There is certainly something about left field at Fenway Park that offers not only a left-handed hitters plaything, but a defensive advantage to the home team. The Green Monster has made as many men look stupid as it has hero. And now, the half-century worth of three consecutive left fielders who came into the park and came into our baseball lives are part of the greatest honor baseball can bestow upon its mortals.
Teddy to Yaz to Rice. Like a relay race baton, the Hall called and three consecutive left fielders answered (barely in the case of Rice).
The deal is done. Rice is now a Hall of Fame baseball player. One of the elite. One of the chosen. On paper, his numbers didn’t reflect the same honor as Williams or DiMaggio, but to watch him play and to see the opponents motion to him and stand up in the dugout to watch him hit was intagibly beautiful for the Red Sox fan.
I personally would not have thought he would make it. There’s a chance others like him on that perennial bubble never will. We may be coming to the final years of the veteran voting pool. The guys who relied only on a deadline, a pad, a pen, a typewriter and their eyes.
There is a lot to be said about Jim Rice, but don’t ask him. He won’t tell you. He’s the guy who wouldn’t say anything; even to his teammates on many occasssions.
What I’ll say is this: Jim Ed Rice is a Hall of Famer. And Red Sox Nation is proud to support the designation. Congratulations, man.
