Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 1999 Harold Baines

 

It always amuses me which short-term stops Topps misses. 

Harold Baines played for only five teams over the course of his career, and it feels like more because he played for the White Sox and Orioles multiple times in a 20 year period. The last several years of Baines' career was a constant volley back and forth between Chicago and Baltimore, oftentimes both in the same year. Not that Baines' material was an issue, as Baines routinely hit loads of RBIs and a bunch of 25-homer years along his lengthy career. It was mostly just one team losing momentum and the other getting him for a playoff spot, and then back again.

The only time from 1993 til 2001 that Harold Baines played for a team that wasn't the Orioles or the White Sox was the tail end of the 1999 season, a season that began with some of the last great numbers of Baines's career, a .322 average, 24 homers and 82 RBIs in 107 games in Baltimore. And let's be clear, Baines did all of this as a 40-year old. However, during the waiver wire period in August, the Indians, still needing a surefire DH bat in the years since Eddie Murray's departure, took a chance on Baines for a stretch run, and traded two never-to-develop minor leaguers to the O's to get him. 

Baines's time in Cleveland was short but somewhat memorable. The regular season didn't add a whole lot to his full season effort, he hit .271 with 1 homer and 23 RBIs, at the very least enough for his third 100+ RBI year, and his first since he was 26 years old. Not quite Orioles hot, but still productive. The postseason is where Baines really hits his stride for the Indians. In 4 games, over the course of a contentious ALDS that the Red Sox would eventually win in 5 games, Baines hit .357 with 1 homer and 4 RBIs in 14 at-bats. Somehow, a 40-year-old DH was enough to keep the Indians alive until Game 5. Even if it was futile, the Cleveland massive would not forget this. 

After the season, Baines would re-sign with Baltimore, then be dealt back to Chicago, where he'd finish his career a year and a half later. Topps only had time to make a card of Baines in a Cleveland uniform in 2000 Stadium Club; there would be no luck for the flagship set, not even for a Traded set. Despite the lack of true photo options, I did manage to make a fitting 1999T issue for Baines, filling in the gap of a career that has otherwise been well documented on Topps cards.