I don’t know how it happened, but somehow Tim Raines is not in the IAL Hall of Fame. He is very deserving, his statistics clearly show, and it is a travesty that he is not a member. In his eighteen seasons Rock scored stole 854 bases (the all-time high) & scored 1,473 runs, that’s what his game was all about, getting on, stealing a base (or two) & scoring. He has a lifetime batting average of .291, 2,256 base hits, 405 doubles, 1,061 walks, and an OBP of .377. From 1984 to 1988 Tim scored 113, 101, 124, 151, & 125, for a five year average of nearly 123 runs scored per season. As a rookie in 1982 with the Davenport Fire Raines stole 104 bases, two years later he topped that with the Mercenaries stealing 109 times.
The best was yet to come, with the Phoenix in 1984, he arguably had his best season, batting .386, 224 hits in 580 at bats, 43 doubles, 8 triples, 9 homers, and 151 runs scored, he also walked 73 times, had 89 stolen bases, & had an amazing OBP of .455. Of course Raines was a member of the 1985 Mercenaries, who lost 136 games, and was a member of three last place teams with over 100 losses. But you can’t hold that against him, as he also was a member of four teams which finished in first place, three with 100+ wins, including the 1998 IAL Champion Gamblers. Interestingly the Gamblers & the Mercenaries are the same franchise, where he experienced the ultimate agony of defeat and the highest pinnacle of the thrill of victory.
Larry Walker played for 3 teams over his 16-year IAL career, hitting .291 with a .377 OBA and .554 SLG. The only player who played longer and slugged higher was Barry Bonds, and only 4 players played longer and had a better on-base. He hit 407 homer, drove in 1,343 runs, and scored 1,364 times. He also stole 233 bases and played Gold Glove caliber defense in the outfield. Walker’s most impressive year was 1998 with the Aurora Gamblers, when he hit .343 with 52 homer, 157 RBI, 156 runs, and 40 steals; this probably ranks as one of the best overall seasons in IAL history. He topped 40 HR 3 times, 100 RBI 6 times, and 100 runs scored 6 times. His struggles with injuries kept him to only 2,044 hits.
Dennis Eckersley pitched for 24 seasons, splitting time between starting and relieving; he won 168 games (versus 183 losses) and saved 208 games as a closer. He played for 10 different teams (made all the more amazing for the fact that for most of his career in the IAL was an 8-team league) which couldn’t have hurt his voting drive! Eck was a good but not great starter, winning 16 games twice, but it as a closer that he made his mark, mostly with the Dreamteam. From 1989 through 1993 he saved 154 games, with ERA’s of 2.13, 2.35, 2.45, 2.49, and, in 1993, 1.12! That year he saved 35 games in 52 appearances, throwing 80.2 innings with a 6-4 record and allowed only 40 hits and 10 earned runs all year
At the time of his induction, Barry Bonds was the IAL alltime leader in HRs, runs scored, and walks. Bonds was second only to Cal Ripken in games played, was third in RBIs, doubles, and OBP. Barry was 4th in alltime at bats and 5th in base hits. He was the Hitman for the Northside Hitmen clubs that finished in first place nine times (five of those teams won more than 100 games) and won four straight IAL Championships from 2000-03. He was named league MVP in 1994 & 2003. In addition to his outstanding offensive numbers, he was a Gold Glove caliber outfielder in his prime.
When Rafael Palmeiro was inducted into the IAL Hall of Fame nobody was better at driving in runs than he was, 1,779 ranked second to none. In addition Raffy was 2nd in games played & at bats, only Barry Bonds & Mark McGwire had more alltime homers, and there were only three players with more hits & doubles than Palmeiro. He played the bulk of his career with the Hell’s Kitchen Twelvetrees/Chicago Highlanders organization after being swapped from the Chicago Champions in exchange for Hubie Brooks. Unfortunately he retired one year before the Highlanders won the IAL Championship.
Drafted with an extra pick, Bags did his magic off the bench for three years, before earning a regular job as the Champions starting firstbaseman. All he did in his first year as a regular in 1995 was win the MVP, batting .380, with 52 homers, 58 doubles, 97 walks, 20 steals, 116 RBIs, and an amazing 157 runs scored, leading his ballclub to a first place finish, and the first of back-to-back championships. In eight straight years he scored over 100 runs. Jeff played his entire 14 year career with Chicago, finishing with 1,405 runs, 431 home runs, 1,126 RBIs, 1,131 walks, 180 stolen bases, a .286 batting average, and an OBP of .392. Not bad for a player drafted to beef up his team’s bench.
“Founding member of the Illowa APBA League and President for many years, Mike has had a direct impact on the IAL. As President, his selfless devotion of his time, energy, and talents as well as his sense of fairness have made the IAL what it is today. In addition, his baseball knowledge, amiability and good humor have made Mike a distinguished part of this League.”
In addition to playing a difficult position like secondbase well, Whitaker put together some pretty good numbers. Along with his 249 homeruns, he was 11th all time in runs scored, and 9th in doubles with 453, at the time of his induction.
If anyone epitomized the Chicago Champions and their dynasty, it was Mike Schmidt, a charter member of the Hall. Until recently, Schmidty was the homerun king with 535 lifetime dingers. He finished his career with 1,400 runs scored and 1,468 RBIs. Mike was the backbone of the Chicago Champions team that won seven championships.
Stieb was seventh in wins, at the time of his induction, with a 181-114 record, a .614 winning percentage, and a nifty 3.60 ERA. He won 96 games, completing 65 of 182 starts, in a span of five years with the Champions and Mercenaries (1982-1986). A workhorse, he pitched over 240 innings in four of those years. Dave’s winning ways contributed him to being on six championship ballclubs, with three different teams (2 each for the Champions, Mercenaries, & Cardinals), in 14 seasons.
Cal “Iron Man” Ripken, Jr. played every game and usually every inning from 1984 to 1999. During this tenure, Ripken helped lead the Chicago Champions to six IAL World Championships. Cal belied the image of a no-hit shortstop and hit over 30 homeruns in a season six times and drove in 100 runs five times. He is the IAL all-time leader in hits (2,843), rbis (1,652), games played (2,935), and at-bats (10,822). At the time of his induction, Ripken was 5th all-time in homeruns with 468, 2nd in doubles with 562 and 6th in runs with 1,391.
I don’t know how it happened, but somehow Tim Raines is not in the IAL Hall of Fame. He is very deserving, his statistics clearly show, and it is a travesty that he is not a member. In his eighteen seasons Rock scored stole 854 bases (the all-time high) & scored 1,473 runs, that’s what his game was all about, getting on, stealing a base (or two) & scoring. He has a lifetime batting average of .291, 2,256 base hits, 405 doubles, 1,061 walks, and an OBP of .377. From 1984 to 1988 Tim scored 113, 101, 124, 151, & 125, for a five year average of nearly 123 runs scored per season. As a rookie in 1982 with the Davenport Fire Raines stole 104 bases, two years later he topped that with the Mercenaries stealing 109 times.
History, ial hall of fame | Tedd Mallasch December 20, 2009 | 
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