http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaki ... manny.html

Jim Rice: Manny, A-Rod, Jeter set bad example

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Red Sox Hall of Famer Jim Rice today criticized the approach current major leaguers have to baseball, telling youngsters at the Little League World Series that players such as Manny Ramirez set a "bad example."

"You have these baggy uniforms, you have the dreadlocks, that's not part of the game," Rice said after mentioning Ramirez, who played for the Red Sox for nearly eight seasons.

In the same breath, Rice mentioned New York Yankees Alex Rodriquez and Derek Jeter as he described a baseball culture dominated by huge contracts and the accoutrements of wealth, with players more interested in Rolex watches than the game.

"What you see right now is more individuals, it's not a team," said Rice, a newly minted hall of famer who played for the Red Sox for 15 years. "Now you have guys coming in, they pick the days they want to play, they make big money."

"The first thing they see are dollar bills."

Rice made the pointed comments during a pre-game talk to all 16 teams that were about to start play in the annual Little League World Series, including a squad from Massachusetts, the Peabody Western All-Stars. Beyond the criticism of current players, his talk included practical advice.

"Work on the weakest part of your game," Rice said. "Johnny Pesky hit me ground balls every day."

Rice also urged the youngsters to look beyond athletics.

"You are a child of someone, you are not a professional baseball player now," Rice said. "You may be one day, but the first thing you need to have right now is respect."

When Rice spoke with the players and coaches from Peabody, he could not help but poke fun at the New England pronunciation of their hometown, "Pea-Buddy."

"I do know of a place called Pea-Body," Rice said. "I used to live there."

The first game began today at 1 p.m. Peabody was scheduled to take the field at 8 p.m.

As much as I hate Jeter, I would be surprised if he roids up and I think he plays hard.

I do hate the pajama bottoms .


For all players that wear stirrups

lol, when has baseball ever been a team sport?

i'm glad he said something.

jim rice is a bitch

he wishes he was half as good as any of the 3

he should ask jeter and manny if he could try on one of their 6 world series rings

Jeter is a class act.

Never.

I think he mispoke about Jeter....hopefully. I love Jeter....and I am a Sox fan

Apparently A-Rod purposely struggles in the playoffs so he can go home early. That's how he sticks it to the Yanks -- all that money and he gets an extra month off!

What has Jeter ever done to hurt the game? This dude is out of line on this one. Jeter is one of the few good stories left in baseball today.

Meh. Jeter is overrated.

There's a lot of things to hate about the Yanks, but Jeter isn't one of them.

I love how the old man is pissed off at the baggy pants.

Jim Rice
Postseason Batting Statistics
SEASON G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
1986 14 58 14 14 2 1 2 6 7 17 0 0 .241 .323 .414 .737
1988 4 13 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 4 0 0 .154 .267 .154 .421
Total 18 71 14 16 2 1 2 7 9 21 0 0 .225 .313 .366 .679

Babe Ruth wore baggy pants. Jim Rice wore 70's nuthuggers.

when what you say proves youre a dick, fall back on, i was misquoted

yea i was just watchin this old dimaggio clip and i was like..man he has some baggy ass pants on..maybe jim rice should bitch about them

and its bullshit about him bitchin about the dreads too..i mean, how many of his buddies back in the day had afros?? its just the new style

Jim Rice.... shouldn't be in the hall of fame if guys like Dale Murphy aren't there.

It's just sort of funny that a guy who is lucky as hell to actually be in the hall of fame is calling out ANYONE else.