10 Career-Defining Tim Raines Baseball Cards – Instant PC

With so many different base cards, subsets, parallels, memorabilia cards and autographs, building out a collection for a single player can be overwhelming.

Luckily, the 10-Card Instant PC article series is here to help.

There are more than 2,000 Tim Raines cards, according to the Beckett database.

So where does one begin putting together a Tim Raines PC?

These 10 cards serve as an excellent representation of his playing career and footprint on the hobby, making them a great place to start.

1981 Topps #479 Tim Raines RC

The Montreal Expos selected Tim Raines in the fifth round of the 1977 MLB draft out of Seminole High School in Sanford, Florida. He stole 29 bases in 49 games in rookie ball later that summer and quickly moved through the Montreal farm system from there.

After playing six games in the big leagues in 1979 and 15 more in 1980, his Rookie Card was included in the 1981 Topps flagship set. The future Hall of Famer is pictured alongside Roberto Ramos and Bobby Pate.

1981 Topps Traded #816 Tim Raines

Raines stole 71 bases in 88 games as a rookie in 1981, hitting .304/.391/.438 with 61 runs scored and 3.5 WAR along the way to finish runner-up to Fernando Valenzuela in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

That stellar rookie season was enough to earn him his own solo card in the 1981 Topps Traded set, which was the first Traded set that was sold exclusively in factory set form. It’s his most sought after early card, despite not being considered a Rookie Card.

1984 Topps #134 Tim Raines/Rickey Henderson LL

Raines and fellow Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson led their respective leagues in stolen bases four years running from 1981-84. During the 1983 season, Raines stole a career-high 90 bases in 104 attempts while also scoring 133 runs, and he finished fifth in NL MVP voting.

Raines and Henderson shared a number of league leader cards in the Topps flagship sets during their run as the league’s premier base thieves, and their 1984 Topps card highlights Raines’ career-best season.

1986 Topps #280 Tim Raines

A .294 career hitter, Raines won the NL batting title in 1986 when he batted .334 to narrowly edge out Steve Sax (.332) and Tony Gwynn (.329). He also led the NL with a .413 on-base percentage and won the only Silver Slugger of his career in the process.

The 1986 Topps set has not held much value over the years, due in part to a lack of high-profile Rookie Cards with Ozzie Guillen, Cecil Fielder and Lenny Dykstra leading the way. It’s a timeless design, nonetheless, and the Raines base card is a good representation of his batting title year.

1989 Topps #560 Tim Raines

For the 1989 Topps flagship set and various other 1989 Topps oddball products, Raines is displayed with his nickname “Rock” Raines.

That continued on in 1990 and 1991 before they switched back to Tim Raines for the remainder of his career, but any good Raines PC has to have at least one “Rock” Raines card in it.

1991 Topps Traded #94T Tim Raines

After 12 seasons in Montreal, Raines was traded to the Chicago White Sox prior to the 1991 season in a five-player deal that sent young slugger Ivan Calderon the other way.

The trade didn’t happen until Dec. 23, 1990, and as a result Raines is still pictured as a member of the Expos on his 1991 Topps flagship card. His first Topps card in a White Sox uniform was part of that year’s Topps Traded set.

1997 Topps #334 Tim Raines

Raines spent five seasons with the White Sox, tallying 16.6 WAR with 143 steals and a .375 on-base percentage during his time with the South Siders. The 36-year-old was then traded to the New York Yankees prior to the 1996 season.

He hit .284/.383/.468 with 45 runs scored in 59 games during the ‘96 season, and he won his first World Series ring that postseason. He stuck around on the Yankees for three seasons serving primarily as a fourth outfielder and winning a second ring in 1998 before he departed in free agency.

2000 Topps #71 Tim Raines

Coming down the homestretch of his career, Raines spent the 1999 season with the Oakland Athletics, hitting .215/.337/.341 with 20 runs scored in 58 games.

Him and his son both have cards in the 2000 Topps flagship set, as his son’s Rookie Card was part of the Series 2 checklist. The two played side-by-side on the Baltimore Orioles in 2001, becoming just the second father/son duo to be part of the same lineup.

2002 Topps Traded #T52 Tim Raines

Raines rejoined the Expos in 2001 and hit .308/.433/.436 in 97 plate appearances in a limited role. On Oct. 3, 2001, he was traded to the Orioles so he would have an opportunity to be penciled into the same lineup as his son.

That offseason, he joined the Florida Marlins for his final big league season before hanging up his spikes. His final Topps card is part of the 2002 Topps Traded set and it can be a tough one to find as it’s one of the set’s short prints.

2017 Stadium Club #151 Tim Raines

In his tenth year on the ballot in 2017, Raines was finally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is one of only 29 players to play in four different decades, and he ranks among the all-time leaders in steals (805, fifth), times on base (3,977, 50th) and runs scored (1,571, 55th) as one of the greatest leadoff hitters in MLB history.

His 2017 Stadium Club card is a great shot from his peak in Montreal and the perfect representation of his Hall of Fame enshrinement.