Jim Rice hasn't exactly lit up the world since he was voted into the Hall of Fame. While this writer still thinks that vote was dubious, it is clear that Rice has strong opinions and those opinions are even more dubious. First he disses several current Yankees including Derek Jeter by telling a bunch of kids that the players in question aren't good roll models. Now he comes up with this gem. (The headline is more spurious than the actual post if you click on the link in the word, "gem.")
Let's start with the opening headline of Rice's winner: "Greinke is a Good Pitcher, Not Dominant." Let's at least give Rice's site props for capitalizing the heading, a rarity these days. But other than that, what a dumb thing to say. Not dominant? 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings, not dominant? Uh. That's a really good number for a relief pitcher. But a starter? That seems to be dominant. Batters have a .608 OPS against him. That means that on average, every batter he faces is WORSE than Yuniesky Betancourt. That sounds dominant, no? He has given up 0.5 homers per nine innings. The league average is 1.0. Sure sounds dominant.
If you turn Rice's words around, he's really dissing his own team. Greinke wasn't dominant, but the Red Sox didn't do anything with him? That must mean that the Red Sox weren't up for just a plain old good pitcher. Oops.
Rice's big point was that Greinke wasn't as dominant as Pedro Martinez or Roger Clemens. If he made the point that Greinke hasn't been as dominant for as long as those guys, that would be valid. But for this season at least, Greinke is in the ball park. Zack Greinke is as dominant as there is in the American League this season.
Proverbs 18: 1-2 says: "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." That has been corrupted to today to be: "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." The problem is that he gets paid by NESN to speak no matter what comes out of his mouth.
Rice is just another old ball player stuck in the past who believes that what he "knows" and what he "sees" is more reliable than data because, after all, he was a star player. Now with HOF cred, he is even more empowered to believe what he believes. Oh well. Knowledge is knowledge and with all the thoughtful and informed writers all over the country with knowledge at their fingertips. Those sheer numbers of educated people will surely overcome one old foo...err...player.
Showing posts with label Jim Rice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Rice. Show all posts
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Hall of Fame Moments
A while back, this blog had a little fun with Rickey Henderson and what his Hall of Fame speech might be like. The Fan is happy to say that Henderson was great. His speech was humble, touching, funny here and there and though he doesn't speak real well, spoke with an honest eloquence that seemed to hit the right notes.
The biggest surprise from Henderson's speech was his accolades for Billy Martin. All we know about Martin was the buffoonery that he and Steinbrenner reveled in. But the man had his moments as a manager and he apparently made a big impression on Henderson.
The funniest moment of Henderson's speech was him relating that he used to wait outside the Oakland ball park waiting for Reggie Jackson. But Jackson would never sign his autograph and instead, gave Henderson a pen with Jackson's name on it. Funny stuff.
Jim Rice was Jim Rice. Not nearly the player that Henderson was, Rice was also not nearly as humble. He made a point of slapping the media one last time and made it understood that they were the ones who made him wait for fifteen years.
Rice did acknowledge those who helped him along the way, but you can tell he is a proud man. And proud men don't acknowledge that any mistakes were made along the way. Proud men don't admit that his treatment of the media was unkind and disrespectful. He tried to explain it away by saying that he wouldn't answer questions about his teammates. But that gives short shrift to what was a long standing distance to those who helped sell tickets for the team.
The Fan is at peace with Rice's enshrinement. It's hard to put his career into perspective with the way the game is played today. Certainly, those who claim he was the most feared hitter in baseball were a bit bloated in those opinions. But he was fairly dominant for a decade and he's in, so we'll leave it there.
Joe Gordan's daughter's speech was touching. It's hard to feel much about a player who died so long ago and who played in the 1940s. But her speech made this writer glad for her and her family that her dad was recognized.
It is difficult to acknowledge Tony Kubek for his award. The Fan has said it before and will say it one last time: It is hard to accept such an award from a guy who walked away from the game after one of the early labor disputes. Sure, the game was in trouble. Sure, it was upsetting to have work stoppages. But walk away? And never come back? And then accept an award for the Hall of Fame as a broadcaster? No, it doesn't ring right and it seemed others were much more deserving.
