Both Harold Baines and Lee Smith were elected by the 16 member "Today's Game Era" committee. Instead of the Old Timers committee, baseball now has four committees:
(1) Early Baseball: Prior to 1950
(2) Golden Days: 1950 to 1969
(3) Modern Baseball: 1970 to 1987
(4) Today's Game: 1988 to Present
Lee Smith got all 16 votes, while Harold Baines got the minimum 12 votes for election.
I am sorry, but while I think that Baines was a very good player, I do not think he was of Hall of Fame caliber. In my opinion, I think a Hall of Fame player should either have certain landmark stats like 300 wins or 500 home runs or 3,000 hits, or should be considered a dominant player at his position during the time that he played. Baines did not check either of those boxes. I think that he only got the needed 12 votes because two of the committee members were Jerry Reinsdorf and Tony La Russa. He does have one thing going for him - he is not the most undeserving former White Sox player in the Hall. That honor belongs to Nellie Fox.
As an aside, the idea of having 4 committees for 4 separate eras is simply asinine. The former "Old Timers Committee" was bad enough in electing undeserving players into the Hall of Fame. With 4 committees and 4 eras, we will see more players like Harold Baines elected.
Again a very good player, but simply not a Hall of Fame player in my opinion. This is a guy whose best percentage of votes in the Baseball Writers regular vote was 6.1%, well short of the 75% needed for election. That is why Baines was dropped from eligibility after 5 years. The writers who saw him play certainly did not think he was Hall of Fame worthy.
Some of the more prominent players on the ballot who were not voted in today were: Joe Carter, Albert Belle, Will Clark, and Orel Hershiser.
(1) Early Baseball: Prior to 1950
(2) Golden Days: 1950 to 1969
(3) Modern Baseball: 1970 to 1987
(4) Today's Game: 1988 to Present
Lee Smith got all 16 votes, while Harold Baines got the minimum 12 votes for election.
I am sorry, but while I think that Baines was a very good player, I do not think he was of Hall of Fame caliber. In my opinion, I think a Hall of Fame player should either have certain landmark stats like 300 wins or 500 home runs or 3,000 hits, or should be considered a dominant player at his position during the time that he played. Baines did not check either of those boxes. I think that he only got the needed 12 votes because two of the committee members were Jerry Reinsdorf and Tony La Russa. He does have one thing going for him - he is not the most undeserving former White Sox player in the Hall. That honor belongs to Nellie Fox.
As an aside, the idea of having 4 committees for 4 separate eras is simply asinine. The former "Old Timers Committee" was bad enough in electing undeserving players into the Hall of Fame. With 4 committees and 4 eras, we will see more players like Harold Baines elected.
Again a very good player, but simply not a Hall of Fame player in my opinion. This is a guy whose best percentage of votes in the Baseball Writers regular vote was 6.1%, well short of the 75% needed for election. That is why Baines was dropped from eligibility after 5 years. The writers who saw him play certainly did not think he was Hall of Fame worthy.
Some of the more prominent players on the ballot who were not voted in today were: Joe Carter, Albert Belle, Will Clark, and Orel Hershiser.
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