Tim Raines misses the Hall of Fame cut again

Former White Sox player and coach Tim Raines has missed the Hall of Fame for a seventh time. For the first time, his progress stalled. He received just 46.1 percent of the vote, down 6.1 percent from the 52.2 percent he received in 2013.

Raines began his major league career with the Montreal Expos with September auditions in 1979 and 1980.  In the strike-shortened 1981, Raines was the runner up in the National League Rookie of the Year voting to Fernando Valenzuela.  That season began a four-year strangehold on the NL stolen base title and seven years of All-Star Game appearances.  Raines also won the NL batting title in 1986.

After spending 13 seasons with the Expos, Raines was traded to the White Sox for Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones before the 1991 season.  He spent the next five seasons as the Sox starting left fielder. In his time with the Sox, he put together a .283/.375/.407 line with 50 home runs and 153 stolen bases, and lead the team in hitting in the 1993 ALCS by going 12-for-27.

The White Sox traded Raines to the Yankees after the 1995 season for minor league pitcher Blaise Kozeniewski. Raines helped the Yankees win a World Series in 1996 and went to the playoffs with the Yankees in 1997 and 1998.  Kozeniewski never pitched in the White Sox system.

Raines' career continued for a three more seasons after this, spending time as a part-timer in Oakland, Montreal, Baltimore (where he played with his son Tim Jr.), and Florida.

After retiring, Raines returned as a coach for the Sox during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

For Raines's 23-year playing career, he finished with 808 stolen bases which is good enough for fifth all time.  His 69.1 career WAR is good enough for 70th among position players, and ahead of contemporaries that made the Hall of Fame such as Andre Dawson and Dave Winfield.

Raines wasn't the only player to lose ground. In fact, he's in relatively good shape compared to his peers, even if it's not much comfort.