I know it hasn’t happened yet, but I’m optimistic this will be the year Jim Rice finally gets inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. I’ve got a special place in my heart for Rice, I drafted him with my first rookie draft pick in the Illowa APBA League 35 years ago. My team was in need of pitching, when is more pitching not needed? Well anyway I bypassed my need and took a hitter, not an ordinary hitter, a real HITTER! Using the APBA card based on his 1978 MVP season, when in real life Jim hit 46 homers, drove in 139, and batted .315, he hit 66 round trippers for my Chicago Champions.
Yes, I do understand that APBA is not real life, and a player cannot be inducted into Cooperstown based on his performances at Crackerjack Park, using dice. But you can see why I love this guy! Besides his MVP year, Big Jim put together a pretty impressive career, finishing with a batting average two points below .300, missing out on 400 homers by eighteen, while driving in 1,451 runs, over 14 seasons as a regular with the Red Sox.
This guy was one of the most feared hitters in the game. He was an eight time All Star and a two time Silver Slugger winner. Rice was so strong that he once broke a bat checking his swing, when bats were bats, none of this Maple BS.
Did I tell you he wore my favorite number 14 and was born on the same date as my first girlfriend Alice & Harris Davis?
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Hall of Fame |
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Hall of Very Good |
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| Why is he even on the Ballot? |
While we wait for January 12 ballot results, The Baseball Zealot will be profiling those players who are on the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Read the rest the of the profiles.