Henderson, Rice get Hall passes

From MLB.com:

Rickey Henderson, widely considered the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Monday on his first ballot with 94.8 percent of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

The all-time steals leader will be joined in Cooperstown by Jim Rice, who was in his final year of eligibility.

Rice (76.4 percent), who fell 16 votes short in 2008, cleared the 75 percent threshhold required for election to the HOF by earning 412 votes, seven over the 405 (of 539) needed.

Rice is one of those polarizing figures for those who argue endlessly about who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and who doesn't. So there will be plenty of people bitching and moaning this week about how his numbers weren't good enough, regardless of whether he was a "feared" hitter. I say why not for Rice but what do I know ... I think Andre Dawson definitely deserves to be elected as well. The Hawk finished third in voting, by the way, with 67 percent (75 percent is required). And I think Lee Smith should probably be in there, too, for his 478 career saves.

By the way, former Reds Ron Gant and Greg Vaughn failed to receive a vote, so they're both off the ballot (along with Mark Grace ... another ouch for a former Cub). And Dave Parker got 81 votes - 15 percent - which means he'll be back on the ballot and up for consideration next year.