More Than Deserving

I've recovered from Thanksgiving, Black Friday, My Birthday (Nov 29, and yes I do accept belated gifts), and Cyber Monday. Phew!

Now, it is that time of year again. The Hall of Fame Ballot has been published.

There are only 23 players on this year's ballot. That is the smallest amount ever. 10 of those players are appearing on the ballot for the first time. Those 10 players are highlighted by Ricky Henderson who is a SURE THING to be voted in.

Of the players who are back on the ballot again, there is Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Mark McGwire, and Jim Rice, who is entering his 15th and final year on the HOF Ballot and is the subject of today's blog entry.

Jim Rice was one of the most dominant and feared hitters of his era (1974 - 1989), yet he has been unable to garner the necessary 75% of the BBWAA votes to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Why is that?

Obviously, that answer is subjective. However, it can probably be a combination of various things.

Firstly, Rice does not have any "Magic Numbers" in his career statistics. He did not hit 400 HRs (which was pretty much the magic HR total before the steroid era pushed it up to 500) nor did he collect 3,000 career hits. Now, what do these Magic Numbers truly mean? They mean you were either an super extraordinary player or you were a good play who played a long, long time. There can be lots of arguments with regards to using this as a standard of Hall of Fame enshrinement; I mean just compare Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. However, it is pretty much an unwritten rule that reaching these milestones will garner Hall of Fame induction.

Secondly, when you compare Rice's numbers to other Hall of Famers, there are some things that don't add up for him. However, should players be compared to other Hall of Fame players who played in a different era? The game is constantly evolving; nowadays, more rapidly than ever before. Not only that, but how many of the writers who vote for the Hall of Fame and are doing these type of comparisons, but have never seen Jim Rice play. You figure, if I am 37, that means I wasn't even 3 years old when Rice made his major league debut and I was enjoying my last summer of freedom after graduating high school and getting ready to head off to Nichols College when he played his final game on August 3, 1989. What were some of these other sportswriters doing back then? Now, all they have to go by to determine if he is worthy is by comparing numbers.

Lastly, and this is a weak reason, but there has always been some chatter that Rice was not friendly to the media during his career. Was this truly the case? Who knows? If it was the case, would voting writers hold a grudge and not vote for somebody because of this? I highly doubt it. Maybe 1 or 2 writers, but that would make a minimal difference, since Rice has always been short of reaching 75% by way more than 1 or 2 votes.

Why should Jim Rice be a Hall of Famer?

First of all, like I wrote above, he was one of the most feared hitters of his era. Ask Jim Palmer (actually, don't ask him as he held Rice to a .219 average but he did give up the most HRs to Rice of any pitcher who faced him. So, ask him anyway! Haha), ask Ron Guidry, ask Dennis Martinez, ask Jack Morris, ask Steve Stone, ask Storm Davis, ask Rick Stutcliffe, ask Scott McGregor, ask Sparky Lyle, ask Jim Beattie, ask Doyle Alexander, ask Rollie Fingers, well, ask any pitcher from that time. I'm sure as a BBWAA member you'd be able to ask any of these pitchers, guys who actually faced Jim Rice.

Second, if Gary Carter is a Hall of Famer, than Jim Rice is a no-brainer. Carter is a career .262 hitter, 2,092 career hits, 324 HRs, 1225 RBIs in 19 seasons. His Mets defeated Rice's Red Sox in the 1986 World Series. That is the only thing Carter has over Rice. Why is Carter in the hall?
Next, let us compare Jim Rice to other players of his ERA. Jim Rice played from August 19, 1974 through August 3, 1989. In those 15 seasons, 13 full seasons, his contemporaries were players such as Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, Gary Carter, Fred Lynn, Andre Dawson, George Foster, Carlton Fisk, Don Baylor, Eddie Murray, Greg Luzinski, Robin Yount, Dale Murphy. All of these players were active for AT LEAST 12 seasons during Jim Rice's career or the Rice era.

Only 2 players hit more career HRs during the Rice era than Jim's 382. Mike Schmidt hit 529 in that span while Dave Kingman hit 383 HRs. Only Robin Yount and George Brett accumulated more than Rice's 2,452 hits with 2,602 and 2,523, respectively. Only Mike Schmidt had more RBIs, 1,540 to 1,451 during the Rice era. Jim Rice led all players in the Rice ERA in RBI's per game, as he average .69 RBIs which is slightly better than Mike Schmidt's .68 RBIs per game. His Batting Average of .298 ranked 8th in the Rice era behind Rod Carew, George Brett, Al Oliver, Bill Madlock, Paul Molitor, and Cecil Cooper. His Slugging Percentage of .502 was 3rd in the era behind only Mike Schmidt and George Brett.

