Jim Rice to receive long overdue induction into Baseball Hall of Fame

Jim Rice is headed to Cooperstown. After falling short the past 14 years, Rice was selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America in his 15th and final year of eligibility. The former Red Sox slugger and current NESN on-air personality gained 412 votes (seven above the minimum number needed) and was named on 76.4 percent of the ballots, enough to meet the 75 percent requirement.

Rice, who spent his entire career in a Red Sox uniform from 1974-1989, will join Rickey Henderson at the induction ceremony this summer. Henderson was named on 94.8 percent of the ballots and received 511 votes.

When Ian Browne, who is MLB.com Boston Red Sox beat writer, made his case for Rice's induction last month, he wrote:

Rice hit .300 in seven seasons and he finished in the top five in the AL MVP voting six times. Also, Rice hit 39-plus homers four times, the most of anyone who played during his time period.

Rice, who hit for average and power, and to all fields, was a dominant slugger. Clearly, the thing that has held Rice back thus far in his quest for Cooperstown is the longevity stats. The home runs are just shy of 400. The hits (2,452) are a few seasons short of 3,000. And, oh, the batting average. If only Rice hadn't taken a free fall in his final three seasons, that .298 career average would have been well over .300.

But what means more? Longevity or dominance?

When Rice was at his best - from 1975-86 - he mashed the opposition with pure strength and hitting technique.

During those golden years, Rice led all AL players in games, at-bats, runs, hits, homers, RBIs, slugging percentage, total bases, extra-base hits, go-ahead RBIs, multi-hit games and outfield assists."

Rice was a dominant player in his generation, and that deserves Hall of Fame recognition. Now that Goose Gossage earned induction in the Hall of Fame last year, and Rice will enter the Hall this summer, it is time for Andre Dawson (who was named on 67 percent of the ballots) and Bert Blyleven (who was named on 62.7 of the ballots) to be voted in.

Though some baseball writers take their voting privileges seriously, others don't. For example, Jay Bell was named on two ballots, and Jesse Orosco was named on one. Those same writers will probably place Kevin Appier and Mike Jackson on their ballots next year.