LAS VEGAS -- Someone always cries during those Hall of Fame news conferences. On Monday, it was Harold Baines' turn.
The odds seemed long that it would be the stoic Baines, not Lee Smith, who choked up. Not that it's the kind of thing one would bet on, but after all, it is Vegas and gambling is in the air.
The occasion was the day-after meeting of baseball's newest Hall of Famers with the gathered media on hand for the winter meetings. Baines, whose business card surely contains the words "professional hitter," sat on one side of the dais, while Smith, who logged 478 career saves, sat on the other.
Both players found their way into Cooperstown after the Hall's Today's Game Committee voted them in over the weekend. This is the kickoff event to every winter meetings and it's a happy occasion, no matter who it is giving those day-after media events. Family, old teammates, managers, executives, friends .... a smattering of all the above are on hand, along with the reporters, who are just grateful to have something to write about after a day of many whispers but few declarations.
It was an odd occasion, in a way, because of the job descriptions of the newly minted immortals. Baines is best remembered as a designated hitter, while Smith, of course, was a short reliever. It was a day for the specialists. Questions remain about just what kind of presence specialists ought to have in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, but none of those was broached Monday. For one thing, it's not really a matter of the players needing to defend themselves. They did not vote themselves in. For another thing, to be frank, no one really wants to rain on another person's parade.
The selection of Smith might have garnered more scrutiny than it has if not for the selection of Baines. The web portals, social media apps and online forums were lit up with a furor over his induction, and what it signifies in terms of what the Hall of Fame has become. (The Hall of the Very Good!) Baines' name, as the avatar of this furor, was attached to all of these wails. Thus, it almost feels as though it was his fault when, of course, it is not. For what it's worth, Baines seemed to be as surprised as anyone when he got the call Sunday.
"To be honest, I wasn't sitting around waiting for it, to get a call," Baines said. "Because I didn't play the game for the Hall of Fame. I played a game to have a job and try to win championships."
In the first row of the seated audience were most of the members of the 16-person panel who cast the votes that got Baines and Smith over the threshold. Among them were Tony La Russa, who managed Baines when he broke in with the Chicago White Sox and again midcareer, when La Russa was leading the Oakland Athletics. Down the row was Jerry Reinsdorf, who has been the face of the White Sox ownership group since 1981, Baines' second season in the major leagues.
We don't know who voted for whom; that much is a well-guarded secret. What we do know is that Reinsdorf's influence in the game is considerable. We also know that he was greatly in favor of Baines' admission.
"So happy for Harold," Reinsdorf said, via press release. "He's a great player and a great human being. I am so honored that I was a member of the committee. He deserved to be in long ago. I am just so excited."
With Reinsdorf, once a White Sox, always a White Sox, if that's the way you want it. Since retiring from Chicago in 2001, Baines has served as a hitting instructor, as the bench coach on the club's 2005 championship team, has done charity and community work. Chances are, he will stay associated with the Sox as long as he wants.
This theme of fierce loyalty is common when it comes to working for Reinsdorf. It's not just the players. It's been the same for executives, for broadcasters like Ken Harrelson, for those who work in the press box, in the sales department, who show fans to their seats, who help secure Guaranteed Rate Field. It's been true for Baines, and at least in part, that relationship of mutual loyalty has helped him achieve the game's highest honor.
"They know what I feel about them," Baines said of Reinsdorf and La Russa, and their presence on the committee. "They're very special to me. It probably helped me, to be honest. But our friendship goes further than the game of baseball."
This is not to suggest that Reinsdorf strong-armed Baines' way to Cooperstown. For one thing, we know for a fact that he cannot dictate the decisions of Hall committees. For years, Reinsdorf has been an outspoken advocate for the candidacy of late White Sox great Minnie Minoso, yet there still is no plaque of him in the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery. What we can suggest is that if you are loyal to Reinsdorf, he will be loyal to you.
While this is surely a corollary to this theme, this is a message that ought not to be lost on the transaction front. Despite the fact that the White Sox are coming off the first full season of their rebuilding plan, there have been frequent whispers that Chicago is interested in the top prizes on this winter's free-agent market, namely Manny Machado and, especially, Bryce Harper.
Bryce Harper #34 white Sox stage set up at United Center pic.twitter.com/mDF0ohgrNp
— Andy Rapp (@AndyRapp) November 8, 2018
The fit on the surface might seem awkward, but think about it. One of the things that mark these two stars as particularly enticing is their age. Harper broke into the majors at the age of 19, Machado just after turning 20, and for all they've accomplished already, their peak seasons might well lie ahead. For Chicago, which has already seen an initial wave of prospects hit the South Side in the form of Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, the injured Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez, that means that it can offer a window of winning that is only just starting to creak open.
Given a pristine payroll prospectus, the White Sox can also offer loads of cash, always a key part of free agency (says Captain Obvious). It seems likely that Chicago isn't setting up meetings between Harper and Hall of Famer Jim Thome, as has been reported, just as a matter of due diligence, or because it's hoping for a tumble in Harper's market value. One would think that if the White Sox are getting into this game, they are playing to win, even if it means going an extra year on a long-term deal, ponying up a few extra million or throwing in a sweetener like a player opt-out clause.
Once the dollars are fixed, and Harper or Machado is making his final determination, they might be drawn to scenes like we saw at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Monday. One where the stoic Baines, who was trying his best to keep his answers to four words or less, broke down when asked about who he was thinking about on his special day. Well, he was thinking of his late father, and as poker-faced as Baines tried to be in the gambling mecca of America, the emotion of the moment won out. Who would have thought?
"My father's not here," Baines said. "He was my hero. That's the only thing I miss, is him not being here."
That special moment was unlikely to have ever happened, given Baines' lack of an objective case for the Hall of Fame. It was controversial for reasons that have nothing to do with the man himself. And it was wholly unforgettable. The moment might never have happened if not for the long and fruitful association Baines has enjoyed with the White Sox in general, and Reinsdorf in particular. Reinsdorf is 82 years old, and it's not clear what will happen when he's no longer around. But if there is an organizational legacy he can impart to his successors: If you do right by me, I'll do right by you.
It's not a bad message to send for a team looking to make the biggest of splashes over the next few days.