Jim Rice

[Mike P]

Larry--I'm a little older than you. Boston didn't love Russell. He had a hell of a time finding a home. Read his books sometime. The Celts couldn't sell out a home playoff 7th game in his day, when the Celts were the first NBA team to field an all-black starting 5. After he retired, he only came back to the Garden on a few occasions, as a favor to Red. If Boston loved Reggie Smith so much, why was management so eager to trade him for peanuts? There were some ugly rumors of an affair with a white player's wife (many speculated that it was Yastremski's, although they were just rumors) and they couldn't ship him out of town fast enough. People loved George Scott the way they loved Stepin Fetchit or Jack Benny's Rochester. He was an amiable southern black who, in the parlance of his time, "knew his place" and wasn't "uppity" like Reggie Smith.

Tiant came around later. He had two things going for him--he was Cuban, and he also had more of Scott's personality than Smith's or Rice's. And Rice wasn't as beloved as you might think, even with the fans. I used to go to Fenway in the late 1970s and some of what I heard shouted when he'd hit into one of his signature 6-4-3 DPs was horrible.

[vineyardblues]

I remember busing Peter.....Jim Rice was beloved in this town regardless! Not to mention what does busing have to do with the sportswriters votes???

Larry, black people were not treated fair back in the 70's ,they had a very hard time in Boston. From kid's in school to pro ball players.
JIm took it to heart and pissed off more then a few people. It was huge, The owners, the sports writers.
He was way ahead of his time The sad part is in sports it's still
a white city , just in the last few years things have changed for the better ...................................

[BigFish]

Trust me I know the history of African Americans and sports in Boston...and busing. My point was people hated Russell before busing even happened.....I do not agree that busing or race had anything to do with Rice not getting elected.....like I said....what does it have to do with the nations sportswriters and their votes???

[vineyardblues]

He has now appeared on 14 of the possible 15 BBWAA annual ballots, and Rice's current delay in being elected to the Hall of Fame stems in part from more current statistical analysis of player performance. This analysis shows that Rice's HOF credentials may be more questionable than they were considered during his career.[15] The delay may also be related to his often difficult relationship with the media during his playing career, many of whom are still voting members of the BBWAA.


A clip and past from Wikipedia..............

VB

[vineyardblues]

He pissed more then a few people off................
VB

The delay may also be related to his often difficult relationship with the media during his playing career, many of whom are still voting members of the BBWAA

[Squid kids Dad]

Gotta agree with Mike P

[BigFish]

But what does the vote of the nations sportswriters who vote for those to be inducted have to do with A. Race and B. Busing???

[BigFish]

I am gonna bet that most of those who ever dealt with Rice during his career are long since retired! Also gonna go out on a limb and say a good percentage of the sportswriters who vote never saw Rice Play!

[vineyardblues]

Again............... This was wrote TODAY .. not from me

The delay may also be related to his often difficult relationship with the media during his playing career, many of whom are still voting members of the BBWAA