42 (IN HONOR OF MARIANO RIVERA) FUN FACTS ABOUT HALL OF FAMERS HAROLD BAINES AND LEE SMITH
Harold Baines was the first overall pick in the 1977 MLB Draft, selected by the White Sox. He’s the second to make the Hall from that first round, joining No. 3 pick Paul Molitor, chosen by the Brewers. In the fourth round, the Padres chose Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. In the fifth round, the Expos picked Hall of Famer Tim Raines.
Lee Smith was drafted by the Cubs in the second round of the 1975 MLB Draft. In the first round, the Cubs chose Brian Rosinski, who never reached the majors. In the 11th round, the Expos chose Hall of Famer Andre Dawson.
Baines had three stints with the Sox: from 1980 to 1989, from 1996 to 1997 after signing as a free agent and from 2000 to 2001, his last season, after being traded by the Orioles. Baines had his No. 3 retired by the Sox on Aug. 20, 1989. They brought it out of retirement for Baines to wear each time he returned. The top three saves leaders of all time – Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601) and Lee Smith (478) – are now in the Hall.
Harold Baines was a six-time All-Star (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1999).
Lee Smith was a seven-time All-Star (1983, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995).
In five years on the writers’ ballot for the Hall of Fame, Baines received 5.3, 5.2, 5.9, 6.1 and 4.8 percent of the votes cast.
Smith was a Cub from 1980 to 1987 and then played for the Cardinals, Red Sox, Angels, Expos, Reds, Yankees and Orioles.
Baines played 1,670 games with the South Siders, tied for seventh-most all-time with Eddie Collins. He also played for the Orioles (he’s in their Hall of Fame), A’s, Rangers and Indians.
Smith pitched in 458 games (six starts) with the North Siders, third-most all-time with the team.
11 Baines totaled 2,866 hits in his career, 1,773 with the Sox, sixth on the team’s all-time list.
12 Smith saved 180 games for the Cubs, most in franchise history (Bruce Sutter had 113 saves). 13 Baines hit 384 career homers, 221 with the Sox, third all-time behind Frank Thomas (448) and Paul Konerko (432). 14 Only three Cubs have pitched more than 400 games in relief: Carlos Marmol (470), Smith (452) and Don Elston (434).
15 Baines totaled 1,628 RBI in his career, 981 with the Sox, the fourth-most in franchise history. 16 Among pitchers with 300-plus games in relief for the Cubs, Smith’s 644 strikeouts are second only to Carlos Marmol’s 703.
17 Baines led the American League in slugging in 1984 at .541. It was the only time he ever led the league in any category.
18 Smith led the National League in saves in 1983, 1991 and 1992, and the AL in saves in 1994.
19 Baines hit 10 walk-off homers in his career, eight with the Sox. His first one came Sept. 10, 1983, against the Rangers, off a pitcher you might have heard of: Ferguson Jenkins. 20 Growing up in Louisiana, Smith told me he had two baseball heroes: first Bob Gibson, and then Jenkins. 21 Baines hit his first career homer April 19, 1980, against fellow Hall of Famer Jim Palmer of the Orioles.
22 Smith was not a good hitter, going 3-for-63 in his career (.047). But one of his hits was a homer off another Hall of Famer, Phil Niekro, on July 5, 1982. It came in the last of the six starts Smith made in his career. He went 0-5 as a starter.
23 Baines topped out finishing ninth in the 1985 AL MVP race. He finished 20th in 1982, 10th in 1983 and 13th in 1984. He didn’t receive MVP votes after 1985. 24 Smith finished ninth in Cy Young Award voting in 1983, second in 1991, fourth in 1992 and fifth in 1994. He also finished 18th in MVP voting in 1983, eighth in 1991 and 14th in 1994.
25 On May 9, 1984, Baines completed a game that began May 8 but was suspended after 18 innings. In the 25th, he hit a walk-off homer as the Sox beat the Brewers 7-6 in a game that lasted 8 hours, 6 minutes.
26 On July 14, 1987, in the All-Star Game in Oakland, Smith pitched three innings, striking out Kirby Puckett (twice), Mark McGwire and Tony Fernandez. He earned the win for the NL in a game that lasted 13 innings. 27 Baines batted over .300 eight times, the same as Ken Griffey Jr., Puckett, Raines, Lou Brock, David Ortiz and Minnie Minoso.
28 Smith appeared in more than 60 games in relief in 12 seasons, a number exceeded only by Mike Stanton (13) and Rivera (15).
29 Baines hit 20-plus homers in 11 seasons, just like Johnny Bench, Jim Rice, Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio and Ron Santo.
30 Smith had 13 seasons with 20-plus saves, a number exceeded only by Hoffman (15) and Rivera (16). 31 Baines had more extra-base hits than any other lefty batter in Sox history with 585.
32 Smith had 169 saves of at least 1 1/3 innings, fourth on the all-time list behind only Rollie Fingers (201), Rich Gossage (193) and Sutter (189). 33 Baines hit five homers each off Charlie Hough and Todd Stottlemyre, his favorite victims. He hit .294 against Jack Morris with 35 hits (his most against any pitcher) in 119 at-bats.
34 Smith faced Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt in 45 plate appearances and whiffed him 15 times, his most against any batter. 35 Baines had three three-homer games, just like Ted Williams, Eddie Murray and Joe DiMaggio. 36 Smith had 17 one-inning saves in which he struck out the side. 37 Baines had 1,691 hits as a designated hitter, 83 more than Edgar Martinez and exceeded only by David Ortiz, who had 2,191.
38 Smith exceeded 40 saves four times, with a high of 47 in 1991, which was an NL record at the time. 39 Baines is now the Hall of Fame leader for basestealers with a 50 percent success rate. He stole 34 bases and was caught 34 times in 22 seasons. 40 Batters hit just .215 against Smith in his career with runners in scoring position and just .199 with RISP and two outs.
41 Baines hit .291 with runners in scoring position and .280 with RISP and two outs.
42 In seven plate appearances, Baines went 2-for-5 (.400) with two walks against Smith.