Is Jim Rice a Hall of Famer? One yes vote

December 21, 8:02 PMMLB ExaminerTony DeMarco

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The fact that Jim Rice is down to his 15th and final chance to get elected to baseball's Hall of Fame tells you there are a lot of doubters out there.

He is, in fact, the quintessential borderline candidate -- not one of the 'elite of the elite', but certainly a dominant force in his era. 

But Rice's vote totals have been on a directly upward path of late, and after falling only 16 votes short of the required 408 in last year's voting that resulted in the long-overdue election of Rich 'Goose' Gossage, the feeling is Rice will get in on this last try.

How can a player go from a 30% approval rating in his first ballot appearance all the way up to knocking on the door in year 15? After all, Rice hasn't banged one off the Monster since 1989.

A couple of things have been at work:

Rice has been the benefactor of an intense lobbying campaign by longtime Red Sox front-office executive Dick Bresciani. Nothing wrong with that; we all know where Bresciani is coming from. And one important item in Bresciani's numbers is that Rice led the American League with 382 homers and 1,451 RBI during his 16-year career.

Which brings us to the second dynamic aiding Rice's cause. His numbers are known to be legit -- and while not eye-popping, have gained in stature with the revelations of the steroids era -- the same revelations that are keeping Mark McGwire's vote totals in the 25-percent approval range.

Still, the Rice debate rages -- the sides of which are ardently presented here by longtime BBWAA members and voters Tracy Ringolsby and Steve Buckley.

This voter has flip-flopped, I assume following the same pattern as many others who have come around to Rice's side over the years. And for the final time, I filled in the box beside Rice's name on this year's ballot, feeling this set of accomplishments should be enough:

.298 career batting average; one MVP award; five top-five MVP finishes; eight All-Star teams; four AL total bases titles; three AL home-run titles; two AL RBI titles; seven .300 seasons; four 200-hit seasons; eight 100-RBI seasons; the most total bases in a season (406 in 1978) since Stan Musial in 1948; one of only 30 players with 350-plus homers and a .290-plus batting average; and the only player in history with three consecutive seasons of 35-plus homers and 200-plus hits.

 NOTE: This is the first in a series on the top Hall candidates leading up to the Jan. 12  voting announcement. Next up: Bert Blyleven.