The Fan was a bit tweaked by Rice when he acknowledged Henderson and Gordan but made a point of Kubek and others getting a different honor. No, Mr. Rice, it's the same honor. They are in the Hall of Fame now. The same Hall of Fame as you. Get over yourself.
One last comment about the day. Well, maybe two. The Hall of Fame is special because it is a collection of the best of baseball over the years. We are all a part of this game that we love and the Hall of Fame celebrates and honors those that played the best, wrote the best, managed the best and was the best in the front office. It celebrates the people we were honored enough to watch over the years. This writer has to admit being a bit choked up over the Henderson induction and speech. The guy was a big part of the Fan's baseball past. Not always loved, but always respected and appreciated. And that's what the Hall of Fame is for the Fan: an appreciation of the past and how much fun it was to watch it unfold.
And as a post script: Can't they find a sculpture for those plaques that can at least make the players on the plaque look a little like the actual players? If you showed the biggest die hard baseball fan twenty plaques and covered up the names, the Fan bets that the die hard wouldn't be able to identify 75% of them. They are that bad. Terrible.
Congrats, Henderson, Rice, Gordan, Kubek. Thanks for the memories.
The biggest surprise from Henderson's speech was his accolades for Billy Martin. All we know about Martin was the buffoonery that he and Steinbrenner reveled in. But the man had his moments as a manager and he apparently made a big impression on Henderson.
The funniest moment of Henderson's speech was him relating that he used to wait outside the Oakland ball park waiting for Reggie Jackson. But Jackson would never sign his autograph and instead, gave Henderson a pen with Jackson's name on it. Funny stuff.
Jim Rice was Jim Rice. Not nearly the player that Henderson was, Rice was also not nearly as humble. He made a point of slapping the media one last time and made it understood that they were the ones who made him wait for fifteen years.
Rice did acknowledge those who helped him along the way, but you can tell he is a proud man. And proud men don't acknowledge that any mistakes were made along the way. Proud men don't admit that his treatment of the media was unkind and disrespectful. He tried to explain it away by saying that he wouldn't answer questions about his teammates. But that gives short shrift to what was a long standing distance to those who helped sell tickets for the team.
The Fan is at peace with Rice's enshrinement. It's hard to put his career into perspective with the way the game is played today. Certainly, those who claim he was the most feared hitter in baseball were a bit bloated in those opinions. But he was fairly dominant for a decade and he's in, so we'll leave it there.
Joe Gordan's daughter's speech was touching. It's hard to feel much about a player who died so long ago and who played in the 1940s. But her speech made this writer glad for her and her family that her dad was recognized.
It is difficult to acknowledge Tony Kubek for his award. The Fan has said it before and will say it one last time: It is hard to accept such an award from a guy who walked away from the game after one of the early labor disputes. Sure, the game was in trouble. Sure, it was upsetting to have work stoppages. But walk away? And never come back? And then accept an award for the Hall of Fame as a broadcaster? No, it doesn't ring right and it seemed others were much more deserving.
The Fan was a bit tweaked by Rice when he acknowledged Henderson and Gordan but made a point of Kubek and others getting a different honor. No, Mr. Rice, it's the same honor. They are in the Hall of Fame now. The same Hall of Fame as you. Get over yourself.
One last comment about the day. Well, maybe two. The Hall of Fame is special because it is a collection of the best of baseball over the years. We are all a part of this game that we love and the Hall of Fame celebrates and honors those that played the best, wrote the best, managed the best and was the best in the front office. It celebrates the people we were honored enough to watch over the years. This writer has to admit being a bit choked up over the Henderson induction and speech. The guy was a big part of the Fan's baseball past. Not always loved, but always respected and appreciated. And that's what the Hall of Fame is for the Fan: an appreciation of the past and how much fun it was to watch it unfold.
And as a post script: Can't they find a sculpture for those plaques that can at least make the players on the plaque look a little like the actual players? If you showed the biggest die hard baseball fan twenty plaques and covered up the names, the Fan bets that the die hard wouldn't be able to identify 75% of them. They are that bad. Terrible.
Congrats, Henderson, Rice, Gordan, Kubek. Thanks for the memories.
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