[Mondogarage]

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Mondo,
There is a lot of subjectivity in the HOF based on what makes someone a HOFer. You can argue Rice should be a HOFer very easily, but assuming you don't punish McGwire for steroids (which you can do) it is very difficult to argue that Rice> Raines or Mac.

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Actually, I do punish Mac for steroids. Sorta. (Not trying to turn this into a steroids thread, and obv, he never tested positive for steroids.) I do think you have to take a negative inference from his complete lack of forthrightness in his Senate testimony. I also put a bit less weight on HRs during the post strike era generally, but only to the extent of comparing those players to players of '68-'94.

I accept that arguing Rice > Raines is very difficult when trying to make that argument to someone who can't appreciate Rice's impact on the game during his time because they weren't around to see it. I'm not trying to patronize here; just saying that when it comes to the more subjective considerations, it's awfully hard to appreciate those considerations if you didn't observe that era first hand.

I'm not really even trying to say Rice > than Raines, as much as I'm trying to say that Rice > his peers when combined with subjective factors more than Raines > his peers when combined with subjective factors.