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Since I was thinking Hall of Fame, Jim Rice doesn't deserve to be in. If I were picking a team from the era, I'd take Dale Murphy over him any day. Murphy didn't play with the same caliber players as Rice, to be producing as many runs; but Murphy has all those Gold Glove in center field, with that power. Back to back MVP's. He also played every game, no DHing when he was too hung over to take the field.



No. You are missing a key perspective in the case of these 2 players.

From 1975 thru 1986, Jim Ed (Rice) was probably the American League's, if not ALL of MLB's, Dominant Offensive force....Rice literally impacted the way the opposition played and pitched against the entire red Sox team during that time period. And this is something the Hall Of fame voters seriously consider when looking at an individual player: They typically want or need to see a 10 year period where the guy was one of the best, if not THE best player year in and year out. 10 years is the minimum...

No One combined Power, Average and Run Production BETTER than Jim Rice during that period, no one. Not even Mike Schmidt, and certainly not Dale Murphy. Murphy was indeed a great fielder with a HUGE arm, and that is worth something, but not since Brooks Robinson has a player gotten into the Hall primarily for his defensive skills. Murphy actually had several seasons where he was a 30-30 (HR - Steals) member, so he DWARFED Rice in terms of speed, but big deal....Murphy was NOT a speed demon by any stretch. Murphy just wasnt the DOMINATING force that Rice was for so long a period.
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