Harold Baines is another favorite player of mine whom I've gotten an autograph. This was on his 1981 Topps rookie card. I believe I tried getting more autographs through the mail but it wasn't always successful so the Baines and Zane Smith cards are the only autographed cards I have. This card is cool. It is his rookie card and to have his autograph on it makes it one of my favorite cards.
Baines was a great hitter and has been brought up in Hall of Fame discussions but I can't say myself that he deserves induction. I did think he deserve more votes than the 6.1% he topped out at in Hall of Fame voting. There is no denying he was great with the bat. He finished with 2866 hits, a .289 batting average and was a six time all-star. He also batted .324 in eight post season series to include a World Series appearance with the Oakland A's. He never excelled at defense and ended up playing DH a good part of his career. Those two things definitely work against him when looking at his overall career in a hall of fame discusson. Still 2866 hits!
