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| Baines wearing #6 on his 1991 Donruss |
Following Harold Baines’ controversial election to the Hall
of Fame, I delved into my collection to see which baseball cards of the slugger
I owned. One card that I completely
forgot I had was Baines' 1991 Donruss. The
green bordered card features Baines in an Oakland Athletics home jersey with
the photo taken sometime late in the 1990 season, following his August 29 trade
from the Texas Rangers. After looking at
the card a few times, something stood out to me--I noticed Baines was wearing
number 6 rather than his customary number 3.
This seemed odd as I had other cards of Baines in an A's uniform from
the 1992 and 1993 sets and on each of those he is wearing number 3. With this in mind, I pulled up Baines' Baseball Reference page which shows the
slugger has worn 10, 13, 29 and 33 at different points of his career. However, the highly-informative website has
no record of Baines ever suiting up in 6 and does not list him as wearing any
number other than 3 for the 1990 A's. I
also checked the two other main websites that list complete rosters with
uniform numbers--Baseball Almanac and
Baseball Cube--but both show the
exact same information. With all three
of these meticulously-researched websites in agreement that Baines only wore
number 3 for Oakland in 1990, despite his Donruss card indicating otherwise, I
decided to investigate the matter.
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| Screenshot of Baines' Baseball Reference page with uniform number history |
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| Baines wearing his customary #3 for the Chicago White Sox |
Fresh off winning the 1989 World Series, the defending
champion Oakland A's stunned the baseball world when they pulled off a pair of
big transactions just two days before the August 31 Trade Deadline by
acquiring former NL MVP Willie McGee from the St. Louis Cardinals and four-time
All-Star Harold Baines in a deal with the Texas Rangers. Surprisingly, the A's only had to give up a
couple of prospects to land Baines, who had two full years remaining on his
existing contract. At the time of the
trades, Oakland stood atop the AL West Division with a six and half game lead
over the second place Chicago White Sox--the team that selected Baines with the
number one overall pick in the 1977 Amateur Draft and was home to the slugger
for the first nine and half years of his major league career. With a young, relatively inexperienced
roster, Chicago was an unlikely contender in the AL West--especially after
finishing at the bottom of the division the year before. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf had been
hesitant to trade Baines, but with the club mired in last place after a series
of losing seasons, the franchise went into rebuilding mode and dealt the
veteran to Texas in July 1989. In fact,
Reinsdorf thought so highly of his former player that the White Sox retired
number 3 in Baines' honor when the slugger returned to Chicago for the first
time as opposing player, less than a month after the trade.
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| Quirk had three stints in Kansas City alongside longtime friend Brett |
While all three websites list Baines wearing number 3 for
the 1990 A's, they show one of the club's bench players, Jamie Quirk, as also
having used the jersey number during the season but do not specify when. A veteran in his sixteenth major league
season, Quirk was a utility player for the A's, serving as the club's third
string catcher, occasional pinch hitter, and emergency fill in for each of the
corner infield positions. Quirk is most
remembered for his time with the Kansas City Royals, whom he played parts of
eleven seasons for in three separate stints.
A few years into his career, Quirk was struggling to stay in the major
leagues when Royals manager Whitey Herzog suggested he learn how to catch. Quirk took his manager’s advice and was soon
played at catcher more than any other position.
Being able to work behind the plate helped keep Quirk in the big leagues
and undoubtedly extended his career, though he was rarely used in anything more
than a back up role. Quirk is also
remembered by Royals fans for his long-standing friendship with franchise icon
George Brett, who the veteran backstop played alongside during each of his
stints with the team. Although he spent
the bulk of his career with the Royals, Quirk was a baseball nomad who played for
eight different franchises. Quirk’s 1990
campaign actually represented his second go-around with Oakland, having briefly
played with the club for a month during the middle of the 1989 season before
being released. For the majority of his
time in Kansas City, Quirk wore 9 but that number was taken on the A's, as it
had been used by infielder Mike Gallego since 1985. Thus, Quirk opted to use 3 during his brief
stint with the A's in 1989 and donned the number again when he was signed by
the team as free agent for 1990.
