Jim Rice
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James Edward "Jim" Rice was born on March 8, 1953 in Anderson, South Carolina. Rice was a player with the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1989. Like Carl Yastrzemski and Ted Williams before him, Rice continued the Red Sox tradition of having power-hitting left fielders.
Rice joined the Red Sox as a full time player in 1975. He and fellow rookie Fred Lynn were known as the “Gold Dust Twins”. Lynn made the bigger impact that year winning the MLB Rookie of the Year award. Rice did not play in the 1975 World Series because of an injury that occurred late in the season.
In 1978, Rice won the MLB Most Valuable Player award for a campaign where he hit .315 (3rd in the league) and he led the league in home runs, RBI, hits, triples and slugging percentage. His 406 total bases were the most since Joe DiMaggio had 418 in 1937 (it was also the first time since Stan Musial in 1948 that anyone achieved 400+ total bases in a season; it would not be done again until 1997 when Larry Walker did it).
Rice was adept at playing left field in Fenway Park. He was able to master the various caroms that balls took off of the Green Monster. His deceptive above average speed also helped his underrated fielding.
Rice's ability to hit the ball hard and often having slow runners on base ahead of him, resulted in him hitting into many double plays. In 1984 he hit into a record 36 double plays and collected 35 the following year.
Rice finished his career with 382 home runs and a .298 batting average.
There is a debate ongoing about the quality of Rice's career and whether it merits induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. While Rice was universally acknowledged as one of the best hitters of his generation at the time, in hindsight his career totals seem too low compared to the current era's offense.
Jim Rice was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995.
Jim Rice currently enjoys success as a commentator for the New England Sports Network, contributing to the pre- and post-game shows for the Red Sox, and has been known to pass his wisdom on to the current Sox stars from time to time.
External link
- Career statistics at Baseball Reference (http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/riceji01.shtml)
- Jim Rice for Hall of Fame (http://members.shaw.ca/rice4hof)
Categories: 1977 American League All-Stars | 1978 American League All-Stars | 1979 American League All-Stars | 1980 American League All-Stars | 1983 American League All-Stars | 1984 American League All-Stars | 1985 American League All-Stars | 1986 American League All-Stars | Boston Red Sox players | Major league left fielders | Sports announcers | 1953 births