On the blog today, my final outfielder for my American League team
of the decade of the 1970s, and I went with Boston's Jim Rice:
It
was such a close race for my third and final spot in the A.L. outfield
between three teammates: Rice, Fred Lynn and Carl Yastrzemski, but for
me Rice was at the head of the pack.
I'm STILL amazed with Rice's run from 1977 through 1979! Even
though he only pulled in one M.V.P., he was an absolute terror at the
plate.
Over 200 hits each year, along with 39, 46 and 39 homers, as well as averaging 124 runs batted in and a .320 average.
Then you notice that the dude hit 15, 15 and 6 TRIPLES those years, leading the league in homers AND triples in 1978.
I mean, that is just plain RAKING at the plate!
Man, Rice used to terrify me as a young Yankee fan. He was just
plain brutal to opposing pitchers, and it was a shame that he had to
wait so long to get elected into Cooperstown.
By the time Rice was done in the Big Leagues, he'd finish with
2400+ hits, 382 homers, 1451 runs batted in and a .298 lifetime
average.
Five times would he finish in the running for Most Valuable Player besides the year he took it home.
Absolute STUD!
