I would just about bet that there is a certain percentage of voters that won't vote for him because of the whole cocaine thing. Whether that's a significant percentage or not is anybody's guess.

I don't think it's just the cocaine, it's the fact that he admitted he changed his game and the way he played due to it.

 

The were stories of him not sliding properly and getting caught stealing because he wanted to protect the vial in his pocket.

 

He took the stuff in the middle of games.

 

I think alot of voters hold this against him.

I think what really hurts him is that he was rarely the best player on his team (those Expos teams were loaded) and he never really lead the league in any major category. For whatever reason, he was often overshadowed. He is statistically the 6th best left fielder to play the game. That alone says...sure fire HOF'er.

I'm not a fan of people using this as a reason for the HOF. It's the hall of fame for the best players not the best left fielders or best leadoff men or best third baseman.

 

I happen to agree that he belongs in based on being a great player not necessarily ranked by position.

you snort it, you inject it, you suck on it, whatever, in my America, you never

see the HOF. Same goes for the gamblers, Pete was a great player but he @#$%ed

up. Some of these baseball writers are voting for the PED users, don't they get it?

thanks, douglas

I'm not a fan of people using this as a reason for the HOF. It's the hall of fame for the best players not the best left fielders or best leadoff men or best third baseman.

 

I happen to agree that he belongs in based on being a great player not necessarily ranked by position.

 

 

For the first half of his career, he was the second best leadoff hitter and one of the most impactful players of his time.

 

If you grew up in the 80's and 90's, Rickey Henderson AND Raines (Vince Coleman and Willie Wilson to a much lesser extent) defined the "speed" game.

 

It's a shame by the time he played for the White Sox he wasn't the same as in his peak years, when he could change a game's complexion single-handedly.

Edited January 8, 201511 yr by caulfield12

you snort it, you inject it, you suck on it, whatever, in my America, you never

see the HOF. Same goes for the gamblers, Pete was a great player but he @#$%ed

up. Some of these baseball writers are voting for the PED users, don't they get it?

thanks, douglas

 

The problem is that there are a ton of players you consider "model" hall of famers that did this stuff a bunch, but the media just didn't care. John Milner reported buying amphetamines from both Willie Mays and Willie Stargell, for example. Paul Molitor admitted to using cocaine. Orlando Cepeda was actually ARRESTED for smuggling marijuana into the country from Puerto Rico.

 

Which, to me, doesn't bring up the issue of the Hall being "tainted" as much as it shows me that this stuff is only a big deal if we decide to make it a big deal. As of right now, you know that Willie Mays used amphetamines on the field, and I'm guessing you're going to let that slide into the back of your brain and still consider Willie Mays an inner-circle hall of famer.

The were stories of him not sliding properly and getting caught stealing because he wanted to protect the vial in his pocket.

His stolen base pct. with Montreal was something like 86%. There is a lot of mis-information out there about Raines. He wasn't as good as Rickey. No one really was, but he wasn't all that far behind. .294/.385/.425 in a career which also included over 800 steals. He affected games just being on base, even when he didn't steal. thanks, Dick.

Edited January 8, 201511 yr by Dick Allen

I read somewhere this week that his numbers surpass Brock's in several significant offensive categories. For me that's enough. Hope he gets in. I also met him at Picnic in the Park and he could not have been nicer.

Jay Jaffe of SI.com lists Tim Raines as the 8th best left-fielder in the history of baseball. The only two players ahead of him on the list who are not yet in the Hall of Fame are Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Raines compares favorably with Rose on the rate stats:

 

Pete Rose: .303/.375/.409

Tim Raines: .294/.385/.425

 

Rose might have had more hits, but Raines had the better OBP and hit for more pop. Combine that with the superior base-stealing skill set, and if I had to pick a starting left-fielder for my team, I'd pick Raines over Rose any day of the week.

 

Tim Raines should have been in the Hall of Fame long ago. He'll make it with the 2016 or 2017 class.

Pathetic, Raines deserves to be in the Hall. The Voters suck.

Jay Jaffe of SI.com lists Tim Raines as the 8th best left-fielder in the history of baseball. The only two players ahead of him on the list who are not yet in the Hall of Fame are Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Raines compares favorably with Rose on the rate stats:

 

Pete Rose: .303/.375/.409

Tim Raines: .294/.385/.425

 

Rose might have had more hits, but Raines had the better OBP and hit for more pop. Combine that with the superior base-stealing skill set, and if I had to pick a starting left-fielder for my team, I'd pick Raines over Rose any day of the week.

 

Tim Raines should have been in the Hall of Fame long ago. He'll make it with the 2016 or 2017 class.

 

Singles hitter Pete Rose is one thing. How about his teammate, slugger, and Hall Of Famer:

 

Andre Dawson .279/.323/.482 .806

Tim Raines .294/.385/.425 .810