Jim Rice
| Birthdate | 3/8/1953 |
| Death Date | |
| Debut Year | 1974 |
| Year of Induction | 2009 |
| Teams | Red Sox |
| Positions | Designated Hitter, Left Field |
Jim Rice batted .300+ seven times, had 100+ RBI eight times, at least 200 hits four times, and finished with 20 or more homers eleven times.
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In the collection:
In his final minor league season, Jim Rice hit .337 with 25 homers & 93 RBI in 117 games
In his final minor league season, Jim Rice hit .337 with 25 homers & 93 RBI in 117 games
Jim Rice starting playing professional baseball as an 18-year old in the New York-Penn League. His four seasons in the bushes were all productive. In 1974 at Triple-A Pawtucket, Rice was unstoppable. In 117 games he hit .337 with 25 homers and 93 RBI.
His outstanding play forced the Sox to call him up to the big club on August 19th. Shown here is the official document Boston filed to recall Rice to the big leagues.
Rice played well enough in his 24-game stint to remain in the big leagues. In 1975 he slammed 22 homers and drove in 102 runs while hitting .309. He finished second to Fred Lynn in Rookie of the Year balloting and third in the MVP race behind Lynn and John Mayberry.
A prolific run producer, Rice drove in 100+ runs 8 times, including a career high 139 in his MVP season of 1978. That year the Boston slugger paced the AL in hits, triples, homers, RBI, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases.
By topping the 400 mark in total bases in ’78, Rice joined an elite club. Less than 20 men claim membership, fewer than half are right-handed. Among others, the list includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Rogers Hornsby, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds.
Rice is the only man to reach the threshold from 1948 when Musial amassed 429 total bases until 1997 when Larry Walker tallied 409.
From 1977-1986, Rice made 8 All Star teams. During that time he led the AL in total bases four times, homers three times, and RBI twice.
The two-time Silver Slugger spent all of his 16 big league seasons in Beantown. When he retired, Rice’s stats included a .298 lifetime average, and a .502 slugging percentage. He belted 382 homers and drove in 1,451 runs.
Under the terms of this contract, Rice earned one cent per ball sold at souvenir stands
Under the terms of this contract, Rice earned one cent per ball sold at souvenir stands
For years in souvenir stands at MLB stadiums offered baseballs with stamped signatures of the home team. In the collection is a contract signed by Jim Rice agreeing to have his autograph appear on those balls.
The terms of the contract? Rice received one cent per ball sold. Not exactly ideal terms for a future Hall of Famer.
Don’t fret for Rice. According to Baseball Reference, Rice earned over $14 million in Red Sox salary during his career.
In 1983 Rice led the American League in homers, runs batted in, and total bases
In 1983 Rice led the American League in homers, runs batted in, and total bases
Jim Rice enjoyed quite a productive season in 1983. His 39 homers, and 344 total bases led the American League. He finished as the AL’s co-leader in RBI with Cecil Cooper at 126. The Boston slugger’s performance netted him the first of two consecutive Silver Slugger Awards.
Shown here is Topps’ 1983 RBI leader baseball card. It’s autographed by NL leader Dale Murphy, and the AL’s Cooper and Rice.
Though Rice gained induction into the Hall of Fame in 2009, two-time MVP Murphy and Brewers great Cooper remain on the outside looking in. Murphy’s 46.5 WAR is just behind Rice’s 47.7 Mark. Murphy and Cooper finished with identical OPS+ marks of 121. All three men retired with 2,000+ hits, 1,000+ runs scored and 1,000+ RBI.
Jim Rice made 8 All Star teams from 1977-1986
Jim Rice made 8 All Star teams from 1977-1986
Jim Rice sustained excellence for much of his career. From 1977-1986 he hit .305 and averaged 30 homers and 109 RBI. During that span he made 8 All Star teams.
Despite his great production, Rice had to wait for his plaque in Cooperstown. The baseball writers elected him in his 15th and final year on their ballot.
In the collection is this Red Sox check made out to Rice on August 20, 1982.
Back of Red Sox check endorsed by Jim Rice
Back of Red Sox check endorsed by Jim Rice
This image is of the back of the Boston payroll check. Rice has endorsed it signing his legal name “James”.
Eleven times he hit 20 or more homers and eight times he posted seasons of 100 or more runs batted in. The year the check was issued, Rice slammed 24 homers to go with his 97 runs batted in. He received votes in Most Valuable Player balloting for the fifth season. During his career, he was named on the MVP ballot 8 times.
jim rice should of been in the hall of fame on the 2nd ballot ! his dominance was known for at least 11 years !
Real baller!!!
Jim Rice was one of the most under-appreciated All-Stars in the history of professional Baseball! He played the game with the Class it deserves, and gave everything he had to win for the BoSox…
Writers were shitcakes! Vindictive jerkoffs. Jim Ed thumbed his nose at them. Undeniable HOF’er!
A very noble person. When asked about using a strategy of letting good pitches go by to get the pitch count high, he said, “If I get a good pitch, I’m swinging at it. I don’t believe in letting good pitches go by to raise the pitch count. If I want to get a pitcher out of a game, I’ll do it by swinging at those good pitches and driving in runs.” When asked about bat-flipping and fist-pumping being unwritten rules, he said, “If you hit a home run and want to flip your bat, do it! If you strike a guy out and want to pump your fist, do it! We have all been conditioned to believe that these things are bad things to do. Just celebrate and let others celebrate. We waste so much time being offended in life.” and when asked why it took 15 years to get into the Hall of Fame, he said, “It took me 15 years to get into the Hall of Fame, because sportswriters didn’t like me, because when they interviewed me, I wouldn’t build myself up and I wouldn’t break my teammates down. In other words, I didn’t give them anything to write about. I just didn’t feel like it was right to do those things.”
Great to finally meet you at LL Bean inPeabody Friday night. I waited years to meet you. We have the same birthday 3/8/53
Big Jim said that; “If reporters wanted to talk about how he himself did in a particular game, good or bad, that was fine” but, he wouldn’t sell out his teammates to the media, and that’s about as noble as you get.