Hall of Fame chances a bit cloudy for Raines
With the Hall of Fame scheduled to announce voting results Monday, the Daily Pitch examines intriguing players on this year’s ballot:
-S-bject: Tim Raines, an outfielder who played with the Montreal Expos (1979-90, 2001), Chicago White Sox (1991-95), New York Yankees (1996-98), Oakland Athletics (1999), Baltimore Orioles (2001) and Florida Marlins (2002). Fifth year on ballot.
-Case for: Raines, who played at 5-8, 160, was known for his speed and ranks fifth all time with 808 stolen bases. Only Hall of Famers Rickey Henderson, Ty Cobb, Lou Brock and 19th-century outfielder Billy Hamilton stole more often. His success rate of 84.7% is best among players with at least 500 steals. But Raines could hit, too. A seventime All-star, he led the National League in batting (.334) and on-base percentage (.413) in 1986. He accumulated 2,605 career hits and ranked in the top 50 on the career list for runs scored when he retired. -Case against: Raines finished in the top five in MVP voting once (1983) and in the top 10 three times. He was never recognized with a Gold Glove. Although he finished with 170 homers, he never had more than 18 homers or 71 RBI in a season. Raines spent the final years of his career (1996-2002) as a parttime player for the Yankees and three other clubs. In nonspeed-related categories, his overall numbers do not match those of leading candidate Barry Larkin.