I probably don't need to tell you all that I'm upset that Jim Rice is getting into the Hall of Fame. You probably already know that. The fact that he's ever been considered a serious candidate makes me laugh, then bang my head against my keyboard, then laugh some more.
Having seen that he got 76.4% of the ballot today, I threw up a little bit in my mouth. So thanks for that. But why do I hate Rice so much? Do I remember his pricky attitude? Nope. Am I bias against Boston players? Not particularly. I hate them, but that's never stopped me from being objective about their value. Kevin Youkilis was awesome this year and should have won the MVP, and Dustin Pedroia is the new Derek Jeter. See?
So what's my problem with Rice, then? Simple. Look at these stats.
At Fenway: .320/.374/.546 (OPS+ 116, ), 208 HR, 207 2B
Everywhere else: .277/.330/.459 (OPS+ 85), 174 HR, 166 2B.
The man's batting average falls by 43 points away from Fenway, which reflects almost exactly in his OBP, then comes the bombshell. Almost a 100 point drop-off in slugging percentage.
At Fenway, Jim Rice was a beast. In every other ballpark in baseball, he was David fucking Dellucci!!!
On top of that, he ranks 6th in GIDPs, which is the highest he ranks in ANY OFFENSIVE STATISTIC for his career.
For his career, as an outfielder/DH, he finished up with 382 homers and 373 doubles, and a career OPS+ of 128 (which is skewered, because as you saw, his Fenway OPS+ as it relates to how well EVERYBODY hits there, is only 116).
Compare that to say... Andre Dawson, who hit 438 homers and 503 doubles, but gets held out because of his .279/.323/.482, and the fact that he played foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Point is, Dawson is borderline. Rice is borderline. You can't let borderline guys like this into the hall... because they're the criteria that we judge other players by.
If a guy has considerably better numbers than Rice, he probably deserves to go in. Now... Rice is in... so technically speaking, a guy with the same exact numbers, in an offensive haven should get in. Dawson should go. Hell, while we're at it, why don't we let Don Mattingly in there!!!
Sure, he really only had 6 good years, and finished with only 222 homers, but come onnnnn!! He's Donnie Baseball!! And he actually hit like 70 more doubles than Jim Rice, and bounced into like 500 less double plays!! And his OPS+ of 127 is only a point worse than Rice's 128! Cut the guy some slack! He declined sharply and retired at 34!!
Just to clarify, I'm not seriously suggesting that Don Mattingly be allowed into the Hall of Fame without a ticket. I'm just explaining the damage that bullshit like this does. This is the kind of typical, obvious Boston-bias that's turning people against the game of baseball. It's ESPN-driven hype at it's finest. And if not, then it's proof that the election system is seriously flawed and some real criteria needs to be added by which players are judged.
Because most of these voters are plainly retarded.
Case in point. The guy who doesn't think Rickey Henderson is a Hall of Famer.
In case it needs stating, here's Henderson's Hall resume:
.279/.401/.419 (OPS+ 127), 297 HR, 510 2B, 3055 H, 1406 SB, 1406 RBI and 2190 BB
Jesus fucking Christ... even Rickey's close to Rice's home run total.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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You're the man mr6. I'm pretty sure the fans could do a better job of voting people into the hall at this point, and that's sad. We should petition to call it the "Hall of Pretty Good" (I think FJM came up with that once, so credit to them if so)
ReplyDeleteI really think there needs to be a set of criteria in addition to the voting process. The problem is that, I guess, there's really no clean-cut way to say that a player meets any "criteria."
ReplyDeletePhil Rizzuto wouldn't ever have met any kind of statistical criteria, but I can't argue his place in the Hall. The combination of personality, team play, and amazing defense, and all the rings get him in.
I just don't see what Rice did that makes him stick. I can't find one thing. People cite that he was such a feared hitter... then where are the intentional walks? Rice's stats are closer to Mike Greenwell than Yazz.
Thanks for the feedback, glad you're in agreeal with me.