Waiter, Take Back The Steamed Rice

After 15 years, Hall of Fame voters finally decided to send Jim Rice to Cooperstown in his final year on the ballot. He received 76. 4 percent of the vote while Hall of Fame shoo-in Rickey Henderson received 94.8 percent on his first ballot.

It is perplexing that voters would ultimately decide to enshrine Rice on his 15th try. Why now and not before? What changed voters minds? The answer is three fold. First, fans and voters must consider the era a player plays in. Rice's numbers are not staggering based on our criteria for today, but, in his day, he was one of the elite power hitters. Second, Rice should thank the steroid bums because their embellished numbers make his real but less daunting numbers look even better. Third, Rice should bow before former Red Sox public relations director Dick Bresciani because he made it his mission to convince the local New England media to vote him in after many probably shunned Rice on their ballot because of his "ill" treatment of the local media during his career.

Looking over Rice's numbers I'm still not sure whether or not he belongs in Cooperstown. Honestly, the case could be made either way. These articles help illustrate the pros and cons, but, ultimately, Rice was an elite of the elite type of player for maybe five years, definitely not his entire career.

Therefore, voters have a problem. There is no Hall for the not quite elite but still better than most type of players. The line has to be drawn somewhere. I only ask that it is drawn straight. If you believe that the Hall should be home only to the elite of the elite then only a handful of players deserve to be there, such as players the caliber of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Ted Williams. That's fine and if you vote this way it is understandable why you would leave Rice out.

But it is wrong for voters who are not so elitist to vote in players like Jim Rice and then leave out the likes of Andre Dawson and other similar not elite but better than the rest type of players. If voters drew a check next to Rice's name then those same voters should do the same for players like Dawson, Tim Raines, Dale Murphy, Bert Blyleven, and Jack Morris.

These players may eventually have their day, but for now congratulations Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson.