It’s time for the baseball Hall of Fame debates to begin. From now until the results are announced, FanIQ will be taking a look at this year’s major candidates. Up next: Jim Rice.

Jim Rice was a standby of the Boston Red Sox in the 1980s. Rice spent sixteen seasons in the big league, all with the Red Sox. This is his fourteenth year on the ballot. His career stats can be found here.

Pros For Induction

As every writer who votes for Rice seems to say, he was “the most feared hitter of his time.” Specifically, they’re talking about the period from 1975-1986. Whether this is actually true (more on that later), this is the number one thing Rice supports point to.

Rice was certainly recognized as one of the best players in the league. He was the 1978 MVP, and he finished in the top five on five other occasions. Rice led the league in slugging twice, OPS once, total bases four times, homers three times, and RBIs twice.

Despite a fairly short career, Rice finished with 2452 hits and 382 homers, both respectable totals. With the steroid controversy, those numbers look better in the eyes of many.

 
Cons Against Induction

Rice was helped out by Fenway Park. A lot. His career home/road splits tell the story.

Home: 1048 G, .320/.374/.546, 208 HR, 802 RBI, .920 OPS

Road:  1041 G, .277/.330/.459, 174 HR, 649 RBI, .789 OPS

Rice was two different players in and outside of Fenway. In Fenway, he was great. Outside of it, he was merely a bit above average.

In theory, “most feared hitter” should equal the best hitter, or close to it. From 1977-1979, this was true. After that though, Rice finished in top five in OPS just once in 1983. 1983 was also the only other year he finished top five in homers, total bases, and slugging. While Rice was good during the other seven seasons he was “most feared,” those four years were the only seasons where he was truly at the top.

Again, if Rice was the “most feared hitter,” wouldn’t he have been intentionally walked a lot? In his career, the most times Rice was intentionally walked in a season was ten. Rice only ranked in the top ten three times.

Rice’s career ended very quickly. In 1986, Rice slugged .490. The next three years, he slugged .408, .406, and .344. After that, it was over.

There was another offensive category that Rice frequently finished at the top of the league: grounds into double plays. Rice led in GIDP’s four years in a row, and finished in the top five four other times.

The Verdict

Jim Rice was very good from 1975-1986. However, only during four of those years was Rice among the top hitters in baseball, and part of that was a function of his home park. When the crux of his Hall of Fame argument is how he was the “most feared” for over a decade, that’s a problem. In addition, he was a corner outfielder will little defensive value.

This article shows why in the end I say no on Rice. It shows that Rice was very similar, if not a little worse than…his teammate Dwight Evans. Evans lasted three years on the ballot. If Evans isn’t a Hall of Famer, how is Rice one?

Will He Get In?

He’s got a decent chance. Rice was named on 63.5% of the ballots last year. As Dan Shaughnessy points out, things seem to be aligning for Rice’s election this year, especially in regards to the steroid controversy. It’s not a guarantee, but Rice could very well be elected.

Now it’s your turn. Discuss Rice’s candidacy in the comments, and be sure to vote in both his individual poll and Seth’s poll encompassing the entire ballot.