Put Jim Rice in the Baseball Hall of Fame!

Hall of fame ballots are out and Yaz is going to bat for Jim Rice.

‘‘He had exceptional power to all fields,’’ Yastrzemski said of Rice, with whom he shared a clubhouse from 1975-83. ‘‘He was a very aggressive hitter and he worked hard. He made himself into a pretty good outfielder. He was probably the most dangerous hitter in the American League.’’

An exaggeration? Hardly. During the 12-year stretch from 1975 to 1986, Rice led the AL in games, at-bats, runs, hits, home runs, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, extra-base hits, go-ahead RBI, multi-hit games and outfield assists. He was fourth in both triples and batting average in that span.

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‘‘I don’t know if (steroid fallout) will help him because he should have been in a long time ago,’’ said Yastrzemski, who similarly argued for former teammate Luis Tiant. ‘‘For 10 years, Rice was probably the most dangerous hitter in the American League. You had to play with him every day to see how dominant he was. He was a guy that went to the post every day. He never complained. You never knew when he was injured because he played all the time.’’

Yaz is right. It's time to put Jim Rice in the Hall of Fame.