The Hall Call came once again in baseball, and the winners are Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice.

The Rickey call was easy, as he once was one of the most feared players in the league for quite some time, and it wasn't because he hit home runs all of the time or for his penchant to fight. Rickey (I'll refer to him in the first name because this is how he often referred to himself) was a beast on the basepaths and one of the best leadoff batters ever. Imagine this: He stole more than 100 bases in a season on three occasions. Some fans (and fantasy players), are amazed today when a player hits 50 SBs.

To me, Rickey is best known for setting the all-time stolen base record and immediately proclaiming himself the "greatest." While, yes, he now held the SB title, I'm not a big fan of the ego that was involved with that statement. But he definitely belongs in the Hall.

Jim Rice was the other lucky entrant, getting just enough votes on his final try into the Hall. The 1978 MVP certainly had some great years in his career, but he doesn't necessarily stand out among the greatest to ever play the game. Hence, the long time trying to get in, I guess.

I didn't watch much of Rice, as I got into baseball during the tail-end of his career. My best reference to him is the 1987 RBI Baseball game from Nintendo (that Boston team was good!). The argument, of course, is if he gets in, where is Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy and a few others?

I'm not sure, and I don't know the HOF's criteria for who gets in and who doesn't. Rice didn't reach the automatic milestones (3,000 hits, 500 HRs, etc.) but you could say for the number of years he played, he was among the best.

The Rice debate gets heated every year, so I'll be interested in hearing from the Rice lovers and haters when it comes to HOF status.