Tim Raines returns 'home' for ultimate Montreal honour a beer can in his name

Montreal Expos great Tim Raines was back in the city that gave him his start in professional baseball Tuesday, and the soon to be Hall-of-Famer said it was"nice to come back home."

"BecauseMontreal is my home," Raines said, improving on his claim at a City Hall ceremony back in March that Montreal was his "second home."

He did receive akey to the city back then, so the upgrade only makes sense.

Local honours piling up

Tuesday was another day of local honours for the base-stealing legendnicknamed "Rock," who in January was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his final year on the ballot.

Labattunveiled a commemorative Budweiser can bearing his name and the number 30 that he wore during his 13 years with the Expos.

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It was the latest in a series of accolades bestowed on Raines since the Hall of Fame election.

Prior to beinghanded a key to the city by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderreat the end ofMarch,he dropped the puck at a Montreal Canadiens game. The capacity crowd at the Bell Centre exploded.

Same thing again 24-four hours later, only louder,when Raines appeared before 50,000 baseball fans attending a Toronto Blue Jays exhibition game at the Olympic Stadium, where he threw out the first pitch.

• PHOTOS: Outpouring of love for Tim Raines from 43,000 baseball fans

'A dream come true'

Tuesday's beer can ceremonywas a lower key affair.For Raines, however,the moment was no less significant.

"This is what all athletes dream about to be recognized as one of the best in their sport," he said. "It's a dream come true."

Raines recalled his first days in Montreal as an 18-year-old rookie in baseball, and in life.

"I didn't know much about Montreal coming here it was certainly different at first," he said.

The digital chickens strutting across the scoreboard at Olympic Stadium confused him and Raines didn't speak French, which he saidwas tough.

But a shared love of baseball helped bridge the language gap.

"I embraced the way the fans approached and cheered for the game," he said. "It inspired me as a player and I knew that every day I stepped out on the field, the fans were going to be out there to cheer their hearts out."

Within a month, Raines said he realized that Montreal was going to be "a really cool place to play."

"And the way it turned out, it couldn't be cooler."

Raines will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in a ceremony on the weekend of July 28.

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