10 moments that defined Tim Raines' career

Tim Raines’ statistics over a 23-year career support him as one of the most electric players ever to play the game.

The switch-hitter posted a career .294/.385/.425 slash line in 2,502 games played with the Expos, White Sox, Yankees, Marlins, Orioles and A’s. He picked up 2,605 hits, of which 713 went for extra bases, and walked 1,330 times against 966 strikeouts. He also was a prolific basestealer, with 808 stolen bases.

Let’s look at 10 great moments from Raines’ Hall of Fame career.

Hall of Fame induction

Raines was first on the Hall of Fame ballot, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, in 2008 and received 24.3 percent of the vote. Although he dipped to 22.6 percent in 2009, Raines steadily climbed to 69.8 percent in his ninth and second-to-last season on the ballot in 2016. It was then in 2017, during his 10th and final season of eligibility, when Raines was elected to the Hall of Fame with 380 votes and 86 percent support.

Jeff Bagwell (86.2 percent) was elected on his seventh opportunity in that same year. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez earned 76 percent of the vote to top the 75 percent required for first-ballot selection. Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero, Edgar Martinez, Mike Mussina, Lee Smith, and Larry Walker all fell short on that ballot but eventually joined Raines as Hall of Famers. Raines joined Andre Dawson and Gary Carter as the only players wearing Expos caps in the Hall of Fame.

World Series win as a coach and as a player

The 2005 White Sox featured two future Hall of Famers on their coaching staff, with Harold Baines as bench coach and Raines as the first-base coach also in charge of baserunning. Raines moved to bench coach during the White Sox 90-win, 2006 season, which fell short of a playoff berth.

He also won two World Series titles as a player with the Yankees in 1996 and 1998. Raines, who had 142 postseason plate appearances, had his best playoff run with the White Sox in 1993 when he finished 12-for-27 with five runs scored in a six-game ALCS loss to the Blue Jays.

All-Star MVP

Two Expos won Most Valuable Player honors at the All-Star Game, with Carter doing it twice in 1981 and 1984. But it was Raines who took home the hardware in 1987, during a 2-0 victory in 13 innings for the NL in Oakland. Raines delivered a two-out, 13th-inning triple off Jay Howell to score Ozzie Virgil and Hubie Brooks and break this deadlock. Raines, who was an All-Star reserve, finished 3-for-3 with a ninth-inning single off Dave Righetti and an ensuing stolen base and an 11th-inning single off Tom Henke.

The NL’s No. 1 hitter

From 1981-84, Raines topped the NL in stolen bases. He scored 133 runs in 1983 and 123 in 1987 to lead the NL, along with surpassing a .300 batting average in seven separate seasons, including at age 37 as a part-time player with the Yankees in 1997. But it was his .334 average in 1986 bringing Raines his lone batting title. He also produced 70 stolen bases, 91 runs scored and 35 doubles in that ’86 season, edging out Steve Sax (.332) and Tony Gwynn (.329) for the batting crown.

Rookie of the Year runner-up

It didn’t take Raines long to make an impact. He finished second in the 1981 National League Rookie of the Year ballot, checking in behind Fernando Valenzuela, who also won the NL Cy Young that season. Over 88 games and 363 plate appearances for the Expos, Raines slashed .304/.391/.438 to go with 71 stolen bases in 82 attempts. This rookie campaign marked Raines’ first All-Star appearance and the beginning of seven straight All-Star selections as part of the Expos. Those seven represent Raines’ total All-Star nods.

A family affair

Raines finished his long Major League run with 114 plate appearances for the Marlins in ’02. But before that conclusion, Raines had a family reunion with his son in the 2001 Orioles outfield.

He was traded from the Expos to the Orioles on Oct. 3 as part of a conditional deal, and on Oct. 4, Tim and Tim Jr. started in the same outfield during a 5-4 home loss to the Red Sox. The younger Raines led off and finished 1-for-4 with one run scored while playing center field, and his Hall of Fame father, who was 41 at the time and 20 years older than his son, started in left and went 0-for-4 with one RBI. The two played together again the next night, where the elder Raines homered off Tim Wakefield among his three hits. They joined the Griffeys as the only father-son tandem to have such a same-game honor.

According to reports, the Raines family played against each other in a Minor League doubleheader on Aug. 21, 2001. Raines Jr. was a young outfielder for Triple-A Rochester, while the elder Raines was rehabbing a shoulder injury with Montreal’s Triple-A Ottawa team.

Running wild

Raines’ 808 stolen bases rank him fifth all-time, trailing only Rickey Henderson (1,406), Lou Brock (938), Billy Hamilton (914) and Ty Cobb (897). He swiped 40 straight bases with the White Sox, running from July 23, 1993 to Sept. 1, 1995, according to Baseball-Reference. He had a stretch of 37 straight with the Expos.

From 1981-86, Raines picked up at least 70 stolen bases each season. He had eight seasons with at least 50 stolen bases and 11 with at least 40, finishing with an .847 success rate placing him 12th all-time in that category per Baseball-Reference.

Expos’ jersey retired

On June 19, 2004, Raines had his jersey No. 30 retired by the Montreal Expos. He was selected by the Expos in the fifth round of the 1977 Draft and finished with 1,622 hits, 635 stolen bases, 947 runs scored, a .301 average and an .829 OPS over 13 seasons. In 6,256 plate appearances with the Expos, Raines drew 793 walks and struck out 569 times. The Expos defeated the White Sox, 17-14, on the night of Raines’ jersey retirement, with Montreal scoring nine in the second and knocking out 18 hits.

Once, twice, three times a home run

Although Raines was known much more for his speed than his power, Raines did have a moment with the White Sox on April 18, 1994 where he truly flexed his muscles. The White Sox claimed a 12-1 victory over Boston at Fenway Park, and Raines finished with four hits, five runs scored and four RBIs. Three of those hits went for home runs.

Danny Darwin yielded the first two to Raines, including a home run to right on the second pitch of the game. Ricky Trlicek allowed the third as a two-run shot in the eighth. The switch-hitter launched all three homers from the left side of the plate.

Two special homers

The first home run of Raines’ career came on May 1, 1981 with the Expos and was a walk-off blast with one out in the bottom of the 13th against the Dodgers to claim a 5-4 victory before 28,179. Raines had one other career walk-off on June 22, 1983, with his grand slam against Al Holland breaking a scoreless tie.

Sixteen of Raines’ homers came during his time as a prolific leadoff hitter. His first leadoff homer might have been his most memorable, with it being an inside-the-park effort against San Diego’s Chris Welsh on May 7, 1981.