Rice a hero in a big way (via ESPN)

Absolutely worth a watch:

Jim Rice being inducted on Sunday.

After waiting fifteen years to do so, he finally gets to shine. I may be in the minority here, and I will avoid that for entirely now, but it is always good to see a Red Sox player inducted. And it isn’t like it happens every year…

Why Dwight Evans was better than Jim Rice.

So Dwight Evans reached base 37% of the time over 1500 more plate appearances than Jim Rice. Rice reached base at a clip of .352.

Evans clearly was more valuable in that regard. And although Rice flashed a little more power, it didn’t exceed what Evans did. Maybe it was close because of the extra power that Rice possessed, but it does not surpass whatsoever. And if anything, one could give the nod to Evans offensively, as he did more for the overall good of the offense. Saw more pitches, got on base more, helped get into the bullpen quicker. Or, he at least did his share to get into that bullpen quicker.

American League Central Preview.

Victor Martinez should get back on track upon returning from injury. Martinez may not be a great catcher, but he actually has value outside of the batters box, unlike Hafner. I expect good things out of Martinez this season, maybe not great things, but good. Shoppach will handle some of the duties behind the plate as well, which will help Victor stay rested.
If Carlos Santana can make his way up to the big leagues this season, Victor could basically stay at first, and Shoppach could be moved for another piece, since they will need something, somewhere, eventually…

The battle between what we see visually and numerically

JD Drew is a lifetime .284 hitter. If Drew only “drew” 30 walks a season then his offensive contributions would diminish greatly. What he “lacks” in batting average, Drew more than makes up for in reaching base via the walk…and of course he hits for power too.

But JD Drew has been an on base machine over his career. People’s beliefs on how walks impact the game of baseball may vary. But can anyone argue that a .392 career on base percentage, isn’t really, really good? That is how often Drew has reached base in his career.

2009 Hall of Fame: Rice, Rickey make the cut!

Update: Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice have both received the amount of votes needed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Congrats to both former BoSox!

The 2009 Hall of Fame announced the results of its voting today at 1:30pm. Use this post to speculate on the voting leading up to its announcement, and commenting on the results from that point out. The 23 players on this year’s ballot are the lowest number ever, with only 13 players returning from last year’s ballot, also a record low. As you are probably aware, it is the last year on the ballot for Jim Rice to be elected from the Baseball Writers Association of America. The induction ceremonies will be on July 26th, 2009 in Cooperstown, NY.

We all know about Jim Rice, but how many of the 23 candidates for the 2009 Hall of Fame class spent part of their careers with the Boston organization? The answer might surprise you. Check the names and career statistics after the jump!

Checking in with Rob Neyer

Rob Neyer was gracious enough to answer a few questions for Fire Brand of the American League. Check out his answers below, as he seems to agree with Peter Gammons in an earlier Fire Brand interview that David Ortiz is not done, and he stands by his contention that Jim Rice is not a Hall of Famer. After hearing his thoughts on these two subjects, I offer up my own rebuttals.

Ryne’s Ramblings: Special Saturday Edition

Check out Ryne’s Ramblings, a collection of random thoughts put together while killing time before killing deer. From Jim Rice to Jennifer Aniston, get the 411 on current events in the Red Sox Nation. And I promise, I even kept the political propaganda to a minimum this time!

Pesky

If are you like me, you are a fan of the Boston Red Sox. You are a fan of the storied history of a franchise, a fan of the last [...]

Pesky

If are you like me, you are a fan of the Boston Red Sox. You are a fan of the storied history of a franchise, a fan of the last [...]