Some Interesting Numbers for Jim Rice

Congrats to Jim Rice who finally made the Hall of Fame on his last year of eligibility. Someone got something right. If you look at Rice's career numbers, there's no question: He is a Hall of Famer.

Besides the 382 homers and all those RBIs (1451), Rice was a career .298 hitter.

Jim Rice was one of the best hitters of the 1970s and the early part of the 1980 decade. His stats also match up favorably with Orlando Cepeda who made the Hall of Fame. Cepeda finished his career with a .297 career average, 379 home runs and 1365 RBIs. Accordingly, Cepeda finished with a lower batting average, fewer total home runs, and fewer RBIs than Jim Rice had during his career. In addition, Jim Rice played one less year than Cepeda did, meaning his individual yearly averages were higher than Cepeda's.

Jim Rice's statistics also compare favorably to Duke Snider who is also in the Hall of Fame. Snider had a career .295 average, 407 home runs, and 1333 RBIs. Billy Williams also made the Hall of Fame with totals of a .290 batting average, 426 home runs, and 1475 RBIs.

The next name on the list of players comparable to Rice is believe it or not, Ellis Burks. Maybe it's because I remember Burks coming up as a skinny outfielder in Boston but I would never compare him to Rice. But look it up:

Burks hit .291, 352 homers, and had 1206 RBI. Just judging on numbers alone, Burks warrants consideration, right? Wrong. And that's where baseball, which relies on its statistics as a measurement tool more than any other sport, got it wrong. How can you judge players in the steroid era against their predecessors? At least the voters continue to punish McGwire: He got about 20% of the necessary 75% to get in.

Here's a few other Rice numbers to consider:

--Rice never drew more than 63 walks in a season
--During his 1978 MVP year Rice whiffed 126 times and still hit .315
--That same year, Rice hit 15 triples although Red Sox fans of the early-to-mid 1980s might recall Rice as Mr. 6-4-3 as the slugger routinely grounded into 30-plus double plays a year.

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