Rice on MLB network

[Brooklyn]

Anyone see the interview with Rice on MLB after the news came in?

I was a little taken back by his entitlement attitude. Would have been nice if he talked about how much of an honor it was, rather then basically saying it was about time.

[philliesfiend55]

Anyone see the interview with Rice on MLB after the news came in?

I was a little taken back by his entitlement attitude. Would have been nice if he talked about how much of an honor it was, rather then basically saying it was about time.

Jim Rice probably should have gotten into the HOF within the first five years of his eligibility, especially if you compare him strictly with his 1970s and
1980s contemporaries. His relationship with the writers, something that should have no bearing on his electability, definitely cost him support, but his on-field accomplishments scream "Hall Of Famer". So I won't quibble with him for his "It's about Time" attitude. In the plus column for Rice, in his initial statement after being elected, he said he never held anything against the writers that didn't vote for him. It seems like he had a quiet confidence that he would get in eventually.

If you want to see an example of a prideful player who had an air of entitlement look no farther than Rice's fellow '09 electee, Rickey Henderson. Henderson practically began the trend of superstars referring to themselves in the third person.
In a recent show on The History Channel entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins", they showed footage of Henderson pulling the base he stole to break Lou Brock's career basestealing record out of the dirt and dubbing himself "The Greatest (BaseStealer) Of All-Time" as a prime illustration of the Deadly Sin of "Pride". Henderson was right of course. He'd broken the career record while he was still just a little bit past the mid-point of his career. Henderson would go on to steal 1407 bases, which is 1.5 more bases than any other player who has ever played the game and Henderson is not likely to be challenged as #1 anytime soon. Brock at 938 steals is still in second place nearly two decades after Henderson topped him.
Henderson still has never been a Shrinking Violet, while Rice's "entitlement" may stem from defending his record for the last 15 years and insisting that his stats are as good as most people that were ever elected by the Writers.
In fact it would have been a shame if Rice was not elected this year and his candidacy had to slip to the "backdoor to the Hall Of Fame", the Veterans Committee, for consideration in 2011.

-philliesfiend55- (Dennis Orlandini)

[jjpm74]

In fact it would have been a shame if Rice was not elected this year and his candidacy had to slip to the "backdoor to the Hall Of Fame", the Veterans Committee, for consideration in 2011.

-philliesfiend55- (Dennis Orlandini)

That would have been the kiss of death given that the VC can't even manage to get Ron Santo elected.

[Mike90]

Jim Rice probably should have gotten into the HOF within the first five years of his eligibility, especially if you compare him strictly with his 1970s and 1980s contemporaries. His relationship with the writers, something that should have no bearing on his electability, definitely cost him support, but his on-field accomplishments scream "Hall Of Famer". So I won't quibble with him for his "It's about Time" attitude. In the plus column for Rice, in his initial statement after being elected, he said he never held anything against the writers that didn't vote for him. It seems like he had a quiet confidence that he would get in eventually.
'
What he hit at Fenway does at least whisper "Hall of Famer," but everything he did away from Fenway is short of Hall standards.