What’s kind of interesting to think about in terms of the 1975 World Series (which I haven’t finished yet…game 6 is just to long to have started last night) is the piece of the 1975 Red Sox that was missing for the play-offs. Jim Rice broke his hand when hit by a pitch the week before the play-offs began. Though the Sox still had the Rookie of the Year in Fred Lynn in the outfield, when they moved Yaz to 1st in Cincy, that left some less then stellar out fielders to cover a lot of territory at Riverfront Stadium.  Guys that hadn’t played on artificial turf before, let alone in the World Series. Rice wouldn’t get another chance at a World Series until 1986, very late in his career.

So here is the case for Jim Rice and the Hall of Fame.  Rice was second in ROY voting to Fred Lynn in 1975, and 3rd in MVP voting which Lynn also won. He won MVP in 1978, and was in the top 5 in voting in ‘77, ‘79, ‘83, and ‘86, which gives you an idea he was in the top of the league for most of that era.

Career Stats:

Rice: 16 seasons, .298 BA, 2452 hits, 382 HR’s, 1451 RBI’s, 1249 runs

Sure, his numbers aren’t amazing. But here is where we need to look to understand the era. He was first in total bases 4 times, and in home runs 3.  Here are a couple of comparables in the Hall.

Orlando Cepeda: 17 seasons, .297 BA, 2351 hits, 379 HR’s, 1365 RBI’s, 1131 Runs  also 142 SB’s 

Cepeda also won ROY ad was MVP in 1967.  He also was in the top 5 of MVP voting 1 other time.  Cepeda though only led the league in an offensive category in 1961, in both HR’s and RBI’s.  Different era, different league I know.

So, let’s look at Billy Williams who is a little more recent. 

Williams: 18 seasons, .290 BA, 2711 hits, 426 HR’s, 1475 RBI’s, 1410 Runs.

Williams was ROY in 1961 and was second in MVP voting twice, never winning it, most likely because he played for a bad team.  Williams led the league in total bases 3 times, hits and runs once (1970), batting avg and slugging in 1972.  Williams is clearly the superior player, so I am going to give you one more.  One where defense doesn’t come into play. Again a NL’er. 

Willie Stargell: 21 seasons, .282 BA, 2232  hits, 475 HR’s, 1540 RBI’s, 1195 runs.

MVP in 1979, top 5 in voting 3 other times.  Sure, Stargell was a power hitter, more so then Rice, and he played 5 more seasons which accounts for some of those numbers. Stargell’s strike out to walk ratio is actually lower then Rice’s even though he is a power hitter. Stargell also ended up being a team leader something Rice can’t say.

This one is as tough as the Concepcion one for me to really call. Rice played in a tiny ballpark his entire career, as did Billy Williams, yet Williams made more use of that.  Cepeda ad Stargell played in big stadiums, and Cepeda’s defense was top-notch.  Clearly, Rice should never have been considered on the first ballot, but perhaps, his numbers do warrant consideration.  Never having seen Rice play, its tough to discuss his defense, since numbers that represent such things take into account range, etc.  At first, going into this I thought Rice would get my vote, but really, there are too many of those “this number should have been better than” comparisons.  I am glad he wasn’t on the field in 1975, however.