The Goose Has Landed!

[snoopy369]

Rickey has the only modern era sports record in any sport i've played on computer/playstation that I can't beat ... that should count for something in my book

[Imran Siddiqui]

Please, Rickey will easily get in on the 1st ballot, regardless of who's voting him in. Put it this way, Pedro Martinez probably has less of a shot at getting in on the 1st ballot than Rickey does (99.9% to 99.8%, granted) .

[Arrian]

Rickey will have no problem. That Raines, a lesser but still excellent player, got only 25% of the vote is really odd - especially considering how many sportswriters claim to pine for the days of "small ball" - which is precisely what Raines was so good at. They also can't claim he wasn't a "winner" because he's got rings.

Rice is wildly overrated. But hell, there are NYY fans who think Mattingly should go to the HoF (they're wrong too). The propoganda from Boston about Rice is a little sad, really. I cringle when fellow Yanks fans argue for Mattingly. I know there are Sox fans who feel the same way about the Rice campaign.

-Arrian

[snoopy369]

Raines

[-Jrabbit]

In their heyday, I always though Fred Lynn was a better overall player than Rice.

[Imran Siddiqui]

If you compare:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/riceji01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/lynnfr01.shtml

You'll note that while Rice is a bit more consistant, Lynn had a better OPS+ during his career (he didn't get to play with the cozy dimensions of Fenway his entire career... look at Rice's road/home splits).

Lynn was also a far better defensive OF (look at the range factors compared to the league average).

I think Lynn deserves more consideration (though neither deserve to get in), but doesn't because he didn't play his entire career in Boston and thus the Boston press aren't self-fellating themselves over him.

[-Jrabbit]

Yeah, Lynn was a far better defensive player, ran better, had better discipline at the plate. Rice beat him in power, but that was about it.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Well, with regards to Lynn, yes he was a good player, but its not just that Boston fans would rather jackoff to Rice's picture than his. Last time I checked, not ALL the sport writers are from Boston.

If you look, you'll see that he never received a single vote for HoF induction from any writer ever. Which means that after his career was said and done (which ended the year after Rice's), his overall contribution to the game was not good enough to warrant a single vote. Even Albert Bell had 40 votes one year.

So, why is Rice consistently getting 200-350 votes while Lynn, who you say is more deserving, has never gotten one?

[Imran Siddiqui]

So, why is Rice consistently getting 200-350 votes while Lynn, who you say is more deserving, has never gotten one?

Because the BBWAA is a bunch of morons. Just look at the numbers and add in Lynn's better defense and baserunning ability.

Last time I checked, not ALL the sport writers are from Boston.

Because the Boston press keeps pushing him up, putting him back in the public eye, getting him more attention and more votes.

It's the same with the NY press and Don Mattingly. Mattingly doesn't come CLOSE to belonging! But he gets some votes because the NY media likes to push him sometimes. He was basically a less talented Will Clark, who got hurt a lot. Yet he gets more play than Clark.

[snoopy369]

Will Clark

I have his rookie card around somewhere I think... his and Mark Grace's.

[Arrian]

So, why is Rice consistently getting 200-350 votes while Lynn, who you say is more deserving, has never gotten one?

Because a group of sportswriters have the perception of Rice as "the most feared hitter of his time!!111!!!" (which isn't borne out by the facts) and, for reasons unclear to me, don't think anything of Lynn. There are a number of possibilities as to why, but it would be pure speculation on my part. Not nice to media? Not as many RBIs (the holy grail stat for HoF voters)? Lower peak value (less than, say, Rice's 1978 season)? I don't know.

HoF voters are a bunch of guys who, for the most part, go with their gut and distain any sort of reasoned analysis. They are far, far, far more likely to buy into an argument about Rice being a "feared hitter" than they are one based around, you know, facts.

-Arrian

[-Jrabbit]

So it boils down to: Chicks dig the long ball.

[Arrian]

Basically, except in this context "chicks" are 50 year old sportswriters.

-Arrian

[snoopy369]

I'd trust most chicks I know more so than many of these sportswriters...

[rah]

Yes, we should take female sportswriters out back and lynch them.