When It Raines...
by Mike Ashmore

He thought it was over.

Definitely his career and perhaps his life.

When seven-time Major League All-Star outfielder Tim Raines was diagnosed with lupus midway through the 1999 season, nobody ever expected him to set foot on a baseball field again.

39 years old at the time, Raines lost 50 pounds during treatment for the sometimes fatal disease, which attacks the body's cells and tissue.

After announcing his retirement shortly after making his diagnosis public, he fully recovered and was content with a life of playing golf and spending time with his family.

And then Bob Watson called.

Watson, the former Yankees GM and then scout for Team USA, asked him if he'd consider playing in the Olympics.

So in July of 2000, Raines and Pat Kelly came to the Somerset Patriots to showcase their skills for a possible spot on the Olympic team.

"Tim Raines was a consummate professional," said Patriots manager Sparky Lyle.

"I knew him from when I played against him. He was really one of a few guys of that stature that I would have agreed to let come and play here."

Raines, who Lyle considers the biggest name the team has ever had, appeared in seven games for the Patriots in 2000, hitting .346 with two RBI.

"I loved it, it didn't seem like an independent league at all," Raines said. "There were a lot of good players there, a lot of ex-Major Leaguers. I quite enjoyed it."

Perhaps the most famous story from the potential Hall of Famer's stay with Somerset was what became of his paycheck.

Owed around $400 for his brief stay with the team, he refused to accept the money, asking instead that it go back to the players for a team party.

"I didn't really think that I was a part of the team," he said. "I was up there for one reason, and that was to showcase myself for the US Olympic Team. I didn't feel like I deserved to get anything for it."

Unfortunately, neither Raines or Kelly made the team that eventually went on to win the gold medal in Sydney, Australia.

"I still think they should have taken him." Lyle said. "He could have stolen a base on anyone, just from his knowledge from all those years."

For Raines, it seemed his miraculous recovery would have no storybook ending.

"That was my one chance to be a part of the Olympics," he said. "It was the only opportunity I had, and I felt bitter to say the least. I felt like I did enough to make the team."

Instead of letting that end his career, Raines came back for the 2001 season and played in 47 games for the Montreal Expos before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles so he could play with his son, Tim, Jr.

After playing one more season with the Florida Marlins in 2002, "Rock" turned his attention to coaching and is now a hitting coach in the Washington Nationals organization after winning his second World Series ring as the Chicago White Sox bench coach in 2005.

"I spent 23 years in the Major Leagues, and baseball has been very good to me," he said. "To me, I feel like I'm giving something back. I'm enjoying doing it."

Next season, the collective eyes of the baseball world will focus on Raines, who is the premier candidate eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame in 2008.

Having finished fifth all-time in stolen bases with 808, and among the top 100 with 2,605 hits, it would appear as though he has a real chance for election in Cooperstown.

"My fingers are crossed," Raines said with his trademark smile.

Contact Mike: mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com

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