This series was supposed to be Tim Raines vs. Rickey Henderson. Henderson, his legs hurting-which matches his enthusiasm level-has been a no- show.
For weeks at a time, so was Raines. Even while he was in the lineup.
Which is where he was Tuesday night as the White Sox and Oakland Athletics met in the second of their three-game series.
That Raines has had a roller-coaster season has been documented before. A 5-for-47 start, a .219 average as late as May 20, back to .300 in mid-June, down to .250 a month later.
Coming into Tuesday night, after batting .310 over his last 45 games, he was back up to .271. He`s been at that level for a couple of weeks.
He is not happy with that number. He has not been particularly happy with this season.
”All in all, I feel I haven`t done what I can do,” Raines said. ”But I feel like I`ve sort of salvaged what started out to be a terrible season.
”I`ve got a chance to score over 100 runs. I`ve got a chance, hopefully, to bat .280, .290 and steal over 50 bases, and I`ve got a chance to drive in 50 or more runs.”
Which would be, pretty much, a Tim Raines season. His on-base percentage is at .353 (.362 right-handed, .370 left-handed despite batting 30 points higher right-handed). Last season, Lance Johnson and Sammy Sosa, the primary Sox leadoff people, had on-base numbers well that figure.
”I think he`s had a pretty good year, for a new league,” said Sox manager Jeff Torborg.
Raines looked back on his season with more than a tinge of disappointment.
”I didn`t know what to expect,” he said. ”I expected to be a lot more consistent than I have been all year. I put pressure on myself to do those things. And then when it didn`t really happen, I put a little more pressure on myself to try to do it. That didn`t work.
”And then finally, things started going my way, and it happened all over again.”
The slow start could be blamed on playing in a new league, learning new pitchers, adjusting to new surroundings after 10 distinguished seasons in Montreal.
The midseason relapse was the puzzle.
”I`m not one to make any excuses, and I won`t do that,” Raines said.
But it`s no secret his hamstrings were hurting. It showed in his walk. The affect was conjecture, because Raines had been reluctant to talk about it- until now.
”I felt for a long period of time, with my hamstrings, that for about 2 1/2 months I didn`t have any strength in my legs. That might have had something to do with how I swung the bat. But I felt that even though I wasn`t 100 percent physically, that maybe I could get away with it.”
He didn`t. Not entirely. And the lapses in his production only increased murmurs that maybe the Sox had, in sending Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones to Montreal, overpaid. Raines` comeback has softened the blow.
”Things are starting to go well again,” he said. ”I`m feeling more and more comfortable. I believe I have a good relationship with my teammates, and I think that`s important, more important than anything else.
”Now that I`ve played almost a full season, maybe next year should be right around where I`m more comfortable being.”
