RICKEY~ and Jim Rice elected to HOF

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Andre Dawson hit .278 and slugged .483 on the road for comparison and plenty are vouching he should make the HOF.

 

Dawson also won four Gold Gloves as a center fielder, four more in right. Five of those seven players you listed made significant contributions on defense. Rice played left field in front of a short wall.

[HarleyQuinn]

Andre Dawson hit .278 and slugged .483 on the road for comparison and plenty are vouching he should make the HOF.

 

Dawson also won four Gold Gloves as a center fielder, four more in right. Five of those seven players you listed made significant contributions on defense. Rice played left field in front of a short wall.

 

Not a big fan of Range Factor but he was good in that department (2.10 vs. LA of 1.84, better by +0.26) and had a .981 fielding percentage compared to a league average of .978. Sure, the Green Monster may have made opportunities "easier" but Manny Ramirez was a below average fielder playing in front of that short wall as was Ted Williams. Yaz was a pretty good comparable to Rice and he won 7 Gold Gloves... Yaz had a 1.93 RF (vs. LA 1.58) and a fielding % of .982 vs. LA of .977.

 

Numbers are put outs, range factor, and fielding percentage.

1980: LF Ben Ogilvie (377, 2.63 and .978), LF Al Oliver (283, 2.10 and .974) vs. Jim Rice (232, 2.23 and .988)

1983: LF Dave Winfield (208, 1.69 and .972) vs. Jim Rice (339, 2.38 and .984)

1986: LF George Bell (268, 1.94 and .966) vs. Jim Rice (334, 2.24 and .978)

 

Not sure if Win Shares would support it but it looks like Rice could've had a legit case to win at least 2 Gold Gloves. Also keep in mind that Rice was often playing with fellow GG winners in Fred Lynn (Through 1980) and Dwight Evans in that same outfield so it may not have been so much lack of defensive talent so much as that was the only place to fit him in and then he stuck.