It's actually not too surprising that Tim Raines was not elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After all, first-ballot election is reserved for the best of the best, and Raines clearly is not one of the "inner-circle" HOFers.
However, giving him only 24.3% of the votes is a sorry performance by the BBWAA. Raines hit for a good enough average and took enough walks to reach base more times in his career than Tony Gwynn. He stole 808 bases and did so with the highest success rate in the game's history. He was one of the most dominant players of the 1980s and contributed solid-to-strong performances throughout the 90s. It might take a few seasons, but hopefully Raines will eventually get his due and receive a plaque in Cooperstown.
Also, Bert Blyleven unfortunately fell short again. Pitching on some poor teams kept his win total to "only" 287 - below the magic number of 300 - and pushed up his loss total to 250. But he was a terrific pitcher, finishing his career with 3701 strikeouts - third all-time when he retired and still fifth overall - and a 3.31 ERA. His years on the ballot are winding down, but this year's vote percentage of 61.9% bodes well for his candidacy in the coming elections. Let's hope he has enough time remaining to gain that extra 13.1% support he needs to make it in.
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