Jim Rice
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James Edward Rice (born March 8, 1953), nicknamed "Jim Ed", is a former
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...
and
designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...
. He was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
on July 26, 2009, as the 103rd member voted in by the BBWAA. Rice played his entire 16-year baseball career for the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. Rice was an eight-time
American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
(AL) All-Star and was named the AL's
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
in after becoming the first major league player in 19 years to hit for 400
total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, while ...
. He went on to become the ninth player to lead the major leagues in total bases in consecutive seasons. He joined
Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...
as one of two players to lead the AL in total bases three years in a row. He batted .300 seven times, collected 100
runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
(RBI) eight times and 200 hits four times, and had 11 seasons with 20
home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s. He also led the league in home runs three times, RBIs and
slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
twice each. From 1975 through 1980 he was part of one of the sport's great outfields along with
Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1974 through 1990 as a center fielder with the Boston Red Sox, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Det ...
and
Dwight Evans Dwight Evans may refer to: * Dwight Evans (baseball) (born 1951), American former baseball player * Dwight Evans (politician) (born 1954), American politician {{hndis, Evans, Dwight ...
(who was his teammate for his entire career); Rice continued the tradition of his predecessors
Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
and Carl Yastrzemski as a power-hitting left fielder who played his entire career for the Red Sox. He ended his career with a .502 slugging percentage, and then ranked tenth in AL history with 382 home runs; his career marks in homers, hits (2,452), RBI (1,451) and total bases (4,129) remain Red Sox records for a right-handed hitter, with Evans eventually surpassing his Boston records for career runs scored,
at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s and
extra base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire anot ...
s by a right-handed hitter. When Rice retired, his 1,503 career games in left field ranked seventh in AL history.


Notable seasons

In the minor leagues, Rice's three-run home run was the key blow in helping the
Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...
(
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
) defeat the
Tulsa Oilers The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...
(
American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...
) in a 5–2 win in the 1973
Junior World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball. It was called the Little World Series (no relation to ...
. After he was
AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...
's International League Rookie of the Year,
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
and
Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...
winner in 1974, he and fellow rookie teammate
Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1974 through 1990 as a center fielder with the Boston Red Sox, California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Det ...
were brought up to the Red Sox at the same time, and were known as the "
Gold Dust Twins The Gold Dust Twins, the trademark for Fairbank's Gold Dust washing powder products, appeared in printed media as early as 1892. "Goldie" and "Dusty", the original Gold Dust Twins, were often shown doing household chores together. In general us ...
". He was promoted in the Red Sox organization to be a full-time player in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, and finished in second place for the American League's Rookie of the Year honors, and third in the
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
voting, after he finished the season with 174 base hits, 102 runs batted in, a .309 batting average and 22 home runs; Lynn won both awards. The Red Sox won the AL's East Division, but Rice did not play in either the
League Championship Series The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, an ...
or
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
because of a
wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the Carpal bones, carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known ...
injury sustained during the last week of the regular season when he was
hit by a pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...
. The Red Sox went on to lose the World Series 4 games to 3 to the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
of the
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
(NL). In 1978, Rice won the Most Valuable Player award in a campaign where he hit .315 (third in the league) and led the league in home runs (46), RBI (139), hits (213),
triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...
s (15),
total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, while ...
(406, a Red Sox record) and slugging percentage (.600). He is one of only two AL players ever to lead his league in both triples and home runs in the same season, and he remains the only player ever to lead the major leagues in triples, home runs and RBIs in the same season. His 406 total bases that year were the most in the AL since
Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...
had 418 in 1937, and it made Rice the first major leaguer with 400 or more total bases since
Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...
's 400 in
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. This feat was not repeated until 1997, when
Larry Walker Larry Kenneth Robert Walker (born December 1, 1966) is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. I ...
had 409 in the NL. No AL player has done it since Rice in 1978, and his total remains the third highest by an AL right-handed hitter, behind DiMaggio and
Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...
(438 in ). In
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
, Rice had 200 hits, batted .324, and had 110 RBIs. The Red Sox made it to the
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
for the second time during his career. This time, Rice played in all 14 postseason games, where he collected 14 hits, including two home runs. He also scored 14 runs and drove in six. The 14 runs Rice scored is the fifth most recorded by an individual during a single year's postseason play. The Red Sox went on to lose the World Series to the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
, 4 games to 3, the fourth consecutive Series appearance by Boston which they lost in seven games.


