And then - while his lie lingered in the air like a John Wasdin hanging curveball - Clemens was gone. Just like Otter, Boone, and other Delta members at the end of the student court scene in "Animal House" ("We're not going to sit here and listen to you bad-mouth the United States of America!").
We speak of this today because the 2008 Cooperstown class was announced yesterday and reliever Rich Gossage was the only candidate who received the required 75 percent of votes needed for induction. Jim Rice, as you no doubt know by now, came in second with 72.2 percent.
This means Jim Ed will spend another year in hardball purgatory, waiting for the call. Next year will be his 15th and final year on the ballot, and we expect he'll be elected along with first-time candidate Rickey Henderson. Of course, some of us (especially me) thought Rice would make the cut this year.
It's been a long, slow climb for Rice (he got 30 percent of the votes when he first appeared on the ballot in 1995), and this year's vote appeared to be his best chance because there were no new candidates to overwhelm the electorate. Last year when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn sailed in on their first attempt, Gossage and Rice had the most votes among those who came up short. We knew Gossage's and Rice's totals would improve this year because there were no slam-dunks on the new ballot. Rice also figured to attract more votes in the wake of the Mitchell Report.
Rice hit for power in a day when power numbers were legit. He was the dominant slugger of his time, a man capable of inducing an intentional walk when the bases were loaded. He amassed more than 400 total bases when he was MVP in 1978. He hit 35 homers with 200 hits in three straight seasons. He was more feared that Tony Perez, who is in the Hall of Fame.
