#Shortstops: Rice fed Red Sox’s fans dreams
Six weeks after making his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox, on Oct. 1, 1974, Jim Rice hit his first major league home run.
Batting out of the No. 5 hole as Boston’s designated hitter, Rice helped the Red Sox defeat the Cleveland Indians 7-4. The following year, Rice took on the role of the team's starting left fielder. Nicknamed the “Gold Dust Twins,” Rice and teammate Fred Lynn would compete for the American League Rookie of the Year Award with two of the greatest freshman seasons in history.
Rice hit 22 home runs for the season, leading the Red Sox, and posted a .309 batting average while Lynn had 21 home runs and a .331 batting average. The duo helped lead the Red Sox to a World Series appearance. Unfortunately, Rice’s season was cut short when he was hit by a pitch and broke his hand, forcing him to watch the playoffs from the bench. Following the injury, his performance fell off in 1976, but by 1977 he had bounced back and led the league in total bases, home runs and slugging average.
The 1978 season, however, would become known as Rice’s best. On Aug. 13, 1978, he followed in the footsteps of legendary Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams as the first Red Sox player to total 20 home runs, 20 doubles, and 10 triples in consecutive seasons. It was a milestone season for Rice as he led the league in hits (213), home runs (46) and RBIs (139). The season also marked the first year an American League player collected over 400 total bases since Joe DiMaggio in 1937 (Rice had 406, the most in the MLB). Rice was voted the American League MVP this season.
Throughout the rest of his career, Rice continued to produce at an All-Star level while dealing with various injuries. In 1984, Rice hit another personal milestone: He hit his 300th career home run. He crushed his 25th home run of the season just a week later on Sept. 9, marking his 301st career homer. The Louisville Slugger bat Rice used to hit his 301st home run is now part of the Museum’s collection.
This marked the sixth season where Rice managed at least 25 homers. The only Red Sox player to have more 25-homer seasons than Rice at the time of his retirement was Ted Williams with 14.
Before retiring in 1989, he would tally 382 career total home runs. Upon his 2,000th hit in 1986, Rice revealed he was not keen on keeping track of statistics. In an interview with Joe Giulotti of the Boston Herald, Rice said: “I’m not a stat person…I guess it means I’m a good hitter. But I don’t think about that. I just think about trying to get hits and help us win games.”
Rice’s last year in the majors was 1989 and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2009. He joined three previously elected Hall of Famers who spent their entire careers with the Boston Red Sox: Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Bobby Doerr.
Larry Lucchino, then CEO and President of the Red Sox said of Rice: “Our fans have known for a long time that Jim Rice, one of the greatest offensive baseball players in recent history, belongs in the Hall of Fame.”
Delaney Colson was a 2023 education intern in the Hall of Fame’s Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Youth Leadership Development
