A statue of Harold Baines has stood erect at Comiskey Park II/U.S. Cellular Field/Guaranteed Rate Field for well over a decade. It’s a special honor, but it pales in comparison to what’s coming for Baines next weekend- enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ahead of the magical weekend that will see the 60-year-old Maryland native granted his place in Cooperstown, and with it his place among baseball’s immortals, Harold Baines did a media conference call. He reflected on an amazing career which saw him defy the odds, the kinds you would see posted at online casinos usa. During the session, he was asked about his amazing getting scouted backstory. “I think its incredible story too,” said the who played 22 years in Major League Baseball, 14 with the Chicago White Sox.
“But I don’t know much about it, because normally – you know, people are telling me this.”
“You know, (White Sox Owner) Bill Veeck was actually watching me at the age of 12 playing the Little League game. So that came about after I got drafted six years later.”
Yep, now you see why so many Little League parents can often act so seriously nutty sometimes! Veeck made sure Baines was the first overall pick in 1977, but he only received a signing bonus of $32,000 a record low for a first overall pick. However, it’s a nice jackpot that you could hit playing with the online pokies australia. When you adjust that sum of money in 1977 to today’s dollars, it’s about $135,26o- certainly a nice chunk of change.
Two years after drafting Baines, Veeck staged his infamous Disco Demolition night, and on the 40th anniversary of the most disastrous promotion in baseball history, Harold Baines did a Cooperstown Hall call with the media.
The six time All-Star, whose first Major League at bat was against his fellow Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, was also asked if he had any main mentors when he was first coming up with the White Sox.
“Several guys. I mean I had Greg Luzinski, I had Carlton Fisk, (Jerry Kutzler), you know, a lot of – I mean I may got to look like to see what you do and if it works for me then I’m going to try to mimic it,” he said.
“And I will say Carlton Fisk is probably one of the hardest working baseball players I’ve seen to wear a uniform and working before the game and after the game.
“Till this day we’re friendly. I mean I think I never had – from the 22 years I have, I never had a teammate that I didn’t like.”
In the 14 years he was with the Sox, he won two division titles and experienced four different uniform re-brands.
Some other anecdotes from the call- Harold Baines hit four home runs and struck out just four times versus Nolan Ryan. And his favorite/least favorite ballpark to hit in during his 22 year career:
“Favorite would probably be Camden Yards and the least favorite is probably the old Cleveland Stadium.”
Harold Baines had a lifetime batting average of .289 and an OPS of .820. He finished just 134 hits shy of 3,000.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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