On Monday, two baseball greats — Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice — were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
As expected, Henderson, the all-time leader in stolen bases, received 94.8 percent of the vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA writers with 10 years of membership in the organization are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame) in his first year on the ballot.
Rice, one of the best power hitters in the game during the 1970s and ’80s, finally garnered the needed 75 percent for enshrinement in his 15th and final year of eligibility.
Rice and Henderson will join former New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians second baseman and former Kansas City Royals manager Joe Gordon, who was selected by the Veteran’s committee, in this year’s class.
The younger crowd (students currently in high school) may vaguely remember Henderson, who, ironically, never officially retired from the game.
Henderson had a knack of referring to himself as “Rickey” in interviews. But his play on the field made up for his flamboyant style off of it. He is widely regarded as the game’s greatest leadoff hitter and base runner — he holds records in stolen bases, runs scored and leadoff home runs.
Rice, on the other hand, had tremendous power. It astonishes me it took Rice, who won the 1978 American League Most Valuable Player Award with the Red Sox, this long to be elected. Many writers and critics continue to pass on Rice because they feel he didn’t offer anything besides offense.
Baloney.
Former teammate and Boston center fielder, Fred Lynn, told USA Today given baseball's steroids issues and subsequent inflated numbers, Rice's statistics "are looking better and better. In his day, Jim was one of the most feared hitters in the game."
Rice’s career fielding percentage was .980 — only eight points lower than Lynn’s, who was known for his range and flare in the outfield.
Together, Rice and Lynn were dubbed as the “Gold Dust Twins” because of their all-or-nothing approach to the game.
Most power hitters have holes in their swing. The best pitch to pull is one thrown on the inner half of the plate. Because contact then has to be made farther out in front of the plate, the hitter becomes vulnerable to off-speed pitches and balls thrown on the outer half of the plate.
Rice didn’t fall into the conventional pull-hitter category. He had tremendous power, but yet, could use the whole field to hit in by going up the middle or to the opposite field.
My point, Rice deserves a place in Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer.
And when the time comes for “Rickey” to give his inauguration speech, I bet he will not add the line, “Today I’m the greatest of all time,” because he has already used that one.
To reach Cody Dyer, Sports Editor at the Press, please call 417-358-2191 or send email to cdyer@carthagepress.com.
