Jim Rice Biography

Fast Facts

• Was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009
• Was part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Red Sox Hall of Fame
• Sports Illustrated ranked him as South Carolina's ninth best athlete of the 20th century in 1999
• After mandated integration forced his city's district board to redraw the lines that determined who would go to what school, he transferred from Westside High School to T․L․ Hanna High School, where he became co-class president
• Played football, basketball and baseball while he was in high school
• Was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the 1971 amateur draft, the 15th pick overall
• Made his MLB debut in 1974 at the age of 21 in a game versus the White Sox
• Considered one of the most dangerous power hitters of his generation, he spent his entire MLB career with one team
• Best known as a left fielder for the Boston Red Sox
• His childhood hero was George Webster, an alumnus of Westside High School and an American Football League star
• Teamed up with fellow rookie Fred Lynn to form the "Gold Dust Twins," which went down in history as one of baseball's most productive rookie tandems