Baby, remember my name
Three quick items, then an actual column for once: 1) No, I haven't gone into semi-retirement. Today's OT column is right here. For the record, I usually write the OT piece on Tuesdays, which is why there's usually nothing new here then, and yesterday I didn't post because I got caught up chasing and updating the Pedroia news, and then my beloved feline Otis got run over by a speeding Segway, and . . . well, you get the point: If I haven't written here, there's usually a pretty good reason. So step off, yo. 2) You know I love the Pedroia signing for both sides -- now that's how a contract negotiation should go -- and Pedroia's this-is-where-I-want-to-be comments at the press conference were almost enough to melt a cynic's heart. If this didn't immediately remind you of the deal Nomar signed after his rookie season, you must be someone who boarded the bandwagon in the last decade. Hopefully, this player/city love affair ends better than that one did. If Pedroia can just avoid suspiciously bizarre wrist injuries, refuse to allow himself to become paranoid, and politely hang up the phone when SI calls to ask him to pose semi-nude (but tastefully done) for the cover, he should be all set. 3) Does Brian Sabean even watch baseball? Anyway, what I wanted to write about yesterday -- before Pedroia went out and somehow made us appreciate him even more -- is the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, which was revealed Monday. Six of the 23 candidates played for the Red Sox, from Boston lifer Jim Rice, to the complicated Mo Vaughn, to David Cone and Rickey Henderson, both of whom were swilling Metamucil, exaggerating their youthful feats, and muttering "Back in my day . . ." by the time they called Fenway Park home. Here's a look at all six, with my usual mildly informed take on each individual's chances of induction Jan. 12 David Cone: Despite what the YES Network propaganda machine might suggest, Cone, who didn't win 200 games, let alone the magical 300, is not even a borderline Hall of Famer, though I suspect his media savvy and big-market accomplishments will help him win more than enough support to remain on the ballot for a few years. But there's no denying the man was a hell of a talent and an even better competitor, and he would have been on the short list of pitchers from his time to start a must-win game, which is essentially the best thing you can say about any hurler. I enjoyed his lone season with the Red Sox (2001), when that lights-out repertoire of his prime had deserted him and the only useful thing he usually took to the mound every fifth day was his guile. Sometimes and somehow, that was enough. His duel with Mike Mussina that season remains one of the most memorable regular season games from the past decade or so, though I can't say I enjoyed it: The only thing I despised more than the Yankees in those days was Carl Everett, whose single prevented Mussina from pitching a perfect game. Rickey Henderson: How much of a first-ballot lock is Rickey? Let us consider something Bill James wrote in his revised "Historical Baseball Abstract" a few years ago: Yes, Rickey is as automatic as automatic gets, though a misguided nitwit or two will surely leave him off the ballot just to ensure he's not the first player elected unanimously. With his inevitable election comes one of the most eagerly anticipated induction speeches of all time, for it almost certainly will be spoken entirely in the third person. (Manny Ramirez's should also be a linguistic gem when the day comes.) Rickey is not only one of the greatest players in the game's history, but he also ranks high on the list of memorable characters, and hey, wasn't the Hall of Fame made for figures like him?
Andre Dawson: The Hawk is one of those players -- along with Steve Garvey, Alan Trammell, and Jack Morris -- I was certain would be a Hall of Famer when he was playing, but his post-career legacy has been hurt by the advances of statistical analysis and voters' fading memories. Dawson owns some requisite Hall-worthy numbers (438 homers, 318 stolen bases, eight Gold Gloves), but he also had just a .279 batting average and a .323 on-base percentage, and I think it gets held against him that he won one of the most dubious MVP awards in recent history, in 1987 for the last-place Cubs. Ultimately, though, I remember him as one of the finest all-around players of his time, one who would have accomplished even greater things had his knees not been destroyed by the cement turf in Montreal. I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame, and with 62 percent of the vote last year, he might even get there.Somebody asked me did I think Rickey Henderson was a Hall of Famer. I told them, "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall of Famers." The greatest base stealer of all time, the greatest power/speed combination of all time (except maybe Barry Bonds), the greatest leadoff man of all time, one of the top five players of all time in runs scored . . . yeah, I think that might make a man a Hall of Famer. Without exaggerating one inch, you could find fifty Hall of Famers who, taken together, don't own as many records, and as many important records, as Rickey Henderson.