Career accomplishments

Rice led the AL in home runs three times ( 1977, 1978, 1983), in RBI twice (1978, 1983), in slugging percentage twice (1977, 1978), and in total bases four times (1977– 1979, 1983). He also picked up
Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters co ...
s in 1983 and 1984 (the award was created in 1980). Rice hit at least 39 home runs in a season four times, had eight 100-RBI seasons and four seasons with 200+ hits, and batted over .300 seven times. He finished his 16-year career with a .298 batting average, 373 doubles, 79 triples, 382 home runs, 1,451 RBIs, 1,249 runs scored, 2,452 hits, 670 walks and 4,129 total bases. He was an American League All-Star eight times (1977–1980, 1983–1986). In addition to winning the American League MVP award in 1978, he finished in the top five in MVP voting five other times (1975, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1986). Rice is the only player in history to lead the league in home runs, RBIs, and triples in the same year. He is also the only player in major league history to record over 200 hits while hitting 39 or more home runs for three consecutive years. He is tied for the AL record of leading the league in total bases for three straight seasons, and was one of three AL players to have three straight seasons of hitting at least 39 home runs while batting .315 or higher. From 1975 to 1986, Rice led the AL in total games played, at bats, runs scored, hits, homers, RBIs, slugging percentage, total bases, extra base hits, go-ahead RBIs, multi-hit games, and outfield assists. Among all major league players during that time, Rice was the leader in five of these categories (
Mike Schmidt Michael Jack Schmidt (born September 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played his entire 18-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies. Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star and a ...
is next, having led in four). In 1984 he set a major league single-season record by hitting into 36 double plays. His 315 career times grounding into double plays ranks him eighth in major league history; he did break Brooks Robinson's AL record for a right-handed hitter (297) in 1988.
Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed " The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his posit ...
eventually surpassed this mark in 1999. Rice did led the league in this category for four seasons (
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
1985), which tied the major league record that had been previously set by Ernie Lombardi. In 2009 Miguel Tejada recorded his fifth season leading his league in this category and now holds this record. During the time Rice was the annual GDP leader he also had averaged 112 RBI's per season which is ten more than Albert Pujols' mark of 102 following his four-year GDP leadership. The on-base prowess of Rice's teammates placed him in a double play situation over 2,000 times during his career. Rice posted a batting average of .310 and slugging percentage of .515 in those situations which is better than his overall career marks in those categories. Rice could hit for both power and average, and currently only 12 other retired players rank ahead of him in both career home runs and batting average:
Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...
,
Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...
,
Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...
,
Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...
, Stan Musial,
Mel Ott Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through . He batted left-handed an ...
,
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
,
Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...
,
Chipper Jones Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. The Braves chose Jones with the first overall p ...
,
Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero Sr. (born February 9, 1975), nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and designated hitter. He played for ...
,
Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007. He currently serves as the manager of the Italian national baseball te ...
, and
Larry Walker Larry Kenneth Robert Walker (born December 1, 1966) is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. I ...
. In 1981,
Lawrence Ritter Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer whose specialties were economics and baseball. Ritter was a professor of economics and finance, and chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School ...
and
Donald Honig Donald Martin Honig (born 1931 in New York City) is a novelist, historian and editor who mostly writes about baseball. While a member of the Bobo Newsom Memorial Society, an informal group of writers, Honig attempted to convince Lawrence Ritter t ...
included him in their book ''The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time''. Rice was an accomplished left fielder, finishing his career with a fielding percentage of .980 and had 137 outfield assists (comparable to Ted Williams' figures of .974 and 140). Although never possessing great speed, he had a strong throwing arm and was able to master the various caroms that balls took from the
Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters. Overview The wall was part ...
(in left field) in
Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...
. His 21 assists in 1983 remains the most by a Red Sox outfielder since
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
, when Bob Johnson had 23. Aside from playing 1543 games as an outfielder during his career, Rice also appeared as a
designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...
in 530 games. Rice's number 14 was retired by the Red Sox in a
pre-game ceremony A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause. Celebrating past event ...
on July 28, 2009.


