It’s time for the baseball Hall of Fame debates to begin. From now until the results are announced, FanIQ will be taking a look at this year’s major candidates. Up next: Harold Baines.

Harold Baines certainly hung around for a long time, 22 seasons in all. Baines has the peculiar distinction of serving three separate stints with two different teams, the White Sox and the Orioles. This is Baines’s second year on the ballot. His career stats can be found here.

Pros For Induction

Baines finished his career with 2866 hits, good enough for 40^th all-time. It’s only seven less than Babe Ruth. Baines also finished with 384 career homers (51^st all-time), despite never hitting more than 30 in a year. Baines was as consistent as anyone in finishing with 20-25 homers every year.

Baines was scary consistent throughout this career. His 162 game averages for his career was .289/.356/.465, 22 HR, 93 RBI, 120 OPS+. Looking at his career, he rarely deviates a whole lot from that average. For someone who played 22 seasons, up to age 42, it’s pretty impressive.

Baines played in 1644 games as a DH (and 1060 as an outfielder). Objectively, Baines ranks right now as the 2^nd greatest designated hitter ever, behind Edgar Martinez.

Cons Against Induction

Being a DH primarily, Baines obviously provided zero defensive value. He didn’t provide much when he actually played the field either. In order to get in like that, one must be an amazing hitter. For many, a 120 OPS+ doesn’t shape up.

Baines might have been the slowest major leaguer in history. When he was with the Orioles, I thought I could outrun him. Looking at his numbers, I’m amazed he even stole 34 bases in his career (while getting caught 34 times). Needless to say, Baines provided very little baserunning value as well.

Baines’ career path was very flat. A lot of very good seasons, but few great ones. 1984 (.304/.361/.541, 29 HR, 94 RBI), 1989 (.309/.395/.465), and 1991 (.295/.383/.473) are probably his best seasons. As such, Baines received very few MVP votes in his career (top finish of 9^th in 1985), and few All-Star nods (five).

The Verdict

Harold Baines was a very good hitter for a very long time. However, at no point was he an outstanding hitter, considered one of the best in baseball. This matters since Baines was a full-time DH the majority of his career, meaning he had no defensive value, and at the same time was slower than molasses. Given those limitations, Baines had to have been a dominant hitter to make the Hall of Fame, and by that standard, he’s just not good enough.

Will He Get In?

The better question is will he stay on the ballot? Last year he received 5.3% of the vote in his debut. Election is out of the question, and it’s doubtful Baines will be able to stay on the ballot all fifteen years. His vote totals are still intriguing though, as they might give an indication on how well Edgar Martinez will do in a few years. If Baines can improve, it might be a good omen for Martinez and his supporters.

Now it’s your turn. Discuss Baines’s candidacy in the comments, and be sure to vote in both his individual poll and Seth’s poll encompassing the entire ballot.