During his chat on boston.com yesterday, The Gammons revealed that he didn’t expect Jim Rice to make it into baseball’s Hall of Fame in this, his next-to-last year of eligibility:
I don’t think so. I voted for him, but it’s been interesting that there have been people like Rob Neyer who are so obsessed with degrading Rice’s career. The fact that he retired as early as he did clearly has cost him because of the 382 home runs. But for him to be in the top 5 in MVP balloting 6 times in 12 years, to me, speaks more about his career than the fact that his career OPS is the same as Ellis Burks.
Of course, when it comes to The Hall of Guys Who Wear Totally Awesome Ties, Professor Rice is clearly a shoo-in.
A far more pertinent tidbit came later in the chat, when Gammons finally laid to rest any notions that he’s into Hall & Oates:
soxkrazy__Guest_: Peter, please tell me you’re a Hall & Oates fan.
Peter_Gammons: I can’t say I’m a big Hall and Oates fan.
Clearly, this had to be a plant, right? A card-carrying member of the Hall & Oates fanclub, with express orders to inject the “Hall & Oates” brand name into the conversation by any means necessary. And, clearly, The Gammons saw through the cheap plug. Take that, you “Maneater”-singin’ bastards.
In other news, The Emancipator has been emancipated; Matt Clement is off to the Cardinals. Godspeed, Mr. Lincoln.
