Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim65
A .298 lifetime batting average. That matters to a lot of voters.
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Also, 6 Top 5 MVP finishes.
Modern analytics don't quite appreciate Rice as much as people who actually watched him play. He was a high average power hitter, who for some reason, didn't really walk very much, which hurts a lot of his non-traditional stats.
In the AL East he was either the most feared hitter in the division or Top 3, for a good 10 years.
Unfortunately, his age 33 year was pretty much his last season as a serviceable player.
Murphy and Rice have an almost identical number of career plate appearances. Rice's offensive numbers (traditional and non-traditional) are better almost all the way across the board. Not a lot better....but better.
Murphy probably the better baserunner and Outfielder. For anybody who watched him play, Rice was no slouch in Left Field either. He learned to play that wall better then most I have seen out there over the years.
Both benefited pretty equally from favorable splits in their home parks.
Most amazing thing about Rice, that never made sense to me. He led the league in triples in 1978 with 15, and had nearly as many triples from 1976 to 1978 (38), as Dale Murphy had in his entire career (39).
All that said, I'd have no problem with Murphy eventually getting in the Hall of Fame just for his run from 1980 to 1987 as one of the most dynamic players in the game.