Back in his Expos days, Rock Raines often flew under the radar. But at least two observers shrewdly recognized a legend in the making. None other than Pete Rose said Raines was "the best player in the National League," while stat savant Bill James went so far as to call him "clearly the greatest lead-off man in National League history." Here, master painter Dick Perez captures the speed demon sliding into second past fellow HOFer Joe Morgan—whose exploits with the 1970s Big Red Machine actually inspired Raines to pass on a potential NFL career. "Joe Morgan is the reason I chose to be a professional baseball player," Raines has said. "Seeing the things he did on the field was phenomenal. He was a second baseman, hit home runs and stole bases." Perez's trademark impressionist style is the perfect medium for this 2-foot-by-2-foot tribute, with its dynamic details, lush color palette and balanced compositional design.

Please Note: Dick Perez enjoyed the distinct honor of serving for over two decades as the Official Artist of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Perez's dazzling portraits of every Cooperstown inductee, arranged in year order, are the subject of his 2011 luxury book The Immortals. Dick is currently hard at work on an updated edition—to be released next spring—that will include the HOF Classes of 2011 through 2017. We are excited to announce that this auction's trio of oversized action scenes featuring Raines, Bagwell and Rodriguez represent the only sneak preview of Perez's brand-new pieces prior to publication.

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