Community activities

Rice was associated with a variety of charitable organizations during his career, primarily on behalf of children, some of which have carried on into his retirement. He was named an honorary chairman of
The Jimmy Fund The Jimmy Fund, established in Boston in 1948, is made up of community-based fundraising events and other programs that benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1948, millions of people have given money to the Jimmy Fund to help save lives an ...
, the
fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
arm of the
Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated b ...
in Boston, in 1979, and in 1992 was awarded that organization's "Jimmy Award", which honors individuals who have demonstrated their dedication to cancer research. Rice is also active in his support of the Neurofibromatosis Foundation of New England. Rice's involvement with
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
's RBI program (
Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a youth baseball program operated by Major League Baseball. This youth initiative is designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softba ...
) resulted in the naming of a new youth baseball facility in
Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury se ...
, in his honor in 1999. A youth recreation center in Rice's hometown of
Anderson, South Carolina Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 census, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 75,702. It is one of the principal cities in the Green ...
, is also named in his honor. Rice is also remembered for his actions during a nationally televised game (against the Chicago White Sox) on August 7, 1982, when he rushed into the stands to help a young boy who had been struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Dave Stapleton. As other players and spectators watched, Rice left the dugout and entered the stands to help four-year-old Jonathan Keane, who was bleeding heavily. Rice carried the boy onto the field, through the Red Sox dugout and into the clubhouse, where the young boy was immediately treated by the team's medical staff. Rice's swift response saved Keane's life, as paramedics would likely not have arrived in time. Rice also paid the hospital bill, and Keane made a full recovery from the injury.


Retirement activities

In 1990, Rice agreed to play with the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the short-lived
Senior Professional Baseball Association The Senior Professional Baseball Association, referred to commonly as the ''Senior League'', was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over, with a minimum age of 32 for catchers. The league began play in 1989 and had ei ...
. Afterwards, Rice has served as a roving batting coach (1992–1994) and hitting instructor (1995–2000), and remains an instructional batting coach (2001–present) with the Red Sox organization. While the Red Sox hitting coach, the team led the league in hitting in 1997 and players won two
batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...
s. Rice was the hitting coach for the American League in the 1997 and 1999 Major League Baseball All-Star Games, both under the same manager, the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
'
Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...
. Since 2003, he's also been employed as a commentator for the New England Sports Network (NESN), where he contributes to the Red Sox pre-game and post-game shows. He had a cameo appearance in the NESN movie '' Wait Till This Year'' and in the film ''
Fever Pitch ''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: '' Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and '' Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", bu ...
''. The former slugger has been known to pass his wisdom on to the current Sox players and stars from time to time. Rice was elected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame when it first opened in 1995, and he is the 40th member of Ted Williams' Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, having been inducted along with
Paul Molitor Paul Leo Molitor (born August 22, 1956), nicknamed "Molly" and "the Ignitor", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and former manager of the Minnesota Twins, who is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. During his 21-year baseball car ...
,
Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he play ...
and
Robin Yount Robin R. Yount (; born September 16, 1955), nicknamed "the Kid", and "Rockin' Robin", is an American former professional baseball player. He spent his entire 20-year career in Major League Baseball as a shortstop and center fielder for the Milwau ...
in 2001. On November 29, 2008, the Boston chapter of the
Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known fo ...
(BBWAA) announced that Rice would be the recipient of the Emil Fuchs Award for long and meritorious service to baseball. During his Hall of Fame acceptance speech Rice revealed that he is a devoted fan of ''
The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...
'', noting that he was watching the show when he was informed of his acceptance.


