Mind Who You Trust, Jim

You will find no greater supporter of Jim Rice's induction into the Hall of Fame than me. Of all the arguments in his favor that have appeared on the Internet in recent years, I honestly think the majority of them have originated with me. Obviously, I would love to see him get elected, and I would dearly love it if he would break his usual silence on the subject.

That said, I don't think Jim did himself much good with his comments in today's column by The Asshole Dan Shaughnessy (hereafter to be known just as "TADS" in this space).

Look, Jim, I know you were a dominant player, and, personally, I put more weight on being dominant for a shorter period than being merely very good for a longer time. I know what you were trying to get at in your points about Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn. But, I'm sorry, you weren't better than them. You just weren't. Were you a more dominant hitter for twelve years? Certainly over Ripken, and maybe over Gwynn. But they weren't exactly slouches. The gap between you and them offensively, if it exists at all, isn't that big. It certainly isn't big enough to make up for the fact that each of them played longer than you and each of them was an outstanding defensive player.

Now, I suspect that much of your commentary was directed and then spun by TADS, not someone you should trust under any circumstances to represent your best interests. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you were prodded into commenting on the recent election and hadn't planned your argument in advance. But please, if you ever do this again, think before you speak.

And, for God's sake, pick someone else to tell your story for you.