2022 National Paid Signer - Tim Raines

Since there weren't many paid signers that I needed on baseballs or for my 1987 Topps set, I went with getting guys that I may have seen before, but had cards that I really wanted to get signed.  Tim Raines was a player I had gotten before at a National, on a baseball.  I also had already completed his 1987 Topps, so this year, I paid to get him on this 2002 Fleer Platinum RC that is the only cards I have ever seen with Raines in an Orioles uniform.  The card turned out great.

Raines was really nice, and posed for a selfie.  His price was fine, so I was completely ok spending what it took to get this one taken care of.

I'm glad Raines was cool.  He thought the card was interesting, since he only played for the Orioles for a week at the end of the season in 2001.  But, the card is there and is signed.

A Surprise in the Mail From My Friend, Jacob

My good friend, Jacob, told me while I was in Vegas, that he had sent a surprise to me that would be here when I got home.  When I got in and checked the mail, there was an envelope from him, and inside was this signed 1987 Topps Tim Raines.  There was also the below Dennis Leonard, which we had made a deal on, but the Raines caught me totally by surprise.

Jacob and I made a trade for this Dennis Leonard, which I still need to ship my part of the deal.  I plan on sending it with Jacob's Christmas gift, if the dang thing ever gets here.

Jacob is a great dude.  I wish I could get up to where he lives and go to Expos Fest with him.  I'd need to renew my passport.

Thanks for the cards, Jacob.  Those and the letter really mean a lot to me!

Three New Hall of Famers Elected Today

Today's Hall of Fame announcement added three new Hall of Famers to the Hall roster and also three new baseballs will be added to my Hall of Fame cabinet.  Well, they'll be moved from one side of the cabinet to another, but they will move.

I got the above Ivan Rodriguez baseball last year from my friend, Sam.  We worked out a deal and I landed this ball, which he had signed in person.  The ball is a Texas League ball, but that is fine with me.

Rodriguez (b. 1971) played in the majors from 1991 to 2011 for the Rangers, Marlins, Tigers, Yankees, Astros and Nationals.  He had 2,844 hits, 311 home runs and a .296 batting average,  He was a 14-time All Star, 13-time Gold Glove Award Winner and a 7-time silver slugger.  He was the 1999 AL MVP, 2003 NLCS MVP and won the World Series with the Marlins in 2003.

Rodriguez was elected to the Hall of Fame today when he was named on 76% of the ballot, his first year of eligibility.  That's right, Pudge is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

I picked up this Jeff Bagwell baseball from an auction at Collect Auctions a couple years ago, in anticipation that he would get the call. It took some time, but he finally got in this year.

Bagwell (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1991 to 2005 for the Astros.  He had 2,314 hits, 449 home runs and a .297 batting average.  He was the 1991 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1994 NL MVP.  He received MVP votes in 10 of the 15 seasons in which he played.  He was an All Star 4 times, Silver Slugger 3 times and a Gold Glove Award winner once.  He was elected to the Hall today when he received 86.2% of the vote.  This was his 7th time on the ballot.

I met Tim Raines at the National this past summer and got him on this baseball.  Much like Bagwell, I picked up the ball in anticipation of "when" not "if" Raines would be elected.  I even told Raines when I met him that I looked forward to today to hear his name called.  This is something that has been a long time coming and well deserved.

Raines (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1979 to 1999, 2001 and 2002 for the Expos, White Sox, Yankees, A's, Orioles and Marlins.  He had 2,605 hits, 170 home runs and a .294 batting average.  He was the 1986 NL batting champ.  He was a 7-time All Star and a Silver Slugger (1986).  Raines led the NL in stolen bases four times and retired with 808, 5th all-time.  He won the World Series in 1996 with the Yankees.

Raines was named on 86.0% of the ballots today, finally ending his quest to make it into the Hall.  This was his 10th and final year of eligibility.

Adding Rodriguez, Bagwell and Raines pushes my Hall of Fame total up to 132.

National Signer - Tim Raines

The other paid signer that Andrew and I had vouchers for was Tim Raines.  His vouchers were pretty cheap, and I figure that he will eventually get into the Hall of Fame.  He was a very nice guy as we got up to him.  His line moved so fast, probably because Andrew and I had vouchers 1 and 2.

I told Raines that I hope to hear his name called in January for the Hall.  He said "Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot lately."

Raines (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1979 to 1999, 2001 and 2002 for the Expos, White Sox, Yankees, A's, Orioles and Marlins.  He had 2,605 hits, 170 home runs and a .294 batting average.  His 808 stolen bases rank 5th all-time.  He won the 1986 NL Batting Title with a .334 average.  He was a 7-time All Star and finished as high as 5th in the NL MVP voting (1983).  He won the World Series in 1996 with the Yankees.

Raines has appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot 9 times and with the new eligibility rules, next year will be his last.  He has gotten as much as 69.8% of the vote and should be able to get the required 75% next year.  If not, he will most likely get in via the Veterans Committee.