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One of White Sox's best hitters, Baines, elected to Hall of Fame

After Frank Thomas went into the Hall of Fame in 2014 and Jim Thome was inducted into Cooperstown in July, it looked like a long lull was looming for players with White Sox ties to make it to Cooperstown.

Then again, maybe not.

Harold Baines, who spent 14 of his 22 seasons with the Sox and has remained with the organization as a coach and team ambassador, was elected to the Hall of Fame Sunday night by the Today's Game Era Committee.

Lee Smith, who spent 8 of his 18 seasons with the Cubs, was also inducted by the 16-member Today's Game Era Committee, which included White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and former White Sox manager Tony LaRussa.

Baines was initially on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot, but he never garnered more than 6.1 percent of the vote.

"I wasn't expecting this day to come," Baines said.

As a hitter, Baines undoubtedly has HOF numbers. The six-time all star has a career .289 batting average with 2,866 hits, 384 home runs and 1,628 RBI.

Baines will be inducted into Cooperstown on July 21.

"This is an incredible honor that is truly humbling," he said. "I would like to thank the Today's Game Era Committee members for bestowing me with this honor, and there are just so many people to thank for helping me reach my potential as a player and as a person."

Reinsdorf was a driving force in getting Baines into the Hall of Fame. Always a big fan of the left-handed hitter, Reinsdorf was behind the White Sox retiring his uniform No. 3 in 1989, three weeks after he was traded to the Rangers.

Baines didn't retire as a player until 2001.

"I'm just so excited," Reinsdorf told reporters at the winter meetings in Las Vegas Sunday night. "I'm honored to have been on the voting committee. He just deserved it. It was just a shame he didn't get in sooner than this. Harold is a great player.

"You look at the numbers he put up in the (19)80s and the '90s and played in the majors for 22 years. I don't think he ever had a bad year. Of course, there's no finer person than Harold Baines."

Baines had to wait it out because most voters didn't like the fact he played more games at designated hitter (1,643) than the outfield (1,061).

"If he had 3,000 hits, he would have been in sooner," Reinsdorf said.

FILE - In this Saturday, July 6, 1996, file photo, Chicago White Sox's Harold Baines (3) watches his ninth inning solo home run head for the center field seats during the White Sox's 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland. Smooth-swinging Baines was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Glidden, File)
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