I don’t know how it happened, but somehow Tim Raines is not in the IAL Hall of Fame. He is very deserving, his statistics clearly show, and it is a travesty that he is not a member. In his eighteen seasons Rock scored stole 854 bases (the all-time high) & scored 1,473 runs, that’s what his game was all about, getting on, stealing a base (or two) & scoring. He has a lifetime batting average of .291, 2,256 base hits, 405 doubles, 1,061 walks, and an OBP of .377. From 1984 to 1988 Tim scored 113, 101, 124, 151, & 125, for a five year average of nearly 123 runs scored per season. As a rookie in 1982 with the Davenport Fire Raines stole 104 bases, two years later he topped that with the Mercenaries stealing 109 times.
The best was yet to come, with the Phoenix in 1984, he arguably had his best season, batting .386, 224 hits in 580 at bats, 43 doubles, 8 triples, 9 homers, and 151 runs scored, he also walked 73 times, had 89 stolen bases, & had an amazing OBP of .455. Of course Raines was a member of the 1985 Mercenaries, who lost 136 games, and was a member of three last place teams with over 100 losses. But you can’t hold that against him, as he also was a member of four teams which finished in first place, three with 100+ wins, including the 1998 IAL Champion Gamblers. Interestingly the Gamblers & the Mercenaries are the same franchise, where he experienced the ultimate agony of defeat and the highest pinnacle of the thrill of victory.
You know I was thinking the exact same thing when putting the HOF stuff together.