finalyear death_date debutyear statvalue finalteam birth_date hofmethod hofdate death_place finaldate image statlabel debutteam name throws birth_place debutdate bats position article_title
1934 13 october 1974 1915 .322 2,987 34 1,078 cleveland indians february 20 , 1890 veteran 's committee 1963 rossmoor , maryland september 18 sam rice.jpg batting average hits home runs runs batted in washington senators sam rice right morocco , indiana august 7 left outfielder sam rice

sam rice

edgar charles `` sam '' rice -lrb- february 20 , 1890 -- october 13 , 1974 -rrb- was an american pitcher and right fielder in major league baseball .
although rice made his debut as a relief pitcher , he is best known as an outfielder .
playing for the washington senators from until , he was regularly among the american league leaders in runs scored , hits , stolen bases and batting average .
he led the senators to three postseasons and a world series championship in 1924 .
he batted left-handed but threw right-handed .
rice played his final year , , for the cleveland indians .
he was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1963 .
rice was best known for making a controversial catch in the 1925 world series which carried him over the fence and into the stands .
while he was alive , rice maintained a sense of mystery around the catch , which had been ruled an out .
he wrote a letter that was opened after his 1974 death which claimed that he had maintained possession of the ball the entire time .