Hall of Fame

While Rice was generally regarded as one of the better hitters of his era based upon the statistics traditionally used by the BBWAA to evaluate players' Hall of Fame qualifications, he was not elected until his 15th and final year of eligibility, netting 76.4% of the votes, in 2009. Over the years he was on the BBWAA ballot, he received 3,974 total votes, the most ever collected by any player that was voted on for baseball's highest honor. In
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and 2007, he received over 63% of votes cast. Rice just missed being elected in 2008 when the count found him on 72.2% of the ballots, only 2.8% short of the required 75%. Rice became the third enshrinee to get into the shrine on his last chance on the ballot, and the first since
Ralph Kiner Ralph McPherran Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955. Follow ...
(1975). Rice's delay in being elected to the Hall of Fame stemmed in part from more current statistical analysis of player performance. This analysis suggested that Rice's HOF credentials might have been more questionable than they were considered during his career. The delay may also have been related to his often difficult relationship with the media during his playing career, many of whom are still voting members of the BBWAA, and his career fading relatively early – he last played in the major leagues at the age of 36. Some writers, such as the ''Boston Heralds
Sean McAdam Sean McAdam may refer to: * Sean McAdam (journalist) Sean McAdam is a sports writer and author from the Boston area. He covers the Boston Red Sox for ''Boston Sports Journal'' and is a radio and television analyst and commentator. His first book ...
, said that Rice's chances improved with the exposure of the " Steroids Era" in baseball. In the same article, McAdam expanded this subject by adding: "In an era when power numbers are properly viewed with a healthy dose of suspicion, Rice's production over the course of his 16 years gains additional stature." As such, he has received increasingly more votes each year since the 2003 ballot, improving his vote totals by 133 votes over the last five years on the ballot. However, from several sabermetric standpoints it can be argued that Rice falls short of his peers in the Hall of Fame. Nevertheless, several commentators have noted that the continued criticism of Rice's statistics not meeting sabermetric standards is unfair given that several other Hall of Fame players, notably Andre Dawson and Tony Pérez, fare even worse against such standards. During the 2007 season, the
Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...
started a campaign to get Rice inducted which included having fans sign "the World's Largest Jim Rice Jersey." Although other players have compiled career statistics more similar to Rice's, most notably 1999 Hall inductee
Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; born September 17, 1937), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", is a Puerto Rican former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco Giants. A ...
, perhaps the most similar player to Rice was 1968 inductee
Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...
. Both were power-hitting left fielders who batted right-handed and played their home games in stadiums which favored hitters, and both had a period of a few years in which they enjoyed a remarkable burst of offense, each winning an MVP award at age 25 – Rice after collecting 400 total bases, and Medwick after becoming the last NL player to win the Triple Crown. Both retired at age 36 due to the cumulative effect of various minor injuries. Their career totals in games, at bats, runs, hits, RBI, steals, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, extra base hits and total bases are all fairly similar, with notable differences only in batting average and home runs; Medwick's higher average (.324 to .298) can be partially attributed to the higher emphasis on batting average in the 1930s, while Rice's advantage in home runs (382 to 205) is largely the result of a dramatic increase in homers over the 40 years between their careers (Rice ranked 10th in AL history upon his retirement, while Medwick ranked 11th in NL history upon his). Medwick was elected to the Hall in his final season of eligibility in 1968, which Rice also duplicated.


See also

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List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders This is a list of the 300 Major League Baseball players who have hit the most home runs. In the sport of baseball, a home run is a hit in which the batter scores by circling all the bases and reaching home plate in one play, without the benefit ...
* Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame *
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders Below is the list of the 286 Major League Baseball players who have reached the 2,000 hit milestone during their career in MLB. Pete Rose holds the Major League record for most career hits, with 4,256. Rose and Ty Cobb, second most, are the only ...
*List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders *List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders *List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders *List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders *List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders *List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders *List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise *Major League Baseball titles leaders


References

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Website of the Boston Red Sox''
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External links

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SABR BioProject biographyJim Rice
- Baseballbiography.com
Jim Rice for Hall of FameBaseball AlmanacJim Rice mentioned on Red Sox Radio WEEI''Jim Rice Batting Fundamentals''Rice dominated AL for a decade – Boston slugger again up for Hall of Fame inclusion''THE CULLING by D. Allan Kerr -- "One More Time At Bat For Jim Rice"Pura Pelota
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