For this comparison, you could conclude that Rice was the 2nd or 3rd best hitter during this era. I think, undoubtedly, Mike Schmidt is the dominate hitter of this era. You could rank Rice ahead of or behind George Brett. Aside from that, there is nobody else who compares. However, you have to take into consideration that Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, and Eddie Murray played 14, 13, and 12 of the seasons of the Rice ERA. I will concede that Reggie Jackson more than surpasses Jim Rice (although Rice did have a better career average and slugging percentage and ALMOST more career hits even though Jackson played 6 more seasons), but you CANNOT say that Dave Winfield or Eddie Murray surpass Jim Rice. The only reason they are in the Hall of Fame, is because they hit the one or both of the MAGIC NUMBERS.

Dave Winfield is a Hall of Famer. He played 22 seasons to Rice's 15. Winfield finished with a .283 batting average, 3,110 hits, 465 HRs, and 1,833 RBIs. Rice retired at age 36. Winfield's numbers at age 36 (he retired at 43) were: .287 batting average, 2,421 hits, 357 HRs, and 1,438 RBIs. Looks pretty similar, eh? Winfield never accumulated 200 hits in a season, while Rice did that 4 times. In his remaining 6 seasons, Winfield batted over .271 once (at .290) and averaged 18 HRs and 66 RBIs during that time. Not really HoF type numbers, but lasting those last 6 seasons, got him to the magic numbers. Winfield never won an MVP and placed in the Top 5 of MVP voting 3 times, but was a 12 time All-Star game selection. Jim Rice won 1 MVP and placed in the Top 5 6 times, but was only selected to 8 All-Star games.

Eddie Murray is a Hall of Famer. He played 21 seasons to Rice's 15. Murray finished with a .287 batting average, 3,255 hits, 504 HRs, and 1,917 RBIs. Murray played his first full season of 160 games at the age of 21 while Rice only got 24 games at age 21 with his first full season at 22. Rice retired at age 36. Here are Murray's numbers at 36 (he retired at 41): .290 batting average, 2,646 hits, 414 HRs, and 1,562 RBIs. Almost similar, but slightly better since that covers 16 full seasons while Rice only had 13 full seasons. In his remaining 5 seasons, Murray batted over .260 twice (.323 and .285) and averaged 18 HRs and 71 RBIs. Not really HoF type number again. However, like Winfield, Murray played long enough to reach the magice numbers of 500 HRs and 3,000 hits. Again, like Winfield, Murray never had a 200 hit season nor won an MVP. However, like Rice he finished in Top 5 MVP voting 6 times, and was selected to 8 All-Star games.

So why are Winfield and Murray Hall of Famers? You could argue that Rice was more of a feared hitter and a better hitter than both Winfield and Murray, but does that mean Winfield and Murray are only get rewarded for lasting 22 and 21 seasons? Is having a long career more important than how you performed over that career? It does seem that the combination of having a LONG career so that you can reach the MAGIC NUMBERS is the best way to guarantee yourself a plaque in Cooperstown. While injuries took their toll on Rice, forcing him to retire at 36, Winfield and Murray were able to continue playing the game at less than there full selves, but still good enough to remain useful to a team to get themselves the career numbers needed.

Personally, I think Jim Rice should be in the Hall of Fame. I think he isn't because of what I wrote above, and also the fact that offensive numbers EXPLODED during the Steroid Era (maybe Rice should have taken some roids to hang on and over come his injury issues, like Mark McGwire) dwarfing a lot of the solid numbers of the players who dominated and were feared in the late 70s and early 80s. I think it is a joke is Rice does not end up in the Hall of Fame, yet Gary Carter is in there, especially since Jim Rice was just as great a player as Dave Winfield and Eddie Murray.

I rest my case.
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In other Red Sox news, the Sox offered arbitration to Jason Varitek and Paul Byrd. You can read hear why offering arbitration to Varitek is a no-lose situation for the Red Sox. Varitek and Byrd will have until Sunday, December 7th to accept or reject arbitration. If they accept, they are guaranteed to be Red Sox again in 2009.

ESPN is reporting that the Sox have signed Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa to a "term sheet" which means only passing a physical is impeding the official announcement of a deal.

Tom Who?

Well, since the Hot Stove flame seems like it is flickering and the off-season wheeling and dealing is moving a pace slower than this guy:

I figured I'd blog about something else.

