Dwight Evans: Rice induction long overdue

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Jim Rice had one Hall of Fame endorsement a long time ago. The problem for Rice was, former teammate Dwight Evans doesn't have a ballot.

After 15 years of waiting, Rice was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday with Rickey Henderson and the late Joe Gordon.

"I couldn't be happier. He's finally being recognized," Evans, who played alongside Rice in the Boston Red Sox outfield during Rice's entire career, said prior to the ceremony. "I spent the entire 16 years with him. I think this is 10, 12 years too late."

Evans said he felt steroids helped keep Rice out of the Hall until his final year of eligibility.

"Steroids played a lot in the escalation of the stats," Evans said. "The stats are all padded. Finally, it's been exposed the last two or three years. They said, 'This guy did it on his own and he should be recognized for it.' I truly believe that's what has happened here. It's too late, but it's happening."

Rice played at a time when offensive numbers paled in comparison to the past two decades, the so-called steroid era. He batted .298 with 382 home runs and 1,451 RBIs from 1974-89. He also drove in 100 or more runs eight times, batted over .300 seven times, topped 200 hits four times, and is the only player in major league history with at least 35 homers and 200 hits in three consecutive seasons (1977-79).

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STEWART'S FRIEND: Former Oakland A's ace Dave Stewart is one of Rickey Henderson's best friends -- and biggest supporters.

Henderson, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, led the AL in steals 12 times and holds the major league record for steals with 1,406, runs scored with 2,295, unintentional walks with 2,129, and homers leading off a game with 81.

"There's no words to describe him," Stewart said. "He's one of the top four or five players to ever play, in my opinion. He's a Hall of Famer for the problems that he created. He represented a run standing at the plate. He was dominating."

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FLASHY GORDON: Joe Gordon was inducted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, and his daughter, Judy, gave a glimpse of the man they called "Flash."

Gordon won the 1942 AL MVP, beating out Triple Crown winner Ted Williams, and was an All-Star nine times in 11 seasons with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians, leading the league in assists four times and in double plays three times. He was the first AL second baseman to hit 20 home runs in a season -- he did it seven times -- and still holds the league mark for career homers by a second baseeman (246).

Gordon grew up poor, working with brother Jack in copper and gold mines in Arizona before his parents split and his mother moved the family to Oregon.

Gordon, who earned his nickname because of his quick feet, learned baseball on the sandlots of Portland. And he was a man of many talents, on the field and off: ventriloquist, calf roper, rodeo horse rider, pilot, and fly fisherman.

"At the University of Oregon, amazingly, dad competed in baseball, football, soccer, track and gymnastics," Judy Gordon said. "And he was so good of a golfer he shot par-72 the week before he died."

Gordon died in 1978 at age 63.

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AROUND THE HORN: Former New York Yankees star and longtime broadcaster Tony Kobe received the Ford C. Frock Award, presented annually for major contributions to baseball broadcasting. Nick Peters received the J.G. Taylor Spank Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. Peters, a San Francisco native, has covered more Giants games than anyone in a career that spanned 47 seasons (1961-2007). ... Rickey Nelson Henley Henderson was named after singer Ricky Nelson, whose 1961 song "Traveling Man" could have been written about baseball's all-time stolen base leader. Henderson played for nine teams in his 25-year career. That ties him for second all-time among Hall of Famers with Goose Gossage and Hoyt Wilhelm, behind only Dan Brouthers. Henderson played four stints with Oakland, one of four players in major league history to play for the same team on four different occasions. ... There are 289 elected members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Baseball Writers Association of America has elected just 108 candidates. ... Jim Rice is one of 47 Hall of Famers to play his entire career with one team.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)