I think Jim Rice might have been inducted into the hall of fame today. He was the big star of the Red Sox when I was a kid. You would see him constantly in between innings in cheesy ads, I think for Fenway Franks.
When I was about 14 I was sitting in the bleachers before the game during batting practice. No one was there except for me and these girls who were perhaps a little older than me. Jim Rice came up to the bleachers. He had been in the field taking balls. I think he tossed in a ball for the girls. He told one girl who was wearing this funky hat that he would give her a ball if she would take the hat off. She became really upset at Rice, refusing to take the hat off. Rice threw up a ball anyways and ran off.
It took me many years to realize that Rice was just kidding around with the girl with the funky hat. I thought he was a real asshole at the time but if he was he would not have thrown her the ball, even though she refused to take her hat off.
Excluding the opposing team, Rice used to be the only black guy not only on the field but in Fenway Park. I think that blacks were probably scared shitless to be in Fenway, and I don’t blame them. Boston is not as bad as it used to be. But Boston was one mean city for blacks.
I think Rice would have been vastly more popular and celebrated had he not been black. Looking back at Rice I see him as a very professional athlete and of course a very dangerous slugger. I’m glad he got into the hall of fame, finally.