Jim Rice: It is, of course, Jim Ed's final year on the ballot, and in a completely subjective way, I hope he gets in. Does he deserve to? Well, that's been a matter of debate for almost 15 years now, and I'm still not sure. His honest numbers are more appealing now in the aftermath of the steroid era, he had five top-five MVP finishes, and my mind's eye remembers Rice and George Brett as the most dominating all-around hitters in the AL during that late-'70s, early-'80s stretch. But I also realize that isn't the most foolproof argument -- if "Fire Joe Morgan" hadn't shuttered its windows, those guys could have some snarky fun riddling that last sentence with bullets -- and whenever I read something such as, say, James's "Historical Abstract" piece that makes a compelling case that Roy White might have been Rice's superior as a player, I can't shake the feeling that Rice doesn't quite belong belong. And you know what? I don't think he's getting in. I realize he was just 16 votes shy a year ago, receiving 72.2 percent of the vote, and that the 20 previous players to receive more than 70 percent of the vote but less than the 75 percent needed for enshrinement were eventually elected. (I really need to get a copy of longtime Red Sox publicist Dick Bresciani's case for Rice.) But I'm just not sure that enough voters will change their minds this time around. Hope I'm wrong.
Lee Smith: Though he was the all-time saves leader (478) when he retired in 1997, I don't think Big Lee, typically a one-inning-and-done specialist with a 3.03 career ERA, belongs. Then again, I don't think Bruce Sutter belongs, either, and he's in. For what it's worth, the three modern closers I believe should be in the Hall of Fame: 1) Goose Gossage. 2) Mariano Rivera. 3) The Eck. The rest we can argue about.
Mo Vaughn: He was Big Papi before Big Papi, albeit with considerably more self-destructive tendencies and considerably fewer superheroic postseason feats. It's easy to forget now since so much history has happened since he departed, but Mo had a string of truly outstanding offensive seasons with the Sox (his lowest adjusted OPS from 1993 to '98 was 139), and his outspoken and charismatic personality eased the burden on his more introverted teammates (hello, Nomar). The end came several seasons too soon for him to receive legitimate Hall of Fame consideration, but if we were voting solely with our hearts, ol' Maurice would be working on his speech right now.
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As for today's Completely Random Baseball Card:
He definitely has one of the coolest baseball names of all time . . . at least until you discover his real first name was Leslie.
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All I want for Christmas (apart from global economic recovery, peace, love and health to all) is Jim Rice in the Hall of Fame. What a ferocious hitter. With 100% natural muscles, too.
I sure hope this is your year Mr. Jim Rice. You do deserve it. I can't believe it has taken soooooo long. Best wishes to you ole friend.
Jim Rice was always my favorite player and I believe he easily belongs in the HOF if we were to compare his top years to his contemporaries. He was dominant and probably the most feared hitter in the AL for about 8-10 seasons.
However, there's no doubt he dropped off precipitously at the end, which I think can be attributed to two factors. My memory is he fought getting contacts for about a season-and-a-half. Having those alone would have probably kept his lifetime average about .300. He also was indirectly hurt by being such an incredible, natural athlete. Exercise and nutrition were just starting to creep into MLB in the early 80's, but I don't believe Jimmy partook in any of it. One would have to assume that if he could have begun working out in his early to mid 30's, he not only would have played another three years, his production for his mid 30's would have been better than it turned out to be.
If he could take a time machine and fixed those two issues, he'd have been a first ballot HOFer. As it is, I still believe he deserves to be in, but he's not a no-brainer.
The problem with the HOF is that a player is compared to the worst players in the Hall. It's getting so that HOFers are players you didn't even think twice about. Nobody went to the ballpark to watch Bruce Sutter pitch. Tony Perez? You've gotta be kidding me.
Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Gibson and Perez? Give me a break.
Of all the great players on the Expos teams of the late 1970's and early 1980's (the hated Gary Carter, Tim Raines, Gary Roenicke, Warren Cromartie, Tim Foli, Larry Parrish, Ellis Valentine!) Andre Dawson was the greatest and the one that I (as a die-hard Phillies fan) dreaded coming to bat. As you said, his knees were destroyed, which was really too bad.
I remember watching Jim Rice play and believe me, he was as good a player as there was in those days......Rice was "THE MAN" amongst boys. I still can't believe that he is not in the HOF....Good luck this year Jimmy!!!!!!!
Good to have you back CF.
I'm here primarily to post about Vaughn. I had forgotten how eye-popping his #'s were with the Sox from '93-'98, because my memory was tainted by that sour last year or 2 with the Mets. Good Lord. He was a dependable .300, 35-40 HR guy for 4 or 5 years running, long before that Manny guy would put up similar stats. Still can't understand how he went 0 for 17 (!) in the '95 playoffs, though. He has done some good community work in NYC after baseball, too. I say re-evaluate the guy and cut him some slack.
Now Re: Jim Ed, there are good cases for & against Rice. (But hell I'd also like to give a vote to Dewey Evans, so I'm being biased & non-scientific now). I think Jim won't get in, just because of his personality & his total HR #'s being a tad too low, which is unfortunate. But on the other hand -- when you think "Hall of Fame," you automatically think Williams, Ruth, Mantle, Yaz, Fisk, Koufax...giants in the game. Do you think "Jim Rice" ? I really don't think so. And maybe THAT's the test. (The Perez & Sutter vote-ins remain inexplicable though.)
One of the highlights of my youth was attending the Star Market baseball clinic where I got to hit tennis balls in a gym but, more importantly, got about 15 minutes of time hanging with Jim Rice. The other kids were a bit muted, I guess, but I ended up talking to him for about 10 of those minutes. He was a cool guy. And I loved my '78 poster and how he decked the ump who hassled the Rooster and of course the ridiculous hitting.
My only qualm was the never ending procession of late inning at bats that went fouled back, swing and miss, ball 1, fouled back, GIDP or popout. I still say in based on his decad of excelleence.
The guys who played with and against him seem to generally agree that Jim Ed should be in the hall. That's got to count for something
Also, what's the story with that 1980 Rickey Henderson card displayed at the top of this page? Were there two Rickey cards that season? (The one I'm familiar with from that year shows him at bat in his familiar stance.)
Its the Hall of FAME, not the Hall of Baseball GODS. I will never understand the "if he wasn't a no-brainer like Ruth, Gehrig and Aaron then forget about it" argument.
Chad, you've given voice to the nagging fear that I've had ever since this year's vote was announced - that Rice will become this generation's Gil Hodges, the guy who just missed getting in. I surely hope you are wrong and that Joe Posnaski is right, since he's viewed Rice's election as a given ever since the last vote was announced. But I still wonder. Will the geeks win one and keep him out by a whisker? Or will enough voters take that final look, and say "yeah, let him in."
Is it too much to ask that the 2009 class include Ron Santo, the Hawk and Jim Ed? I'd be glued to the TV for every speech.
The heck with Ricky Henderson, Mo Vaughn and Jim Rice...the real story is about the feline named Otis being ran over by a segway!!
Chad.....do you need to start a donation for those expensive vet bills or can i send you one of my kittens that I deperately need to get rid of!
We hope all is well with Otis.
I would LOVE to see Jim, Rickey AND Hawk all get in, three of the best players of my Middle School into college generation. All three have deserving cases (with Rickey's truly being a no brainer) when compared to their contemporaries of their era. I may be biased when it comes to Jim Ed, as he became my favorite player when as a third grader, I sat next to his wife Corinne at a Bristol Red Sox game at Muzzy Field and watch Jim hit one about 500 feet into and almost over the trees there. Anyone who's ever been to Muzzy knows that is a prodigious blast!
