MLB: Top 30 leadoff hitters of all-time
One of the greatest leadoff hitters of all-time is Tim Raines, whose best years came as the primary table-setter for the Montreal Expos in the 1980s. However, Raines played 23 seasons in the big leagues, including stints with the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles and Florida Marlins. He was a member of the World Series champion Yankees in 1996.
Raines, a switch-hitter, made his Major League debut in 1979 at the age of 19 but didn’t become an everyday player until 1981 – the first of seven consecutive All-Star seasons. He won the National League batting title in 1986 when he hit .334 and also led the NL that season with a .413 on-base percentage.
“Rock” led Major League Baseball in stolen bases in 1981 and 1984, led the NL in steals in 1982 and 1983 and currently ranks fifth on the all-time list with 808. He was caught only 146 times for a career success rate of 84.7%.
A .294/.385/.425 career hitter, Raines had 2,605 hits in his career and scored 1,571 runs, with 1,646 and 1,011 of those, respectively, coming in just under 1,400 games as his team’s leadoff hitter. However, Raines also made 1,565 career plate appearances in the No. 3 hole, where he got on base at an even higher rate of .407, and spent his later years hitting lower in the order.
Had he spent a little more time at the top of the lineup, Raines would have made a strong case for the No. 2 spot on our list.
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