With Jim Rice finally being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame this afternoon, NESN will be having a special block of programming today/tonight covering the achievement.
NESN studio analyst Jim Rice is now a Hall of Famer and NESN is covering today’s announcement with a number of special interviews and live programming. Below is a schedule of what we have planned.
- 3:45 PM NESN’s Jerry Remy joined Jim Rice at his home this afternoon and sat down to talk to him soon after he got the call from the Baseball Hall of Fame. NESN will air this taped interview today at 3:45 PM.
- 4:00 PM NESN will deliver LIVE coverage of a press conference from Fenway Park with Jim Rice.
- 7:30 PM A LIVE edition of Red Sox Hot Stove from Fenway Park, hosted by Tom Caron with Jim Rice.
- 8:00 PM Red Sox Classic – NESN salutes Jim Rice. Relive Rice’s hitting heroics in this classic contest between the Red Sox and the Twins from September 6, 1986.
Here is the RedSox.com story by Ian Browne. Also check out RedSoxLinks.com for more reaction and coverage from around the web.
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Thus the threshold for HOF continues to be lowered. He is the classic example of a player who belongs in the “Hall of Very Good”. I’m sorry but you have to draw the line somewhere. In my mind, “the line” is just above Rice.
I’ve been a Sox fan all my life and watched his whole career, but the numbers and longevity of great play just aren’t there.
Continuing to put guys like Rice and Perez in just diminishes the gravitas of the honor.
…and it’s hyperbole like this that makes me just not care.
Allow me to believe that Rice is probably not a Hall of Fame ballplayer, but to be happy for him anyway.
He played hard. He played hurt. He never complained. Heck, he even played one night after being in traction for a bad back on the same afternoon if I recall correctly.
I guess we can just forget the fact that for a 12 year span, Rice led the majors in runs scored, hits, homers, rbis, slugging, total bases, extra base hits, go-ahead rbis & multi-hit games. If leading your era in those categories isn’t hof worthy, then empty the hof, and only allow the top 20 players ever.
Trust me, I haven’t forgotten all that.
It’s just that his overall numbers fall a little bit short in some categories, such as not reaching 400 homers and, unfortunately, having his career batting average drop to below .300 in those last couple of rough years he had at the end of his career.
That’s really the main problem: his career fell of a cliff, literally, after the 1986 World Series. He showed up in ‘87 unable to catch up to a fastball anymore, at age 34.
If he had been able to cobble together a couple more .290-22-85 seasons, he would have been a no-brainer pick for the Hall.
Either way, I’m glad that he got in, because as I said before: he played hurt; he played hard; he never complained.
Ok, can Jim Rice go away now and stop whining? He got his stupid hat, now everyone will forget about him.
I’ll never understand why the anti-Rice contingent really cares.