We all pretty much knew that all-time stolen base and runs scored leader Rickey Henderson would be a shoo-in to be amongst those announced to be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame today. Not surprisingly, Henderson garnered nearly 95% of the votes to easily be inducted in his first year of eligibility.
What wasn't so certain was what would happen to former Boston Red Sox superstar slugger Jim Rice. Last year, in his next to last year of eligibility, Rice received just over 72% of the votes - 3% short of the 75% needed for induction. The most feared American League power hitter of the late 1970's and early 1980's, Rice finally got his long overdue nomination today with 76.4% of the votes. Four times in the pre-steroid era, Rice slugged 39 or more homers for the BoSox, including 46 in 1978. Rice also drove in 139 that year, one of four seasons in which he drove in over 120 runs. A career .298 hitter, Rice also tallied 200 hits on four separate occasions, hitting .320 or better three years. Yes, the credentials were always there, it's just nice that he is FINALLY a member of the Hall and will now sit alongside his contemporaries like George Brett and Mike Schmidt. Congratulations, Jim on this long overdue honor!
-----
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment