With one vote to go, Tim Raines is on the cusp of Cooperstown.
But two former teammates can’t believe it already has taken this long for Raines’ quest to gain entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
One of the greatest leadoff hitters of all-time, Raines fell 23 votes shy of the 75 percent threshold required to be elected last month. Raines’ 69.8 percent total is his strongest showing in nine years on the ballot and gives plenty of room for optimism he could be inducted in 2017. But even so, the uncertainty bothers White Sox manager Robin Ventura, who played alongside Raines from 1991-95.