Jim Rice was my favorite player at the most influential time of my life,... loved him. wanted to be him. Jim Rice is not, however, worthy of the hall. I think last years vote sums up his position best, 72%. Close, but not quite. And while we are talking "almost`s", the term dynasty does not mean 3-4 years. Not that we are talking about this now, but to call the Pat's("01"-"04") a dynasty, is to discredit the Celtics of the 60's. Rice is almost a hall of famer, and that's about as far as it goes.
Hall of Fame voters drive me bonkers (well, some of them anyway). If everyone thinks Henderson belongs in the Hall of Fame (well duh) why doesn't he get 100 percent of the vote? I'd like to ask every voter if they think Henderson is a Hall of Famer. Every one of them would says yes. Yet Henderson will not get 100 percent of the vote.
Dumb.
Just like it is dumb when guys are voted in on the first ballot because voters don't think they are first ballot worthy (Fisk). Dumb.
Midguided nitwit s they are.
Re: Sabes - Did the "hands off anything related to Concord" agreement expire over the Thanksgiving holiday? Just 'cuz he replenished the Twins a couple of years ago for a personality challenged catcher and somehow thinks Edgar Rentawreck can still play doesn't suggest he's not watching, just sees things differently.
Re: OT - last time I looked there were exactly ZERO outlets in Concord. Couldn't we find a rack at South Street Market or perhaps at Green Street where Pap could increase his revenue stream by racking up a 5 cent commission on each sale during CMBL games on Sunday?
I've been a RED SOX fan for 59 years and as good as the stats were for Rice I have to say that there wasn't a better hitter for the first six innings of a game but the last three forget it'. As good a late inning hitter as PAPI was Rice was not. I think Rice belongs with the very good but not in the HOF.
No, no, no, no to Rice for the HOF!! I am a true Red Sox nation fan and have been for 60 years, and dat ain't hay! Seem them all both good and bad. Rice can "sit on the pines" as he once suggested the Yaz do, for the rest of time! Go Yazzzzzzz
Jim should be in the hall if just for going into the stands at Yankee Stadium to get his hat (and the fan that stole it)
Love the Drake's Cakes card of Rice....it brings back many good memories.
The Henderson 1980 card is a Topps Tribute card from a recent set, the Rice card is from the Hostess set, not Drakes, sorry. And as for the complaints about the BBWAA guys these days with their voting--it's pathetic, half these statistical driven seamheads saw little to none of the players in person now up for the Hall, and when you ask them how many games they were in person or saw on TV for Rice, Hawk, or anyone from the pre-1985 era, they get defensive, because they rely 100 on their seamhead stats, and percentage breakdown--ridiculous!
Jim Ed should get in and Rickey too...
Sorry about your cat. Hope Jim Ed gets in. Whenever Rickey got caught stealing, he would immediately change his cleats. But that didn't happen too often.
Reports of Otis's demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Charlie Spikes! I remember him. Who's next? Larvell Blanks? Rick Manning? Rico Carty, and Duane Kuiper?
I doubt Rice gets in this year. When the Evan Grants of the sportswriting world are doing the voting, my faith in the right players getting in is definitely shaken.
FYI - Bruce Sutter has no business being in the Hall of Fame. However, Rich Gossage certainly belongs.
KF, I think the first random baseball card on this site was Larvell Blanks. There was nowhere to go but down after that.
F-ing Tony Perez is in the HOF ... ugh. Wish I hadn't been reminded me of that shameful fact. Someone needs to come up with a HOF alternative for elite players who actually deserve to be honored as the best there ever were and didn't get in because of political reasons, cronyism, and watered down standards.
DEWEY EVANS SHOULD GET IN ON FIRST BALLOT. GOOD SOLID BALL PLAYER WITH ONE ON THE BEST ARMS EVER TO RIGHT FIELD. NOT TO MENTION ONE OF NICEST PEOPLE IN THE GAME.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Irreverence and insight from Chad Finn, a Globe/Boston.com sports writer and lifelong and incurable sports nut. Yes, he realizes how lucky he is. You can e-mail him at chadfinn4@yahoo.com.
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