Making a Case for Jim Rice and Tommy John

The Baseball Hall of Fame voting is coming up soon, and I feel that there are two people in their last chance to get in who deserve to be in. These two players are Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox and Tommy John of many teams.

Rice had a career batting average of .298, had 382 home runs, drove in 1,451 runs, and had 2,452 hits. These are not GREAT numbers, but they are very good, and the Hall isn't just about numbers.

He was a feared player for the Red Sox when he was playing, and won the AL MVP award in 1978, and finished in the top five of voting six times, including the time he won. He was an active member in the Boston city as well, which I believe should count for something.

Rice was also an eight time all-star, and that was before fans voted for them. This meant that you actually had to be good to be an all-star. Rice was a feared player, and a very good player, and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Tommy John has 288 wins in his career, only 12 short of the benchmark that automatically puts you in. He, however, is more remembered for being the first major league pitcher to have elbow ligament replacement surgery.

He was the pitcher who changed baseball. Just imagine baseball without Tommy John surgey now.

Pitchers like Mariano Rivera, Paul Byrd, Ryan Dempster, Tom Gordon, Tim Hudson, Francisco Liariano, and others would not be playing. John changed baseball, and should be in the hall because he still has a major part of baseball today, not to mention he has the most wins of any pitcher not in the Hall.

John and Rice will more than likely not get in this year, and therefore, ever. This will be more of a disgrace than Pete Rose not able to get in, but that's another story.

There is no reason for these two players not to be in the Hall of Fame, and it's time voters looked at more than just numbers to get players into the Hall of Fame. I only hope that players like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire do not get in as long as Rice and John are not in.

Baseball is making a huge mistake not electing Jim Rice and Tommy John into the Hall of Fame.