The Veterans’ Committee was a committee of executives to elect figures from the 19th century to the Hall of Fame that had been overlooked. The first election elected worthy managers like John McGraw and Connie Mack, and contributors to the game like Ban Johnson. This committee would elect several illustrious figures over the years - Old Hoss Radbourn and Jesse Burkett.
But the committee was also used to elect buddies of people on the committee. There were head-scratching selections like Dave Bancroft (career .714 OPS!), Jesse Haines (career 3.64 ERA!), and Tom Yawkey (an owner who never won a championship and was pretty racist!)
In 2010, they changed the name of the committee to focus on particular eras of the game. The “Expansion Era Committee” elected General Manager Pat Gillick, a worthy selection. The “Golden Age Committee” elected Ron Santo, a very overlooked selection. This year, the committee was focused on “Today’s Game”, players from the era of 1988 to today that were no longer on the BBWAA ballot. The players they had under consideration were Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Joe Carter, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser, Davey Johnson, Charlie Manuel, Lou Piniella, Lee Smith and George Steinbrenner.
The committee went with Smith and Baines. And it went over well with the internet.
Harold Baines was on the ballot as recently as 2011 and received 4.8% of the vote. It was his fifth straight year with a vote total below 10%. Why, just seven years later, do 16 people get to decide that he's now a Hall of Famer when 95.2% of the voters didn't think he was one?
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) December 10, 2018
Harold Baines has a lower career fWAR than:
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) December 10, 2018
Jason Kendall
Chuck Knoblauch
Jesse Barfield
Gary Gaetti
Alfonso Soriano
Reggie Sanders
Ray Lankford
Carl Crawford
Darryl Strawberry
Devon White
Andy Van Slyke
Torii Hunter
Ellis Burks
Mark Grace
JD Drew
Ian Kinsler
If you’re going to open the door to Lee Smith, and Bruce Sutter is already enshrined, you damn well need to give serious consideration to Dan Quisenberry. I don’t think Quis is a HoF reliever, but since we’re here...
— Craig Brown (@CraigBrown_BP) December 10, 2018
Let's be frank: The elections of Jack Morris, Lee Smith, and (especially) Harold Baines are fully intended by voters to troll everyone who believes in objective analysis. They've lost power everywhere but here, but by God they're gonna use it. Embarrassing to Hall (or should be).
— robneyer ⚾️ ♂️ (@robneyer) December 10, 2018
Harold Baines spent 21 years in the big leagues, spending over half of his time as a designated hitter. He hit .289/.356/.465 with 384 home runs. He finished his career with 2,866 career hits, 46th-most all-time. He was a five-time All-Star, and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1989.
Baines also compiled just 38.7 career WAR, according to Baseball Reference. Sure, he takes a hit for not playing defense, but if you’re going to have one job, you need to excel at it. His career OPS+ was 121, compared to 137 for Will Clark and 144 for Albert Belle. Harold Baines belongs in the Hall of Very Good.
Lee Smith has a better case. His career ERA was 3.03, or a 132 ERA+, considering that the 80s were a lower offensive environment. For comparison, Dan Quisenberry had a 2.76 ERA or 146 ERA+.
Smith had much more longevity than Quiz, ending his career with 478 career saves, which at the time he retired was the most ever. His Hall of Fame resume pretty much starts and ends with that stat, it’s the number that got him in.
Smith, who was originally signed by then-Cubs scout Buck O’Neil, was a seven-time All-Star, considered a very good closer during his hey day, and he did receive Cy Young votes in four separate seasons, finishing second in 1991. He began his career during the days of the multi-inning fireman like Quiz or Goose Gossage, but pretty early on he evolved into the modern one-inning closer that we see today. His career WAR is 29.8, ninth-most among anyone with at least 100 saves, behind Tom Gordon, but at least ahead of Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman.
As for his Royals connection, Smith signed with Kansas City at the tail end of his career in 1998. He was angling for a set-up role, but with a pair of younger arms out of options, the Royals asked Smith to go to the minor leagues for a month. According to the Kansas City Star, before his next scheduled spring training appearance, Smith “simply didn’t show up at the clubhouse.”
Later Saturday, over coffee in his rental house near here, Smith explained his departure, which even caught manager Tony Muser by surprise.
``They had me on the list to throw yesterday. But they’d just got a guy from the Yankees, and they’d just asked me to go to Triple A,’’ Smith said. ``I didn’t think my chances were looking very good of me easing out there and pitching the seventh inning.
``I just decided to go on and relax and think about it. ‘’
And Kansas City missed out on a Hall of Famer.
The 16-person Today’s Game Committee consisted of Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven, Pat Gillick, Tony La Russa, Greg Maddux, Joe Morgan, John Schuerholz, Ozzie Smith, and Joe Torre; major league executives Al Avila, Paul Beeston, Andy MacPhail, and Jerry Reinsdorf; baseball historian Steve Hirdt; and reporters Tim Kurkjian and Claire Smith. Baines had a former teammate (Alomar), a former manager (LaRussa), and his former team owner (Reinsdorf) on the committee. Smith played with Maddux, and for MacPhail. Just missing the cut was former Royals outfielder Lou Piniella, appearing on 11 ballot. No other candidate was on more than five ballots.