice
  2. ^ Jim Rice (II) - Biography
  3. ^ Jim Rice Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ Image Gallery
  5. ^ The Jimmy Fund
  6. ^ Charity Hop Fundraising & Baseball Consulting - Charities
  7. ^ Jim Rice Field Map
  8. ^ ricehero
  9. ^ Wait 'til This Year (2005) (TV)
  10. ^ Fever Pitch (2005)
  11. ^ TWM: Inductees to Date
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ The Official Site of The Boston Red Sox: History: Red Sox Retired Numbers
  14. ^ http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/hof_voting/year/2006.htm
  15. ^ http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/news/2007/election/results.htm#2007%20BBWAA%20Hall%20of%20Fame%20Voting%20Results
  16. ^ Baseball Crank: BASEBALL: Hall of Fame, Dale Murphy, Jim Rice, and Kirby Puckett
  17. ^ Boston Red Sox - Verdict is in: Rice still a tough out - The Boston Globe
  18. ^ ESPN - Warming up to Rice - MLB
  19. ^ http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/playerVoting.do?playerId=121140
  20. ^ Baseball Prospectus | Articles | The Class of 2008
  • Official Website of the Boston Red Sox
  • Goldberg, Jeff (1997-08-07). "The Day Rice Made Contact". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  • Antonen, Mel (2007-01-09). "Baseball Hall of Fame Chat: Mel Antonen". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  • Ted Williams Museum Hitters Hall of Fame
Awards and achievements
Preceded by American League Home Run Champion
1977-1978
1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League RBI Champion
1978
1983 (with Cecil Cooper) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by American League Most Valuable Player
1978 		Succeeded by

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