Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2001 Tim Raines

 

In 2001, Topps managed to make a card of Tim Raines upon his return to Montreal, a team he hadn't played for in over ten years. Unfortunately, it was not a base card. It was a relic card. Raines, like another recent Hall of Famer [who I'll be getting to shortly], has a relic card in 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies but not a base card.

Even more ironically, by the time of this product's release, Raines was already playing for a different team that only Fleer would produce a base card of him with, but thanks to photo scarcity we won't be talking about that today.

Anyway. Tim Raines' return to Montreal, a return voyage that...Topps neglected to mention during the 2001 calendar year.

Raines hadn't played in the majors since 1999, where he suited up for the Athletics in a bench role. The legendary base-stealer was 41, and had missed all of 2000 after not making the majors for the Yankees. Seeing as a return voyage home worked for fellow base-stealer Rickey Henderson, Raines signed a deal with the Expos prior to the 2001 season, and was lucky enough to make the team, perhaps thinking he'd end his career in a full circle way.

In 47 games, Raines batted .308 with 24 hits and 5 RBIs, leading to a 0.5 WAR in that period. Most importantly, Raines stole the final one of his 808 career stolen bases. Unlike Rickey, who stole well into the last legs of his career due to the mythology of it all, Raines started running out of steam in the speed department in his mid-30s, and at the very least strived to keep performing well at the plate.

Though one would suspect Raines' career to end quietly there, he was dealt to the Orioles with a week left to go in the regular season, in order to match the Griffeys with some games played alongside his son Tim Jr., who'd been a Baltimore prospect for a year or so. Even there, Raines managed 3 hits and 5 RBIs in 4 games for the O's, making his son mighty proud.

And you'd think THAT would be the end of his career...but even still, Raines finishes up as a member of the 2002 Miami Marlins, a stint that, somehow, Topps ends up depicting. Here's a fun fact about that 98-game run: Raines has 170 career home runs, and 808 career stolen bases. He hit more homers than he stole bases in 2002. How about that?