Raines’ credentials truly Hall-worthy
Tim Raines and Rickey Henderson broke into the majors in 1979. Both played into their 40s. Both played left field. Both led off. Both stole a bunch of bases.
The difference is, one’s the greatest leadoff hitter who ever lived, and one’s not.
It’s a big reason it took so long for Raines to become a Hall of Famer, the Rickey comparisons, playing in the shadow of the all-time leader in steals and runs. Henderson was a firstballot Hall of Famer, and Raines took 10 tries to get in.
He’ll be inducted with Jeff Bagwell and Ivan Rodriguez at next Sunday’s ceremony in Cooperstown.
“I was a fan of Rickey’s,” Raines said Friday in a Hall of Fame conference call. “I enjoyed watching him play and watching him do the things that he did. It didn’t bother me in any way or influence me in any way with the way I played.”
Nobody is close to Henderson’s steals record of 1,406. Raines is fifth at 808, though among the all-time leaders, Raines had the highest success rate at 85 percent followed by Davey Lopes (83 percent), Henderson and Vince Coleman (81) and Lou Brock (75).
“I kind of enjoyed being compared to Rickey, to me the greatest leadoff guy who ever played the game,” Raines said. “When you’re compared to someone like that, I thought maybe I’d get a little more consideration (for the Hall of Fame) by being so close as far as the comparisons were concerned.”
Once in, it doesn’t really matter how. Or how long. I voted for Raines for many years, appreciating his overall game without penalizing him for not being Rickey. Raines, a switchhitter, was a seven-time All-Star with a batting title, two World Series rings, four stolen-base titles and a .385 on-base percentage.
The Rickey Henderson of the National League, though not quite Rickey Henderson.
Raines has said over time he was less focused than Henderson on padding stats and that winning games was the main emphasis, also saying Henderson played in a more offensive-minded league. Henderson, in his defense, said many times he stole bases to score runs, the object of the game.
There was no doubt who was more popular, who got more pub, who could dominate a game more by disrupting pitchers, who could put all the attention on himself and still do exactly what everyone in the house anticipated him to do. It was Rickey.
Still, there’s no crime in being the second-best leadoff hitter of all time. A case can be made for several others including Brock, but Brock reached base fewer times than Raines and had a lower OBP, lower steals success rate and, despite more plate appearances, fewer homers and RBIs.
Raines was asked about his stolen-base philosophy.
“I stole bases to score runs. I stole bases for my team,” Raines said. “I didn’t really see it as an individual stat. I didn’t look at it like that. I just felt like each and every game I played, if I stole a base, it was in a situation I felt like we needed to win games and we needed to score runs.”
Though Raines should have been enshrined years ago, he got a recent boost from the advanced-stats crowd that let be known things such as that Raines was the National League’s best player based on WAR from 1981 to 1990. His ability to get on base (3,935 times in his career) and stolen-base efficiency were accentuated, too.
Of course, Raines welcomed the extra support.
“We didn’t have the stats the way they have them today, but if we would have, I think my chances of getting in might’ve been (better) even earlier,” he said. “It helped me tremendously. It played a really big role in my induction.
“I didn’t really know the things that I did as a player with advanced stats that much. Since all these new stats are coming out, I’m kind of amazed at the things I was able to do by looking at it that way.”