Red Sox great Jim Rice has finally been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Our opinions regarding this matter have been made clear numerous times, but suffice it to say this reward is most deserved considering Rice was one of the league's most dominant hitters of his era over a 10 to 12 year stretch. The fact that it took all 15 years (and it nearly came to a vote from the Veterans Committee had he missed out again this year) is laughable. From MLB.com:

A .298 career hitter with 382 home runs, 2,452 hits and 1,451 RBIs in 16 seasons, all with the Red Sox, Rice had four seasons of more than 200 hits, led the American League in home runs three times, RBIs twice, once in hits, twice in slugging percentage, was the AL Most Valuable Player in 1978 and was an eight-time All-Star.

Sounds like a Hall of Famer to me. Like or dislike the man, you have to respect what Rice accomplished in his career with Boston and admit that he deserves this as much as the next guy whose plaque is in the gallery at Cooperstown.