In response to my inclusion of Tim Raines on my imaginary Hall of Fame ballot:
does anyone realize that apart from his 5 really good years of 1983-1987, tim raines looks a lot more like marquis grissom than he does rickey henderson?? 5 seasons does not make a hall of fame career.
This is why we can’t have nice things, people. I was about to go nuts on this myself -- I mean, you can’t just take a guy’s peak years away and call his Hall of Fame case a sham -- but I decided instead to let Raines-Backer-in-Chief Jonah Keri handle it. His way-more-polite-than-I-would-have-been response:
Tim Raines was, according to Bill James, the best player in MLB from 1983 through 1987 ... Also, check out Raines30.com if you want to learn more about the player with more times on base in his career than Tony Gwynn, a higher OBP than Willie Mays, the 5th-most SB of all-time and the highest success rate of any basestealer with anywhere near that many attempts.
Do check out Raines30.com. And make sure that, in the event you correspond with Hall of Fame voters, they are aware of it too. And while you’re at it, listen to Jonah’s podcast with Tim Raines himself from just the other day. This is not a hard case. This is not a close case. Tim Raines is a clearly deserving Hall of Fame candidate. It has to happen.