Harold Baines, American baseball player and coach
Harold Douglas Baines (born March 15, 1959) is an American former professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter (DH), who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians, for 22 seasons (1980–2001). Baines batted and threw left-handed. He had three stints as a player with the White Sox, where he also coached from 2004 to 2015, before moving into a role of team ambassador and spring training instructor. Baines, a Maryland native, played seven years with his hometown team, the Orioles, over three separate stints.Upon his retirement, Baines ranked seventh in American League (AL) history in games played (2,830) and tenth in runs batted in (RBI) (1,628). Noted as well for his power hitting in clutch situations, he is tied for seventh in AL history in grand slams (13), fourth in three-home-run games (3), and tied for seventh in major league history in walk-off home runs (10). Baines batted over .300 eight times and hit .324 in 31 career postseason games, topping the .350 mark in five separate series.
A six-time All-Star, Baines led the AL in slugging percentage in 1984. He held the White Sox team record for career home runs from 1987 until Carlton Fisk passed him in 1990; Baines’s eventual total of 221 remains the club record for left-handed hitters, as do his 981 RBI, and 585 extra base hits with the team. His 1,643 games as a DH were a big league record until David Ortiz broke that record in 2014. He held the mark for career home runs as a DH (236) until Edgar Martínez passed him in 2004. Baines also led the major leagues in hits as a DH (1,688) until the mark was surpassed by Ortiz in 2013. Baines was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Today's Game Era Committee as part of the Class of 2019.