I watched more Red Sox than I would have ever wanted to but being the only Yankee fan in work with a virtual armada of BoSox people, I needed to know my stuff in order not to be overwhelmed and Jim Rice helped my Yankees and many other American League fans out of more jams with strikeouts and grounding into immeasurable double plays when the game was one the line. But if the Red Sox were cruising and winning big, Jim would often put up some big numbers. Likewise, when the Sox were getting blown out, big numbers! There are exceptions to every rule but I'd much prefer him up to say someone who really got very little recognition with the bat like Dewey Evans. After Evans settled in to the Red Sox lineup (two or three years in) he became a pretty tough out and much more dangerous than Jim Rice would ever be, at least on a REGULAR basis. Obviously there were other guys in the lineup that I dreaded with men in scoring position but Jim Rice was my vote to help extinguish most Red Sox rallies. I loved him because he was a cat in the clutch and he helped out my Yankees big time. The few times that he hurt us was in small contrast to the times he bailed us out and I know this to be true. The only reason he is in the Hall of Fame is because baseball writers never took the time to find out where he got his numbers, in meaningless situations, at least the vast amount of the time. Are there exceptions, sure, even Bucky Dent had his moment, as most Red Sox fans will remember! Ha, ha, ha! The famous '78 collapse, though I will concede that that might have been the best Red Sox team that didn't make the playoffs ever.
