[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 122 (Thursday, August 6, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S8984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE JAMES EDWARD RICE

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, today I ask the Senate to join me in 
recognizing James Edward Rice on the occasion of his induction into the 
National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2009. Mr. Rice is a superior 
athlete who has made his home State of South Carolina very proud.
  Mr. Rice was elected in this, his 15th and final year on the Baseball 
Writers Association of America, BBWAA, election ballot, with 76.4 
percent of the vote. He becomes the third player in Hall of Fame 
history to be elected by the BBWAA in his final year of eligibility, 
and he is certainly deserving of this honor.
  Jim Rice spent his entire 16-year big league career playing with the 
Boston Red Sox. Fenway Park was his second home, and he certainly gave 
the Red Sox organization and fans plenty to cheer about. Mr. Rice 
played his first game for the club in late 1974, and his career took 
off shortly thereafter. In 1975 he ended the season as runner-up for 
Rookie of the Year, second to his own teammate Fred Lynn. After 
overcoming injuries, Mr. Rice finally settled in and was selected as 
the American League Most Valuable Player, MVP, in 1978, and throughout 
the rest of his career he finished in the top five of the MVP selection 
five other times.
  An Anderson, SC, native, Mr. Rice, or ``Ed'' as he was known growing 
up, found himself in a challenging time of social change. After the 
public schools were integrated shortly before his senior year of high 
school, he was sent into a new environment where, according to 
Alexander Edelman with the Baseball Biography Project, his ``engaging 
personality and gentle charm won over most . . . and helped ease the 
racial tension that accompanied integration.'' He quickly made quite an 
impact in the athletic arena as a member of the football, basketball, 
and baseball teams. He was an all-State kick returner, defensive back, 
and wide receiver. But it was his prowess on the baseball diamond that 
caught the most attention, and he was drafted in the first round of the 
amateur entry draft at only 18 years old.
  Mr. Rice was an incredible asset to the Boston Red Sox, but perhaps 
his most memorable moment with the team had nothing to do with his 
abilities on the field. On August 7, 1982 Jonathan Keane, a 4-year-old 
boy attending his first game in Fenway Park, was sitting along the 
first base line when he was struck in the head with a line drive foul 
ball. Alarmed that no one was reacting quickly enough, Jim Rice leapt 
from the dugout and into the stands. Instinctively he picked up the 
unconscious boy and, cradling him, ran straight to the clubhouse where 
the trainer and ambulance were waiting. Tom Keane, Jonathan's father 
who was with him that day, recalled the event and noted, ``In times 
like that, you really see the quality of the character of the people 
involved. Jim Rice is a really humble guy. He doesn't want to take 
credit for doing anything out of the ordinary . . . I think that's an 
understatement of what he did that day. He may very well have saved my 
son's life.''
  Jim Rice played his final game with the Boston Red Sox on August 3, 
1989, but returned to the organization from 1995 through 2000 as a 
hitting coach. On November 1, 1995 he was inducted into the Red Sox 
Hall of Fame in its inaugural class. His plaque can be viewed at Fenway 
Park along with two of his Silver Slugger awards. In 1999, Sports 
Illustrated honored him as the ninth best athlete of the 20th Century 
to come out of South Carolina. And in 2001 he was inducted into the Ted 
Williams Hitters Hall of Fame.
  Mr. Rice and his wife Corine now reside in Andover, MA, where they 
have raised their two daughters Carissa and Chancey. And though he is 
not permanently in South Carolina, his presence is still felt in 
Anderson through a community center named in his honor, the Jim Ed Rice 
Center.
  I ask that the Senate join me in honoring him for his impressive 
athletic career and newest honor as an inductee into the National 
Baseball Hall of Fame.

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