Jan 10, 2006 3:01 pm US/Eastern
Jim Rice Not Elected To Baseball's Hall Of Fame
NEW YORK (CBS4) ―
Former Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice has missed what may have been his best shot at getting into baseball's Hall of Fame.
Rice needed 75 percent of the vote to get selected this year. He got 64.8 percent. Only former relief pitcher Bruce Sutter was elected for induction this year.
Rice finished second in the voting. He fell 53 votes short.
Rice was a .298 hitter with 382 career home runs and 1,451 RBI. He won the AL MVP award in 1978 and was an 8 time all-star. In twelve seasons, from 1975-1986, Rice lead the American League in games, runs, hits, home runs, RBI, slugging, extra base hits, multi-hit games, outfield assists, and total bases. Rice's 382 homers placed him in a tie for 26th place on the career list when he retired, but he has since dropped to a tie for 51st.
Last year Rice received 59.5 percent of the vote, but his chances improved this year with a weaker class of first-time eligibles on the ballot.
This was the 12th year Rice was on the ballot.
Sutter was just the fourth relief pitcher given baseball's highest honor.
According to major league baseball's website, Sutter received 76.9 percent of the vote. His name appeared on 400 of the 520 ballots, 12 of which were returned blank.
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