The results were announced Monday for the Hall of Fame. Both Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were elected, Henderson on his first try, and Rice on his 15th and final attempt.

In our mock elections here at NYBD, I voted for both Henderson and Rice, but also included Jack Morris on my ballot. Morris dominated his era and pitched the second best modern World Series game of all time.

Tim Raines will become a Hall of Famer, it’s just going to take some time. Yesterday, Jim Rice became a Hall of Famer. It does not matter that it was his 15th and final ballot. He is in. Also, Duke Snider, yes the Duke of Flatbush with his 407 homers and five straight (non steroid) 40 homer seasons waited until his 11th ballot.

Raines will likely follow Rice and Snider’s lead and get in somewhere down the road.

Last Wednesday, Mike Silva and I traveled to Newark to cover the press conference by the Newark Bears baseball team, for their introduction of Raines as Newark’s manager. In our two-on-one interview with him, Raines admitted that he believes he should be in the Hall of Fame. “I think I should be in,” said Raines. “I had a Hall of Fame career. My stats are up there with the best that played the game. Regardless of what the voters do, I had a great career.”

And Raines did have a great career, but was it Hall worthy?

At first thought, I did not believe that Raines was a Hall Of Famer. One reason why I did not think Raines was a Hall of Famer right away was that I was a big American League fan, and didn’t see Raines play a lot during his prime. A MLB Extra Innings type package was not available back then (but neither was texting or Ipods), and the Montreal Expos wasn’t on the NBC Game of the Week that often.

I can now understand how some voters do not vote for a certain player right away, but then “comes around” to the real value the player had on his team and during the time he played.

Still, Raines’ statistics are impressive. A career .294 BA/.383 OBP/.425 SLG/.810 OPS, with 2605 hits, 1571 runs, 880 SB, plus 430 doubles and 980 RBI’s, the last being a strong number for a guy who was primarily a National League leadoff hitter.

What is extra impressive is the prime of Raines’ career, the years when he first became a regular (1982 -age 22) to when his full time duties were over (1995 – age 35). Over that stretch Raines played in 1944 games, exactly 12 full 162 game seasons. During that period, Raines averaged 109 runs scored and 183 hits per 162 games. And his batting average of .296 during that stretch was consistent with his career mark of .294.

Consistency and tremendous numbers for Raines, but as a leadoff hitter Raines was overshadowed by Henderson. They both played almost exactly the same time period. Henderson was drafted 4th round in 1976, Raines drafted 5th round in 1977. Rickey first full season was in 1980 at age 21, Raines’ first full year was in 1982 at age 22. Raines retired a year before Rickey.

In 1980, Rickey stole 100 bases, and topped that in 1983 when he swiped a MLB record 130. Raines did steal 90 in 1982, and had five other seasons with 70 or more, but never did put up triple digits like Henderson.

Widely regarded as the best leadoff hitter of all time, when he played Henderson dominated everyone in runs scored, walks and stolen bases, but Raines’ OPS+ of 123 was only slightly behind that of Henderson’s 127, and his OBP was a robust .385 to RIckey’s .401. If not for Peter Edward Rose, it can thus be argued Raines might be the second best leadoff hitter of all time.

The spotlight never shined on Raines, especially north of the border in Montreal. Mike Silva asked Raines about his time in Canada. “Baseball wasn’t that big in Canada, but that first year (1981) when we made the NLCS, it was the biggest thing.” Raines missed out on the Divisional Series against Philadelphia with an injury, but returned for the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the final game of that best of 5 series, Rick Monday hit a game winning home run off of Expos ace Steve Rogers in the top of the 9th to put the Dodgers into the World Series against the Yankees.

The Dodger pitching staff held Raines in check in that series, limiting him to a .238 average, with one run scored and NO STOLEN BASES. The Dodger catcher that playoff series was a young rookie named Mike Scioscia. Raines would not reach the post season again until 1993 with the Chicago White Sox.

Later in his career, however, Raines became a key member of two World Championship teams in 1996 and 1998 with the New York Yankees. Those teams were the perfect mix of youth (Posada, Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte), players in their prime (Bernie, Tino, O’Neill, Knoblauch, Girardi) and the established veterans (Fielder, Wells, Cone, Chili Davis, Boggs, Strawberry and Raines).

Raines played a huge role in that 1996 series against the Atlanta Braves. Game 5 is remembered for Jim Leyritz’ three-run home run in the eighth inning off Mark Wohlers, and that big hit tied the game at 6. In the 10th inning with two outs, Raines walked and eventually scored when pinch hitter Wade Boggs worked a bases loaded, full count walk from Steve Avery.

Raines also caught the last out of the game by making a tumbling catch on the left field warning track. He laughed heartily when reminded of that moment, “I had it all the way.”

Raines acknowledged the closeness of those Yankee title teams. “There was no animosity with anyone on those teams. People understood their roles.”  I asked Raines if the veterans helped the young players on how to play the game the right way. “The veterans were always there for the younger guys. That’s the way it was, that’s what Joe talked about.”

Joe as in Joe Torre. Raines was a BIG fan of Torre. “I enjoyed playing for Joe the most…he was a laid back kind of manager, let the players play and stayed out of the way. His way earned respect from the players.”

Raines won two World Series title with the Yankees, but also earned another ring as 1st base coach for the 2005 Chicago White Sox. That team was managed by the energetic and outspoken Ozzie Guillen, Raines’ former teammate from the 1991-1995 White Sox.

Now that Raines is a manager again, I asked him if his managerial style was more like Torre’s or more like Guillen’s. “It’s way more like Joe’s,” Raines laughed. “Not nearly close to the way Ozzie manages.”

Raines gets another opportunity now to manage again, but probabaly needs to wait for a few more years to make the Hall of Fame. The players who get to play for him will be better off because of it. He will let them play, direct them but not interfere too much, and will be available to them when needed.

Exactly like Joe Torre.

Tags: Duke Snider, Jim Rice, Joe Torre, New York Yankees, Newark Bears, Rickey Henderson, Tim Raines