Beware the Ides and Left Handed Charlie Lau disciples of March!

Saturday is the day that Harold Douglas Baines was born. The hospital records showed he went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI's.

I know its silly to still care about a player who has not played in years, and is not going to get into the Hall of Fame. Even though he did amass over 2800 hits, 384 HR's and 1600 RBI's, he at least stayed on the ballot for another year.  It was tough being a White Sox fan in the 80's period, outside of 1983, which ended badly. Tougher when you live in Orange County and had to get crap about being a White Sox fan from friends. All of the hazing did not matter, Harold made it tolerable to be a Sox fan and make through Donnie Hill booting a grounder or a Dave LaPoint 3 inning start. Harold was a rock and I loved watching him when I could. I still loved the watching him play after he was sent to Texas (a very dark period in my adolescence), then Oakland, then Baltimore and then ping ponging between Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore his last few season.  He was a man of very few words, I think Harold may have been part ninja. He is the only man in the history of MLB history to have spoken less words in his career than hits he collected.

My Favorite Harold Baines Moments:

5. Opening Day 1987. Sadly I could not ditch school, but I did wager that Baines would go yard, and he did. Off Bullet Bob Stanton. Best $5 I won. I am just sorry Ivan Calderon had to get plugged after that homer. RIP Ivan!

4. Harold being selected to the 1999 All-Star Game at age 40. He was tearing it up Till the O's dealt him to Cleveland. Where he just sat on the bench. Could of finally had 30 HR's in a season, but no the Indians had to futz about. That's why you did not win in 1999!

3. Harold Baines re-signing with the Sox in Winter of 1995. Fortune would have it I would get to see Harold Baines play in a Sox uniform (Thankfully the team had finally figured out a uniform that was not awful, Harold had to suffer through the Court Jester Uni's, The South American Airline uni's and the boring uni's of the late 80's) at Comiskey. Sure it was New Comiskey, but still.

2. Harold being named to the White Sox coaching staff, in 2004. Watching Ozzie bring back the White Sox of my past made me excited again to be a Sox fan.

1. May 7, 1990 Harold Baines 7 Baltimore 3. I was just going to watch but I watched the whole thing. So thanks ESPN for broadcasting this game. Baines went 4 for 4 3HR's (almost 4 HR's the double he hit was half way up the wall) 7 RBI's. His last at bat Bob Malicki did not even come close to throwing a strike to Harold. I think he may have tried to throw one into the San Francisco Bay.

Honorable Mention:

October 19th 1990 - Harold Baines crushes a Tom Browning pitch into the grass they used to have at the Oakland Coliseum. That was the last time the A's felt good in that series.

The 1992 ALCS - Harold going 11 for 25, at the time setting the record for most hits in an ALCS along with Spitty McSpitter aka Robby Alomar, but that was broken soon after. This all included a homer off Jack Morris in the top of the 9th to give the A's a lead they would hold on to. Since this was back when CBS had the playoffs, probably no one saw Harold talking about that shot. Amazing thing he actually said more than 8 words.

I plan to send Saturday, saying very little, lacing extra base hits all across my neighborhood and wear as many different colored White Sox gear I own. I do really hope I can crack a screaming double in the middle of those freaking Heshers who have to have band practice and play their craptastic music. My wife was telling me they were trying to do some Skynard. (No I am not asking them to do Freebird). I told her it sounded more like Leonard Skidmarks, but I am going off on a tangent here.

So I close this awful bit of writing to again wish you a great St. Harold's Day, but to tell you no I have never had a restraining order put out on me, yet on my Harold Baines obsession. However the NFL is looking into the matter since I have been stalking them for years.

Lastly in honor of St Harold's Day after 6 PM, every time I have accomplished something, no matter what, I will be pinch ran for. After the knee surgeries Harold did not have the same wheels.

Thank you for your patronage. Also if any of this makes any kind of sense, then it was purely by chance.