About Time

I ascribe it to my sister Barb already working her magic in heaven.  When we got home from her wake last night, Clare called to tell me that both Lee Smith and Harold Baines had been voted into Cooperstown.  Thank you, members of the Today’s Era Committee (and big sister).

I know Smith has 478 career saves because he wrote it on the ball he autographed to my daughter when she was a high school senior. “To Clare: You can’t hit me never.”  The two of them had met at a suburban memorabilia store and got into a classic hitter-pitcher argument—yes, I can; no, you can’t.  If only I’d recorded it for YouTube.

As to Baines, I remember an extra-inning Sox game against the Angels sometime in the mid-1980s.  With the winning run on second base, I saw the catcher move way inside against Baines; California manager Gene Mauch must’ve wanted to brush Harold back.  The pitcher did that, and then some, sending him sprawling on the ground.  The next pitch, Baines drove in the winning run.  There may be a message somewhere in that on why Mauch never took a team to the World Series.

Apparently, both selections have upset critics nationally, especially the analytics’ crowd with Baines.  How 1,628 homeruns on only 384 home runs with a lifetime .289 BA doesn’t qualify for the Hall of Fame is beyond me.  So, Baines gets into the HOF ahead of Edgar Martinez.  We have a saying on the South Side:  That’s too damn’ bad.