Helper function for getting raw and rendered field data

In order to sanely deal with core dates (timestamps) and Field API date fields, I resorted to writing my own handlers, and forcibly overriding them in hook_views_data_alter(). The both consist of a custom_render($values):

Timestamps:

class custom_handler_field_date extends views_handler_field_date {
  function custom_render($values) {
    return array(
      'value' => array(array(
        'rendered' => array('#markup' => $this->render($values)),
        'raw' => array(
          'value' => $values->{$this->field_alias},
        ),
      )),
      'field_name' => $this->field_alias,
    );
  }
}

Field API fields:

class custom_handler_field_field extends views_handler_field_field {
  function custom_render($values) {
    return array(
      'value' => $this->get_items($values),
      'field_name' => $this->definition['field_name'],
    );
  }
}

Here's the output:

There are two discrepancies I'm dealing with.

One is the non-existence of $this->definition['field_name'] for views_handler_field_date, and that for views_handler_field_field, $this->field_alias is the base field (nid, uid, whatever).

The other is that views_handler_field_field has the handy get_items(), while views_handler_field_date does not.

If a helper function could be added to resolve this, or changes to the definition or something, that'd be great, and I'd love to write that patch.
Or, if there is a better way to do this without needing to override the handler altogether, this can be retagged as a support request and I'd love to be schooled on the better way.