Rice tells kids old school the way to go; Praises Pesky for his work

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. ? Red Sox great and Hall of Fame player Jim Rice told the members of the 16 teams playing in the Little League World Series that when he played baseball it was a man’s game. Today, he says it is a kid’s game.Rice, who was critical of today’s Major League Baseball players, said when he played for the Red Sox in the 1970s and 80s, it was a team game and the game was played right.Click here for the photo gallery”When we played baseball we played it hard,” Rice said. “When I played, the opposing team could not be on the field when we took batting practice. Today the other team is right there on the field during batting practice and everyone is hugging and talking.”Rice told the Little League players when he played he averaged 158 games played a year while today’s players pick and choose when they are going to play.”When these young players sign Major League contracts it is a guaranteed contract which means they are going to get paid whether the play and perform or not,” Rice said. “Because of the guaranteed contracts you only see players worry about the team and their numbers in the third or fourth year of the guaranteed contract.”Rice said one of the reasons he was able to play in the majors for 15 years is that he always worked on the weakest aspect of his game.”For 15 years, everyday whether we were at home or on the road, Johnny Pesky hit me ground balls before every game,” Rice said. “I had Fred Lynn and Dwight Evans to my left and they were both pretty good outfielders. I also took over for a Hall of Famer in Carl Yastrzemski and I wanted to get better.”I first met Johnny in 1973 and he was a fundamentalist,” Rice said. “When it came to hitting Johnny kept it simple of telling me to see the ball, hit it and get out in front of it. Johnny Pesky was my hitting instructor the entire time I was in the big leagues.”Rice told the kids as they move forward with their baseball lives to, “Go back to old school baseball and have fun. If I ever looked at baseball as a job it would have been time for me to get out. Baseball is still a kid’s game.”