Tim Raines Snubbed for Hall of Fame on Far Too Many Ballots

For most of his career, Tim Raines was overshadowed by Rickey Henderson. Monday, it happened again. Just as Rickey was cruising to his enshrinement as easily as he could swipe second base, "Rock" Raines was snubbed by more than 3/4ths of the electorate (22.6 percent, to be exact, cast a vote for him).

If not for Henderson, Raines would have been remembered as the best leadoff man of his generation, and he most certainly would have received more than 22.6 percent of the Hall of Fame vote this season.

Raines' individual case isn't necessarily open-and-shut, but many people believe he should be in. I am one of them. His career .385 on-base percentage is absolutely sparkling, and he stole 808 bases -- placing him fifth on the all-time list. He compiled 2,605 hits, and when you add that to his 1,330 walks, you have a guy who got on base more times than Tony Gwynn.

You could argue that he didn't get near as much credit in the '80s as he would nowadays because of the recent emphasis on OBP. I find it quite impressive that he routinely walked much more than he struck out, displaying a true grasp of the strike zone and working the count like any great leadoff man should. In the field, Raines was above average as well. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting three times and was a seven-time all-star.

The case for Rickey certainly dwarfs the one for Raines, and that's probably why he's not as well respected as he should be. As the years pass by, it's possible Raines will pick up steam. He should be encouraged by the admission of Jim Rice, instead of discouraged by the unbelievably low percentage of votes he accrued in his second time around on the ballot.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-12-2009 @ 5:35PM

T said...

The Hall of Fame.Not the Hall of Very Good

1-12-2009 @ 8:54PM

Wade said...

Rice got in because the Boston fans and media wouldn't let anyone forget about him. Who is going to do that for Raines? That's may be his biggest problem going forward.

1-12-2009 @ 10:29PM

Snee said...

T, very insightful and original statement.

1-13-2009 @ 4:52PM

thomas said...

All I know is no-one ever looked cooler in their uniform then Tim Raines. He was also a very good secondbaseman before being moved to the outfield.

1-14-2009 @ 9:53PM

NeonDon said...

Whoa, Matt, for a second there I thought you were making a case for Mark Grace! In 7 less seasons (Grace played 16, Raines 23) Grace (who led all of MLB in hits in the decade of the 90s) had only 200 less hits and walks, was a better lifetime hitter .303-.293 and had almost the exact same OBP: .383-385. They had almost the exact same number of HRs 173 (Mark)-170...(in 7 less seasons). Grace won at least 4 Gold Gloves to Raines-0. There's more, too. (Oh and did I mention 7 less seasons!?)

1-15-2009 @ 3:45AM

I just remembered...Mark Grace was eligible this year for the first time and finished right behind...guess who (who was in his third year of eligibility) in the voting? I'm sure you knew it was Raines.
(Oh and how ironic I mentioned Joe Gordon as a deserving candidate who was neither a huge power hitter or the best fielder at his position or played very long)...in a back and forth with someone last week before the announcements were made for this year. I think the guy, not you Matt, said I didn't know anything about baseball. Guess we all get lucky. (I'm sure Gordon's is a name that comes up in every HOF argument.) Maybe I'll get lucky again next year with Gil Hodges. :o)

1-15-2009 @ 9:55AM

bachslunch said...

NeonDon, you're selectively cherry-picking to make a poor case. For starters, you're very conveniently omitting the fact that Tim Raines was a leadoff hitter with speed and Mark Grace was not. Raines stole 808 bases during his career (caught 146 times, a good ratio of successful versus unsuccessful steals), while Grace stole a grand total of 70 (caught 48 times!). Raines's OPS+ (adjusted for era and park) is 123, Grace's is 119, done furthermore in about 800 more ABs than Grace. Altogether, that's a whole lot more value on Raines's end.

Also, Raines has 4 HoF-ers among his top 10 similars (Lou Brock, Max Carey, Fred Clarke, and Enos Slaughter), while Grace has only one (Slaughter).

And while we're on the subject of cherry-picking, who cares if Grace had the most hits during the 90s? Willie Wilson had the most hits during a ten year span from 1979 to 1988 and Steve Garvey had the most hits during a ten year span from 1975 to 1984. I don't see a good case for either Wilson or Garvey either.

I'm also not heavily sold on the idea of either Joe Gordon or Gil Hodges for the HoF.