The thing with Tim Raines and the HOF

[joncarlos]

Bill James made this point in his HOF book... I think it was about Phil Rizzuto.

People talk all the time about Tim Raines right now. How can he not be in the Hall? How he was better than Tony Gwynn. How he's so underappreciated. How he might be the 2nd best leadoff hitter of all time. Tim Raines gets more publicity than just about any retired player. This is great for Tim Raines.

Once he gets into the Hall, that's it. There's a nice ceremony and Jonah Keri goes on a 2-month celebratory bender. Life goes on. Nobody talks about Tim Raines any more. He's more famous outside the Hall than in it.

Not saying this is a reason to keep him out or anything. Just think it's interesting.

[chancellor]

Hmmm..he's more famous outside the Hall until he falls off the ballot. Then he has to wait for the Veterans Committee, at which point Tim might be dead.

If he deserves it, vote him in. I think he does. Certainly, if the bar was lowered enough to let Kirby Puckett in, Raines more than jumps over that hurdle.

[Whitey]

People talk "all the time" about Raines now because they didn't talk about him enough before. Good on Jonah Keri for pushing the conversation, though I think his influence on voters is extremely overrated. Raines will get in the Hall on merit.