RINGOLSBY: Rice vs. Ruth is apples vs. oranges

RINGOLSBY: Rice vs. Ruth is apples vs. oranges

Amid the debate over Jim Rice’s Hall of Fame candidacy came a missive from a New England fan who wanted it known that “Jim Rice’s offensive stats for his first 10 years in the Majors were better than Babe Ruth’s.”
Times change.
So do the value of stats. Be careful of such traps.
Just like the value of the dollar, the value of a stat must be adjusted to the era in which it is compiled.
Rice had an impressive career, but did he have a better first decade than Ruth?

rockymountainnews.com
1/15/09