Ranking the Left Fielders Joe DiMaggio once said that it “wasn’t possible to describe just how great Stan Musial was.” Musial was “The Man” in St. Louis, leading the Cardinals to pennants in four of his first five seasons, winning three Most Valuable Player awards and seven batting titles. He ranks at the…
Jim Rice Positions: Leftfielder and Designated HitterBats: Right • Throws: Right6-2, 200lb (188cm, 90kg)Born: March 8, 1953 in Anderson, SCHigh School: T. L. Hanna HS (Anderson, SC)Debut: August 19, 1974 (13,545th in major league history)vs. CHW 2 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SBLast Game: August 3, 1989vs. CLE 3 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SBHall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 2009….
Hall of Famer Wade Boggs became the tenth Red Sox player to have his number retired by the team. The third baseman’s number 26 joins 1 (Bobby Doerr), 4 (Joe Cronin), 6 (Johnny Pesky), 8 (Carl Yastrzemski), 9 (Ted Williams), 14 (Jim Rice), 27 (Carlton Fisk), 45 (Pedro Martinez), and 42 (Jackie Robinson) on Fenway’s historic right field facade.
The Hall of Fame announces a change in voting rules, as players will now be able to stay on the BBWAA ballot for a maximum of 10 and not 15 years, as long as they meet the minimum 5% threshold. The move is designed to prevent the ballot from becoming overly crowded because of players tainted by steroids staying on the ballot for years on end with no realistic chance of election, but drawing votes away from more legitimate candidates. However, a number of inductees with an untainted record have had to wait over 10 years for election in recent years, such as Jim Rice, Bert Blyleven or Andre Dawson, making it likely that the rule change will have the effect of also squeezing out some worthy candidates.
Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice and Joe Gordon are inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Cooperstown, NY. Gordon is the first player to be voted in by the Veterans Committee since its rules were reformulated following the controversial election of Bill Mazeroski in 2001.
Ninety-seven years after his grandfather, Boston mayor John ‘Honey Fitz’ Fitzgerald, threw out the first pitch at the first major league game played at Fenway Park, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy also tosses the ceremonial first pitch for the Red Sox at a season opener. The sell-out crowd enthusiastically cheers the 77 year-old long-time Massachusetts law maker, who was diagnosed last spring with a malignant brain tumor, when he tosses the ball from in front of the mound to a nearby Jim Rice, a newly elected member of the Hall of Fame.
2009 – Rickey Henderson, the all-time major league leader in stolen bases, runs and leadoff home runs, is elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot; at the time of his retirement, Henderson also held the all-time walk record. Also elected is Jim Rice, the third player to go in on the 15th and final ballot (after Ralph Kiner and Red Ruffing); Rice’s long-time teammate Fred Lynn says stats should be discarded in pushing his case.
Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter is elected to the Hall of Fame. With 75% of the votes cast by BBWAA members needed for election. Sutter receives 76.9%, slugger Jim Rice is second with 64.8%, followed by reliever Goose Gossage at 64.6%. Sutter, who is credited with perfecting the split-fingered fastball, which is a pitch many major leaguers use in some form today, joins Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley as the only relief pitchers in Cooperstown. In a special election, seventeen Negro Leagues figures are also elected: Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz Mackey, Effa Manley, Jose Mendez, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, Louis Santop, Mule Suttles, Ben Taylor, Cristóbal Torriente, Sol White, J.L. Wilkinson, and Jud Wilson. Manley is the first woman ever elected to the Hall, and the 18 inductees are the largest class in the Hall’s history.
2005 – Wade Boggs, a five-time batting champion, and Ryne Sandberg, a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner at second base, are elected to the Hall of Fame. Boggs becomes the 41st player elected to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, while receiving 474 of the record number of 516 votes cast (92%). Sandberg receives 393 votes, six more that the needed number. Relief pitchers Bruce Sutter (66.7%) and Goose Gossage (55%), and outfielders Jim Rice (59.5%) and Andre Dawson (52%), are the only other players to be named on at least half of the ballots cast. All four will be voted in over the next five years.
2004 – Boston Red Sox catcher and team leader Jason Varitek agrees to a four-year deal to stay in Boston. Joining Mike Menosky, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice, Varitek is also named captain of the team.