This weekend, a Patriot QB did something no the other Patriot QB had ever done. (No, I'm not talking about marrying a pregnant girlfriend.) Matt Cassel threw for over 400 yards in two consecutive games. That is also more 400 yard games in a span of 2 games than Tom Brady has thrown in his career (or so I've hard, there is no snazzy Play-Index over at Football Reference like there is a Baseball Reference.) Cassel has really done a great job filling in for Brady during this injury. The Patriots still have a great shot of another championship. The Pats currently sit a game behind the Jets in the AFL East and tied with the Colts and Ravens in the Wild Card race at 7-4. Aside from this upcoming week against the Steelers, the remaining schedule is pretty easy. It looks like the Pats can easily finish the season at 12-4 or no worse than 11-5 which should easily clinch a playoff spot. However, the Patriots are no longer the sole winter team in Boston vying for our attention.



Although it is still early in their respective seasons, both the Celtics and Bruins are the top teams in their conferences. Usually nobody pays much attention to these two teams. However, since Kevin Garnett came to town, the Celtics have returned to being the force they were from a previous era:


Not only that, but the Bruins are actually fun to watch. They play fast, the play hard, they hit hard, and they score goals. I've never been much of a Bruin follower or a hockey watcher for that matter. Usually I'd start to tune into hockey come playoff time. There are less whistles and faster pace that is funner to watch during the playoffs. However, I actually did flick the channel over the Bruins game the other night against the Canadians. They were down 1-0 at that time, but came back to win in a shoot out. I can't remember the last time I flipped to that channel.

So, at least in Boston, we have some sports to keep us occuppied during this baseball void.

Oh, and since this is a baseball themed blog specifically tailored to the Boston Red Sox, there was a bit of news today. Rob Bradford at WEEI.com is reporting that the Red Sox opened negotiations with Jason Varitek by offering him a 1-year deal. If the story is true, I don't think that is an offer that is going to get a deal done. Maybe it is only a starting point, as according to Peter Gammons it doesn't appear that the fax machine dedicated toVaritek offers at the Boras office isn't exactly ringing off the hook.

I do hope that the Sox and Tek can work out a deal, possibly a 2-yr deal with a mutual option for a 3rd year, as I can't picture him in any other uniform but Red Sox.

Good News On Tek....

He's a Type "A" Personality.

The Sox and Tek haven't come to an agreement on a contract. Who knows if they even will? However, the MLB Player Rankings have been published by the Elias Sports Bureau and Varitek has been rated as a type "A" player. This is good news, because a type "A" free agent will get their former team a supplemental round pick between the first and second rounds and a compensatory pick from the signing team.

Now, the Sox will only get these 2 draft picks if:

1) They offer Varitek salary arbitration and he declines it.
2) If Varitek signs with another team before the deadline for teams to offer salary arbitration to their free agents.

This rating makes it a virtual no-brainer that Varitek will be offered arbitration. If Varitek accepts arbitration, it means that Varitek will be a Red Sox in 2009 at the least. That basically means that the Sox and Tek have agreed to a 1 year contract and if the two sides can't agree on a salary, it will be decided by an arbitrator.

However, if he rejects arbitration, he can still sign with the Red Sox. However, they will have to come to an agreement based on the terms negotiated by the team and Tek's agent, Scott Boras. Boras has come out to say that the starting point of negotiations for Tek is a Jorge Posada's recent 4 yr, 50 something million deal. If any other team signs Tek, the Sox will get 2 draft picks, as stated above.

So the good news translates to: Red Sox will either get something for Varitek (2 draft picks) or have a chance to get him for only a 1 year deal via arbitration process. Both are good results for the Red Sox. As there is no way the Sox are going to give him a contract similar to Posada, especially when Tek would be 41 years old at the end of the deal.

Since Tek has already filed for free agency, here is the likely scenario that will happen:

1) On Nov 14, he is eligible to sign with any team in MLB (if he does, the Sox receive 2 draft picks.)
2) Red Sox will offer him salary arbitration. They have until December 1, 2008 to do so.
3) Varitek will reject salary arbitration. Tek will have until December 7, 2008 to do so.
4) Tek will sign a contract with some team other than the Red Sox, and the Sox will get 2 draft picks.

A lot of this will depend on how Boras and Tek feel the about the offers they get from other teams, if any. If Varitek decides to accept arbitration, we will know that there was not much interest from other teams in him OR he REALLY wants to stay with the Red Sox. The good thing about arbitration for Varitek, is if he does file, the worse his contract will be for is the same 10 million he was making, as the chances of him getting a larger salary in an arbitration case would seem to be not too good, especially considering his putrid offensive production this season.


