Born in
St. Albans, West Virginia, Raines is recognized for having been the first ballplayer to perform professionally in
Minor League Baseball,
Negro league baseball,
Japanese Baseball and the major leagues. In 1952, he topped the
East–West All-Star Game poll with a total of 24,583 votes and started at
shortstop for the Western Division at
Comiskey Park. In 1953, Raines traveled to Japan where he played two seasons for the
Hankyu Braves. Raines posted a .286
batting average with eight
home runs and 49
runs batted in through 120 games in his season debut. Then in 1953, he won the
Pacific League batting title with a .337 average, while collecting 18 homers and 96 RBI in 137 games. Afterwards, Raines returned in 1955 to the United States and agreed to sign a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. Raines spent two years in the Cleveland minor league system before being promoted to the Indians in 1957. He was used sparingly in some ways, going up and down between the majors and the minors until 1958. Raines died in 1978 in
Lansing, Michigan, at the age of 47. ==See also==