Rest of Baseball Thread 2008

[Geowhizzer]

Jim Rice to the HOF

It's about time for that guy.

Agreed.  He was the best pure hitter in the 1980s.

Blyleven still not being voted in is nuts.

And McGwire should be in.

[stalker]

Agreed.  He was the best pure hitter in the 1980s.


And McGwire should be in.

George Brett?

[Wingspan]

Jim Rice to the HOF

It's about time for that guy.

Agreed.  He was the best pure hitter in the 1980s.

No he wasn't. he had a great 3 years from 77 through 80, then a power surge in 1983. Other than that, he was above average, at best, he was just able to stick around for a long time so his career numbers look better than they should.

He barely cracked the top 5...even top 10 in any major stat category over the entire decade of the 80's.

farg Jim Rice. He's only in the HOF because everyone else was already let in.

[ice grillin you]

rice should need a ticket to get in the hall....the baseball hof dumbs itself down by the year

[rjs246]

Rice belongs.

Blyleven and Morris also belong.

McGwire too but it's hilarious watching him fail so whatever.

[Wingspan]

Rice belongs next to my kung pow chicken

[rjs246]

I see what you did there.

[stalker]

Rice belongs next to my kung pow chicken

If Rice is in Canseco should get in.

[rjs246]

Pretty sure Rice didn't host steroid parties.

McGriff would have been a better example.

[stalker]

Juice wasn't banned when Canseco played

[BigEd76]

He was the best pure hitter in the 1980s.

George Brett?

Tony Gwynn?  Wade Boggs?

[Wingspan]

Mattingly, Eddie Murray, Robin Yount..

all better hitters in the 80's than Rice

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

What is each of those guys' HoF status?

[Geowhizzer]

Rather than "the 1980s," I should have labeled it the period 1975-1986.

Gwynn and Boggs had better averages, but had little power.  Gwynn had zero 20-HR seasons, and Boggs had one (and only one other above 10). 

Mattingly had a great start to his career, but both power and average went down after he hurt his back.

Murray had a remarkable run of consistency (20-33 HR), but never had the peak numbers.

Rice had more 100+ RBI seasons than all of them with eight.  Murray had six.  Mattingly had five.  Boggs and Brett had four each.  Gwynn just one (admittedly, that wasn't his job for the vast majority of his career).

Rice's biggest obstacle was that when his peak ended, his decline was rapid after age 33.  After finishing 2nd in the MVP voting in 1986 with a 20-110-.324 seasion, he hit only 21 homers with 162 RBI and a .262 average over his last three seasons, with all three numbers declining each year.

During his peak, Rice's biggest deficiency was walks, only surpassing 60 bases on balls once in his career.

For his combined power and average, I believe my statement has merit, if perhaps needing the caveat "one of" the best pure hitters.  He was definitely one of the most feared during his career.

[PhillyGirl]

Braves get Lowe

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3829521