Hall of Fame

Jim Ed is in! Along with Rickey Henderson. As a New Englander, the first is a terrible thrill - who didn't love Jim Rice growing up? And a kind of relief - that generation of Red Sox players was wasted. Some scattered abroad - Carlton Fisk, Fred Lynn, Cecil Cooper - a lot of them burning out, fading before their time - Lynn, Rice (who was done by 35 or so), the Eck, as a starter anyway, burning out young... Those teams should have been a dynasty, but organizational incompetence stranded them. Another of the many reasons people like me are so amazingly grateful for how things are going now - the organization is not going to waste its talent playing poor mouth - thank god! Anyway - Rice was a force of nature when he was on - it is good to see him get his due.

As for Rickey - between Willie Mays and Barry Bonds, there was no one better. (Only Schmidt and Morgan were close.) Far and away the best player of the 80s.... Mays is the best position player ever, Bonds top 5 - Rickey may not be in that company, but he's not far off. And absolutely as much fun to watch as anyone....