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Henderson, Rice well deserving of MLB Hall of Fame honors
Both Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice, inducted today into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame were richly deserving of the honor. They have the reputation, the stats, and the applause of all true baseball fans to deserve their place with baseball's greatest.
Henderson, sometimes booed and misunderstood by fans who interpreted his aggressive confidence as arrogance, is the all-time leader in so many offensive categories it would have been outrageous had he not made Cooperstown. He holds the all-time record for most stolen bases in a season (130) and a career (1,406). He also leads for career runs scored (2,295) and for the number of times leading off a game with a home run (81). And you thought he was just a flashy base stealer, didn't you?
Rice, he of the famously grim hitter's glare at the plate, was just awesome with a bat. An Associated Press news story regarding his Hall of Fame induction quotes Rice as saying: "Believe me, I wasn't paid to walk. I was paid to try to do some damage." And that's just what he did in a career that included driving in 100 or more runs in a season eight times, batting over .300 seven times, and topping 200 hits four times. He is still the only player in MLB history with at least 35 home runs and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79). Boston fans will long remember and cheer for Jim Rice.