Jim Rice does not belong in the Hall of Fame any more than his teammate Dwight Evans.

Jim Rice's supporters bludgeoned everybody into electing him by claiming that he was being shunned because he was an asshole and mean to reporters. The implication was that if Rice was white and mean to reporters, he'd be considered curmudgeonly "old-school" and not an asshole.

He only won AL Player of the Month four times. He only was in the top 10 in bWAR twice, and is barely in the top 200 in OPS+ around such luminaries as Kent Hrbek, Moises Alou, and Shin-Soo Choo. He had a lot of outfield assists because he played at Fenway.

That being said, Mike Cameron doesn't belong in the HOF either. If you had to say which guy belonged more, Rice or Cameron... I'd have to go with Rice because Cameron played way more meaningless games.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Evans does not belong either. Totally agree.

I bet you Dan doesn't give a shit about Purim.

Ridiculous. This is where SABRmetrixs falls down. Only someone who is comparing numbers on paper could make this argument. If you actually live through Rice and paid attention you could never say this. Any pitcher who was going through thst line up was worried about one guy and it wasn't Dewey Evans.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I did live through it. If Rice is a HOF, then so is Edgar Martinez. Martinez 1994-2001 absolutely obliterates Rice's peak. Even adjusting for era.

_________________
"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I lived it and saw it and neither should be in the HOF. I am older than you dude. Bet on it.

Yeah, but you're a dope.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I wasn't born when Jim Rice was in his prime. I do remember the tail end of his career.

I'll be the judge.

I'm gonna analyze his stats

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/riceji01.shtml

I'll let you know if he's a HOFer.

Give me a few minutes...

The answer is no. NOT A HOFer.

He's about as good as Konerko for his career. Konerko isn't a HOFer either.

3 great years like Bernstein said. Then pretty much 12 decent years. His final year he sucked. Plus he sucked at defense according to Bernstein. I'll take his word since I don't know.

How about Kirby Puckett? You think he was better than Rice?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Ridiculous again. Konerko was never as impactful as Rice.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/puckeki01.shtml

Only 12 years for Puckett. But yeah, I think he's slightly better than Rice.

I also give Puckett credit for 2 World Series victories. Rice didn't have any. Some don't think that matters. I think it puts you over the top if you're borderline. But that's just me. Especially if you have more than one.

I think Puckett and Rice are both HoFers.

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You know me like that.

Fat bad and blind.

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Elections have consequences.

Puckett was a fat fuck media fave no HOF.

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Elections have consequences.

Looks like Puckett has the 54th best career batting average in history. There's a handful of guys with better BAs that aren't in the Hall but I've never heard of any of them. They probably played in the 1870s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_career_batting_average_leaders

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You know me like that.

Yes. You are the king of dumb knowledge. Shit dude get a clue about what you were watching in your non fat non bald days and get back with me.

Yes.

Fat fuck limp arm charity case.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Wrong.

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Elections have consequences.

Not on the numbers though. My issue with both is short careers.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Did Puckett steal your girl from you or something?

A lot of hate for the guy

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Way better than Jimmy Rice though.

No. Not at all.

Puckett was a career .318 avg. Rice was a career .298.

But their OBP was close. .360 for Puckett. .352 for Rice.

Rice had the better OPS. .854 to .837

They're close. But Puckett had a 7 year run in his prime that was better than Rice's prime.

Wrong. Can't sniff Raines' jock.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Hi era sucked.

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Elections have consequences.

You are wrong again. Just admit it and go away for the evening. Short careers? Holy fuck dude pick a better angle.

Best he shouldn't.

There's probably cocaine in it.

_________________
You know me like that.

Puckett gets the benefit of the doubt because he was still playing at a high level his last two years, even though he had moved to RF. It's not difficult to envision him to be able to DH the five years he would have needed to get his last 700 hits.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal