The World of Baseball

When you talk about different eras of Major League Baseball, there are players you cannot forget. The Boston Red Sox have had great hitters in their franchise history. Left field has been filled with stars like Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. Another great left fielder who played for the Sox is Jim Rice. Rice played his entire career in Boston (1974-1989).

Rice made his big league debut in 1974. In his first full season in 1975, he finished 2nd to his teammate Fred Lynn in the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year voting. Rice became one of the feared sluggers in Major League Baseball over the next decade.

Rice had his best season in 1978. He led the AL in hits (213), home runs (46), runs batted in (139), slugging percentage (.600), and on-base plus slugging percentage (.970). Rice also led the AL in total bases (406). He won the AL MVP in 1978.

Rice finished in the top 5 of MVP voting six times (1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1986). He led the AL in home runs three times (1977, 1978, 1983), runs batted in twice (1978, 1983), slugging percentage twice (1977, 1978), and on-base plus slugging once (1978). Rice also led the AL in total bases four times (1977, 1978, 1979, 1983).

It took Jim Rice a very long time to get enough votes to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He had a complicated relationship with the media. Rice was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. I would have loved to have seen Rice in his prime.