10 moments that defined Harold Baines' career

CHICAGO – Harold Baines was and is a man of few words, with the quiet leader letting his stellar on-field performance do much of the talking.

Over 22 seasons with the White Sox, Orioles, A’s, Rangers and Indians, Baines hit .289 with 384 home runs, 1,628 RBIs, 2,866 hits, 1,299 runs scored, 2,830 games played and an .820 OPS.

He’s a Hall of Famer. He’s a White Sox legend, although he was traded by the team in 1989 and 1997. And he’s one of the game’s classiest players, who earned nothing but plaudits from his teammates and opponents alike.

Here’s a look at 10 standout moments from Baines’ long and successful tenure, as he turns 63 years old on Tuesday.

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White Sox retired jersey and sculpture

Baines had his jersey No. 3 retired by the White Sox in 1989, while he was still active and 12 years away from retirement in 2001. The concourse sculpture of Baines at Guaranteed Rate Field was unveiled in 2008. Honoring Baines made sense when considering he played three stints on Chicago’s South Side: from 1980-89, 1996-97, and 2000-01.

But they were extremely productive seasons. Baines began his career in right field but eventually moved to designated hitter, finishing his White Sox career No. 4 all-time with 221 home runs and as the only left-hander in the Top 5 for that White Sox category. He also ranks fourth with 981 RBIs for the White Sox, and fifth in doubles with 320. He went on to coach for the White Sox from 2004-15 and continues working for the organization as a community relations representative.

A long wait for a walk-off

The date of May 9, 1984 might be remembered in White Sox lore for Hall of Famer Tom Seaver picking up two victories over the Brewers. But one of those wins came in the resumption of a 25-inning contest from May 8 which was suspended after 17 innings and the game tied at 3-3. It was Baines who put an end to this two-day affair with a walk-off homer to center off Chuck Porter in the 25th.

Statistics in that game ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime. Julio Cruz finished 1-for-11 and Vance Law finished 1-for-10, while Tom Paciorek had five hits and Rudy Law knocked out four. Baines ended up 2-for-10 with two walks, helping the White Sox improve to 13-15 in a game lasting 8 hours, 6 minutes.

Guiding World Series champions

As a player, Baines never won a World Series championship although he did have 113 postseason plate appearances over 31 games with the White Sox (1983, 2000), Oakland (1990, 1992), Baltimore (1997) and Cleveland (1999). But he was part of the 2005 White Sox World Series title run as the bench coach for manager Ozzie Guillen.

This duo played together with the White Sox and became lifelong friends, working together in ’05 to help end an 88-year championship drought. The ’05 White Sox topped the American League Central from start to finish, tied a franchise record with 99 wins and posted an 11-1 postseason mark including a four-game World Series sweep of the Astros.

Baltimore Hall of Fame

Baines joined the Orioles’ Hall of Fame in 2009. The Orioles’ Hall of Fame began in 1977 with Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson serving as the inaugural class, and according to the Hall of Fame page at orioles.com, plaques for each member can be found on a brick wall along Oriole Park’s Eutaw Street walkway. Baines played seven seasons for Baltimore with a slash line of .301/.379/.502. He also hit 107 homers with 378 RBIs over 666 games.

Postseason prowess

There were eight playoff series for Baines across four teams, leading to a .324/.378/.510 slash line overall. But his best run came with Oakland in a 1992 Championship Series loss to the Blue Jays, as Baines finished 11-for-25 with one homer, six runs scored and four RBIs. He had four straight multi-hit games to start the six-game series, including the game-winning home run on a 1-0 pitch off fellow Hall of Famer Jack Morris leading off the ninth inning of Game 1 to break a 3-3 tie in Toronto.

He’s No. 1

The White Sox not only took Baines in the first round of the 1977 Draft, but they took him No. 1 overall. Baines went from St. Michaels High School in Maryland to the White Sox organization, run at that time by owner Bill Veeck and general manager Roland Hemond. He started with Appleton in the Midwest League and reached the White Sox in 1980.

During the 2009 Draft, the White Sox selected Harold Baines Jr. The left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder played one season in the organization.

Hall of Fame election

The Veterans Committee elected Baines to the Hall of Fame in 2019 via the Today’s Game Era ballot, as announced at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada. Baines was joined by Lee Smith, a hard-throwing closer who amassed 180 of his 478 career saves with the Cubs. Baines was on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot for five years, beginning in 2007. He never topped 6.1 percent in the voting, falling off the ballot in 2011 when he failed to reach five percent. But there’s little question Baines was a top-notch player during his prime.

Hall of Fame walk-off

In a battle of future Hall of Famers, Baines walked off Ferguson Jenkins on July 26, 1980 during a 4-3 victory over the Rangers at Comiskey Park. Baines connected leading off the ninth for his eighth career homer and only long ball against Jenkins. Baines went deep four times in his career against Nolan Ryan and just once against Jim Palmer, but it was Baines’ first career homer coming on April 19 of that same 1980 season.

One, two, three-homer games

Of Baines’ three career three-home run games, two took place with the White Sox and one for Oakland. Baines hit three against Detroit on July 7, 1982 with two off Jerry Ujdur and a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth against Elias Sosa. He also hit three on Sept. 17, 1984 at the Metrodome and then did it one more time on May 7, 1991 against the Orioles in Oakland. Baines hit homers off three different pitches on that night. The grand slam he launched off Sosa also was one of 13 in his career.

The final walk-off

Ten walk-off home runs against nine different opponents highlighted Baines’ illustrious career, with the final one coming on May 4, 1999 against the White Sox, of all teams, with the Orioles at Camden Yards. And it was a grand slam.

The Orioles trailed, 5-1, in the contest before rallying to tie the game with two in the ninth off Bob Howry. Baines connected against reliever David Lundquist in the 10th with pinch-runner Ricky Bones, Mike Bordick ad Brady Anderson on base and one out. For the record, Baines would go on to hit 31 more home runs after this walk-off slam and three more against the White Sox. His last career homer came with Chicago on Aug. 15, 2000 against Baltimore’s Jason Johnson. Baines never hit more than 29 in a season but had 12 seasons with at least 20.