Dodgers' Andrew Friedman Shares Heartwarming Story About a Hall of Famer

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jun 28, 2024

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Not all heroes wear capes. Andrew Friedman's childhood hero wore a Montreal Expos jersey and was a 2017 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' president of baseball operations was featured on the Hall of Fame's social media account on Thursday afternoon telling his story about a chance encounter with Tim Raines. Friedman had his mom drive him to the Westin Galleria whenever the Expos were in Houston and he would wait to catch a glimpse of his favorite baseball player getting off the elevator.

When the doors opened and revealed Raines, Friedman approached him with a stack of 70 baseball cards. He asked for an autograph but Raines didn't just sign one. He told Friedman to come back to the hotel tomorrow and took the whole stack with him.

Friedman returned and waited by the elevator. Raines appeared with all 70 cards autographed.

A small act of kindness can leave the biggest impact.@TimRaines30 made a fan for life after meeting a young Andrew Friedman, now the @Dodgers president of baseball operations. pic.twitter.com/eiFaeP8XKd

— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) June 27, 2024

Raines retired from baseball as the most successful base stealer – ranked by percentage – in MLB history. He finished his big league career with a stolen base percentage of 84.7, the best of any player with 400-plus steals (since caught stealing became an official statistic in 1951).

He spent parts of 23 seasons in the big leagues playing for the Expos, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Florida Marlins.

He recorded 2,605 hits, 980 RBIs, and a .294 batting average during his career. He is the only player in big league history with at least 100 triples, 150 home runs, and 600 stolen bases, and is the only player to record four different seasons with at least 50 extra-base hits and 70 steals.

Raines earned an All-Star selection in each of his first seven seasons. He finished in the top 10 of MVP voting three times and won a Silver Slugger and a batting title in 1986 with a .334 average.