Rock Raines was an outstanding leadoff hitter, clutch hitter and a terror on the basepath. Unfortunately he spent his entire career overshadowed by the ultimate leadoff hitter and all-time stolen base leader, Rickey Henderson. Several arguments could be made for Raines' entrance into the Hall of Fame.
In 1981 he finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting. He received MVP votes in 7 seasons. He was selected to 7 All Star Teams. Despite battling injuries, drug addiction and Lupus disease, his maintained a .294 batting average. He had 2605 career hits. He is #5 on the all time stolen base list. Numbers 1-4 are already in the Hall. He has more stolen bases than any other switch hitter. He has 1571 runs scored. Of the 70 players with over 1500 runs scored only 19 are NOT in the Hall. That 19 includes 6 active players, 5 retired players that are not yet eligible and 4 dead-ball-era players. That leaves 4 modern players: Pete Rose, Rafael Palmiero, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines.
This would be, by far, the best picture in the 1981 Fleer set.
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