Happy Birthday to Hall of Famer Left Fielder Tim Raines. In a career that lasted twenty-three seasons, more notably with the Montreal Expos, but as well as the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and Florida Marlins, Raines established himself as one of the better Left fielders and leadoff hitters in baseball history.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1979-1999; 2001-02):

.294 BA 2,605 HITS 170 HR 980 RBI .385 OBP 1,571 RUNS

  • 7x All-Star
  • 2x World Series Champion (1996 & 1998)
  • 1986 Batting Title
  • 1986 Silver Slugger

As a Switch-Hitter, Raines batted in the leadoff spot in the lineup for most of his career. Ideally, as a leadoff hitter, you want a guy who makes contact, draws Walks, and can Steal Bases. That’s what Raines did; while he only batted over .300 five times in his career, twelve times in his career, he had an OBP over .360. Career-wise, he drew 1,335 Walks while only striking out 966 times. From 1981-84, Raines led the league in Stolen Bases; career-wise, he ranks 4th all-time with 808. In terms of Fielding, while he never won a Gold Glove, Raines was a lifetime .988 fielder in Left Field throughout 16,776 Innings.

Raines was a little overshadowed due to Rickey Henderson playing simultaneously at the same position. That was why it took until his final year of eligibility to get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. I’ve said this before: one of my criteria is a Hall of Famer having at least eight of what I like to call “Hall of Fame” seasons; with Raines, I only see six. Now, Raines is in the Hall of Fame, and rightfully for a few reasons. Number one, he’s in the top 5 all-time in Stolen Bases. Number two, he has a good amount of “black-bold type” on the back of his baseball card. Finally, as a leadoff hitter who played for over twenty years, has a lifetime On Base Percentage of .385. In 2017, he was Inducted, and while the Expos are no longer in existence, Raines chose to wear an Expos hat into the Hall of Fame.

References:

  1. Tim Raines via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Raines#
  2. Tim Raines Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raineti01.shtml