Seven former Orioles are on the 10-man ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Today’s Game” ballot.
They’re Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Joe Carter, Will Clark, Davey Johnson, Lou Piniella and Lee Smith. The non-Orioles up for consideration are Orel Hershiser, Charlie Manuel and George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner is the only candidate who isn’t alive.
The Hall of Fame has four Era committees who consider players and executives who haven’t been elected to the Hall.
Baines had three iterations with the Orioles, playing seven seasons with the team. Overall, he played 22 major league seasons and had 2,866 hits.
With the Orioles, Baines, who is a member of the team’s Hall of Fame, hit 301 and played in the 1997 postseason.
In five seasons on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot, Baines topped out at 6.1 percent in 2010.
Belle played the last two of his 12 major league seasons with the Orioles, and was one of the most controversial players in team history.
In December 1998, Belle signed a then record-breaking, five-year, $65-million contract with the Orioles, but a chronic hip condition ended his career at the end of the 2000 season.
Bellie hit 60 home runs and drove in 220 runs in 1999 and 2000, hitting .289. He was on the BBWAA ballot twice, receiving 7.7 percent of the vote in 2006.
Carter, who was best known for his World Series-winning home run in 1993 for the Toronto Blue Jays, played 85 games for the Orioles in 1998, hitting .247. He received 3.8 percent of the BBWAA vote in 2003.
Clark appeared in 156 games for the Orioles in 1999 and 2000, hitting .301. Most of his 15-year career was spent with San Francisco and Texas.
Johnson, who is also in the Hall of Fame, played the first eight of his 13 seasons with the Orioles and managed them in 1996 and 1997, going to the postseason in both years.
A good player, who hit .259 in his time with the Orioles, Johnson will be under consideration as a manager.
Johnson was 186-138 (.574) with the Orioles. His 1,372 wins are 31st on the all-time managers list, and his 1986 New York Mets won the World Series.
Piniella, who played the first four games of his long major league career with the Orioles in 1964, had a fine major league career, primarily with the New York Yankees. He stands out as a manager, with 1,835 wins, 16th all-time. He won the 1990 World Series with Cincinnati.
Smith spent just the strike-shortened 1994 season with the Orioles, where he had a 3.29 ERA and a league-leading 33 saves. He made his sixth All-Star team that season.
He was on the BBWAA ballot for 15 years, and came closest of any of the players to election. In 2012, Smith received 50.6 percent of the vote. Seventy-five percent of the vote is needed for election.
The vote will be announced Dec. 9 at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. BBWAA election results will be announced Jan. 22.
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I believe Lee Smith ultimately is inducted, somehow, by a committee. He was too good for too long to be overlooked. Pinella and Davey are marginal candidates, but probably on the outside looking in. As for the others, nyet.
Blaine’s and Daley Johnson without a doubt. Maybe Lee Smith, the others no.
Harold Blaine’s and Davey Johnson.
I’m adamant over Harold and Daley.
But, especially Harold. What a DH he was, but only because of his knees.
In his youthful days he was a respectable fielder.
No Albert Belle please. He was a selfish player who corked his bat.