Rice is Nice; Raines is Nicer

Our friend Jay Jaffe makes a compelling HOF case for Rock Raines over Jim Rice, though, to be fair, it's not an either/or situation.

Comments

[Mike YF]

Hard to argue that difference.

As I've thought about it, at the true beginning of the television age, have any of these guys (Raines, Rice, Dawson, Parker, Murphy) had iconic moments?

Where was Rice, for instance, during the 78 playoff or during the 86 run?

Dawson sorta gets a pass playing in Montreal and Chicago, but still. And Murphy only got one series in Atlanta. Parker had plenty of chances but just didn't produce when other Pirates did (compare for instance with Stargell).

Here are their playoff numbers, by the way:

Raines: 34 games - .270 .340 .349
Parker: 30 games - .234 .287 .360
Rice: 18 games - .225 .313 .366
Dawson: 15 games - .186 .238 .237
Murphy: 3 games - .273 .273 .273

Of course, Rice got hurt right before the 75 run and his reputation and the organization's history may have been different otherwise (though his "clutch" stats leave that uncertain).

Raines may still benefit from his role with the Yankees. But even then he never had a good or great series.

I wonder how much the lack of these iconic moments affects their HOF chances. I know when I think of any of these guys, none jump out at me.