LAS VEGAS — Longtime closer Lee Smith and smooth-swinging Harold Baines have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Results of the 16-member Today’s Game Era Committee were announced at the winter meetings. It took 12 votes for election – Smith was unanimous and Baines got 12.
“Very shocked,” Baines said on a conference call.
Former outfielder and manager Lou Piniella fell one vote short.
Smith and Baines debuted in Chicago during the 1980 season. Smith began with the Cubs and went on to post a then-record 478 saves, while Baines started out with the White Sox and had 2,866 career hits.
George Steinbrenner, Orel Hershiser, Albert Belle, Joe Carter, Will Clark, Davey Johnson and Charlie Manuel all received fewer than five votes.
Baines was a .289 hitter with 384 home runs in a 22-year career. He never drew more than 6.1 percent in five elections by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, far from the 75 percent required.
“I wasn’t expecting this day to come,” the six-time All-Star said.
The Hall board-appointed panel included longtime White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, and Baines said he was grateful for his support. Hall members Greg Maddux, Roberto Alomar, Joe Morgan, Bert Blyleven, Pat Gillick, Tony La Russa, John Schuerholz, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torre also were on the panel.
Smith’s fastball helped him become a seven-time All-Star in an 18-year-old career. He owned the record for saves when he retired during the 1997 season while with Montreal, but Trevor Hoffman and then Mariano Rivera reset the mark.
Smith, who never got more than 51 percent in 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, is the seventh pitcher who was mostly a reliever to make the Hall. Baines was a designated hitter for much of his career, and DHs have struggled to gain backing from Hall voters.
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