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.