A quick congratulations to Dustin Pedroia who is going to be named the winner of the AL Gold Glove Award for 2nd Basemen. It could be just the first award he may receive this off-season, as there is a chance he could win a Silver Slugger and a Bronze....errr I mean MVP award.

Hot Stove to Heat Up

Well, now that World Series has ended, and Cole Hamel and the rest of Phillies have been corroneted 2008 Champions, we not head into baseball's "off-season." However, the term "off-season" only really applies to some of the players, as this one of the busiest times of the hear for team management, agents, and a flurry of players who will file for free agency or arbitration, get traded or hear their names come up in trade talk, or get released and franticly search for an organization or team to try and cling to stay in the game.

Image: by: Otto Greule, Jr - Getty Images - 2 April 1998

The Hot Stove news is already coming out in Red Sox nation today, especially where it concerns the Red Sox two longest tenured and most respected players. It is being reported that Jason Varitek filed for free agency. Along with Alex Cora and David Ross, they were among 65 major league players who filed on the first day for eligible players. Players who are eligible have until Monday, November 3rd to file for Free Angency.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that the Red Sox plan to pick-up the option on Tim Wakefield's contract. That means Wakefield will be back with the club at a reasonable $4 million dollar contract. The Sox and Wakefield came to a unique contract agreement back in 2005 in which Wakefield is basically owned by the Red Sox via infinate options on his contract until the Sox finally decide not to pick up an option. I, obviously, don't know the full details, but that's pretty much the layman's explanation.

The first trade of the off-season was pulled off as the Kansas City Royals will get 30-HR guy Mike Jacobs from the Florida Marlins while sending reliever Leo Nunez back.

Ken Macha has been hired as the Milwaukee Brewers manager, replacing interim manager Dale Sveum. Both have ties to the Red Sox. Macha was long time minor league manager in the Red Sox minor league system before being hired by the A's a few years back. In between his two managing job, he has been serving as an analyst (and cure for insomnia) with the Sox pre and post game broadcasts on NESN. Sveum was a third base coach with the Sox back in 2004 when the Sox won their first World Series since 1918.

Finally, there has been a lot of talk, mostly on ESPN.com and ESPN radio, about how baseball should make the World Series into an 7 - 10 day long event. MLB could play the World Series on a neutral (warm weather / sunny) site (similar to the Super Bowl) and hold a litany of events (such as naming the HoF induction class, MVP / Cy Young awards, Town Meetings with GMs, etc, etc.) and hoopla. I don't think I am in favor of this, but don't think this is something that we would see any time soon. It is just being brought up because of the debacle of Game 3 and the Game 5 rain delay.

One last thing. If you are a fan of Cole Hamels, which I am becoming, then there is a pretty neat read about him. It is an interview with the current Red Sox scouting director, Jason McLeod, who was scouting Hamels back in high school. It is a good read which you can find here.

Where'd August Go?????

Wow! A month since my last post. Work and vacation can do that to you. To all my loyal readers (all zero of you, I guess), I apologize for that.

However, the Sox were busy in August. Aside from playing .667 (18-9) ball, they acquired Paul Byrd and Mark Kotsay in trades, while signing David Ross and Jason Lane to minor league deals to bolster their depth.

Despite their great August, they went from 3 games behind the Rays to 5 1/2 games behind as Tampa played an amazing .750 ball in August, winning 21 out of 28 games.

With one month left to play, the Sox will definately have their work cut out for them, to catch the Rays. A lot of "experts", are expecting the Rays to fold under the pennant race limelight. However, I do not think that will happen. The Rays have solid pitching (in both their starters and bullpen) along with a solid defense. Even if their offense does cool down, their all-round ability should be able to carry them through to the end.

The Sox and Rays are pretty much a lock for the playoffs, as I don't think the Twins or the White Sox will overtake Boston in the wildcard. That leaves just the Twins and White Sox to battle it out for the Central Division and last AL Playoff Berth.

How about Dustin Pedroia. What a month!!! .374 average, 1.060 OPS, 43 hits, 10 2Bs, 6 HRs, 20 RBIs, 5 SBs without being caught. AL Player of the Week, and likely Player of the Month. Clean up Hitter?? Who would of thunk it.

Pedroia on fire. David Ortiz is heating up. Coco Crisp is almost as hot as Pedroia. Beckett and Lowell back soon from the DL. Youkillis, Bay, Kotsay, Varitek all playing well. Going to be a wild September and October.

Go Sox!!!!