In addition to listing Quirk as wearing 3 for the 1990 A's,
all three websites show the veteran catcher as having suited up in number 6
during the season as well. However, the
websites also list outfielder Felix Jose as taking the field wearing 6 for
Oakland in 1990, the number he had used since making his major league debut for
the club in 1988. Yet, Jose is also
listed as using 14 for the 1990 A’s, which became available when Storm Davis
left the team via free agency after wearing the number for Oakland in 1988 and
1989. Regardless, we know Jose’s wearing
6 does not interfere with any time Baines would have used the number since the
outfielder was traded to the Cardinals as part of the August 29 deal
that sent McGee to the A’s on the same day the club acquired Baines. It is likely Quirk handed over number 3 to
Baines shortly after the slugger's trade to Oakland. In fact, Getty Images has a photo of Quirk
wearing number 3, a little over a month before the trade that brought Baines to
Oakland, during a July 26 game against the California Angels. When a high-profile or particularly
superstitious player joins a new team and the number they regularly wear is
already being used by another player, often times a deal involving a sum of
money or gift is worked out between the two parties in exchange for the number
in question. Some of these sums of money
or gifts can be extravagant such as the $40,000 motorcycle Brian Jordan bought
Atlanta Braves coach Fredi Gonzalez in 2005 for number 33 or the $25,000 Rickey Henderson paid his Toronto Blue Jays teammate Turner Ward to relinquish number
24. However, those are extreme examples
and being two relatively low-key ball players, it is doubtful there was any
excessive amount of money or outrageous gift exchanged between Baines and
Quirk in return for the number.
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| Baines briefly wore #13 after his trade to Texas |
A similar series of events took place after Baines was
traded from Chicago to Texas during the middle of the 1989 season. When Baines joined the Rangers in late July,
the slugger initially wore number 13 since his customary 3 was being used by
the team's first baseman Rafael Palmeiro.
However, before the end of the season, Baines was wearing 3 for Texas
and Palmeiro was taking the field in number 25, which had become available when
veteran Buddy Bell retired on June 24.
Palmeiro had previously worn 25 when he played for the Chicago Cubs and,
from that point forward, used the number for the remainder of his lengthy
career. An interesting thing about
Baines’ time in Texas is virtually all the baseball cards made of him in a
Rangers uniform, where his jersey number is visible, show him wearing 13 even
though he used the number less than half a season and was back to his customary
3 before the end of the year. Evidently,
the card manufacturers must have used photographs of Baines that were taken
soon after his trade to Texas and before the slugger starting using number 3
with the Rangers. Baines wore 3 for the
remainder of his time with Texas but because he was swapped to Oakland
before the end of the following season, the cards from the 1991 sets that would
have had him wearing 3 for the Rangers instead feature the veteran in an A's
jersey.
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| Some of Baines' 1991 cards have the slugger wearing #6 while others have him in his customary #3 |
Taking a look at all of Baines’ cards from 1991, I noticed
the slugger is wearing number 6, not only on his Donruss but also on both his
Score and Topps cards. However, Baines
is sporting his customary 3 on his 1991 cards from the Upper Deck and Mother's
Cookies sets. Quirk’s jersey number is
visible on three cards from 1991. The
veteran catcher is suited up in number 3 on his Donruss and Fleer cards and
wearing 6 on his Mother’s Cookies card. On
Baines' Score card, the dugout of the opposing team can be seen in the blurred
background. From the shot on the Score
card, it appears the visiting team is the Kansas City Royals due to their blue
jerseys. The only time Baines faced the
Royals at home following his trade to Oakland was an August
30 meeting between the two clubs which, coincidentally was the slugger’s
first game in an A’s uniform. Oakland
beat Kansas City 6-5 that day on a Mike Gallego walk-off single. Baines went 1 for 4 in his A's debut with a
single and an intentional walk while Quirk did not play in the game.
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| Like Baines, Quirk is featured in two different jersey numbers on his 1991 cards as well |
A photograph of Baines wearing number 6 can also be found on
Getty Images. Unlike the Quirk photo,
the website does not specify what date the photo was taken, but it is clearly
from the August 30 A’s/Royals game, as Kansas City’s blue jerseys
with white lettering are even easier to distinguish in the background of the
photo than on Baines’ Score card. Moreover,
there is a light trace of dirt on each of Baines’ knees that is visible on both
his Score card and Getty Image photo. The
trace of dirt on Baines' knees shows up again on a picture of the slugger clad
in the number 6 A's home uniform that has appeared on memorabilia websites such
as Pristine Auction. In addition, on
Baines’ 1991 Topps, the veteran has what appears to be the same trace of dirt
on his one knee that is visible. Thus
far, this handful of baseball cards and photos are the only ones I have been
able to find of Baines wearing number 6.
Aside from Baines’ Donruss, each of these shots feature a trace of dirt
on the slugger’s knees and/or the presence of Kansas City players in the
background, which essentially confirms that they were taken during the August
30 A's/Royals game. What’s more, it
is possible that even the picture used for Baines’ Donruss was from
the August 30 game since it is a closer shot where his knees and the
opposing team's dugout are not visible. Also,
each of the three cards and both photos feature Baines in the A’s white home
uniform. Following Baines' August
30 debut with Oakland, the club played a three game series at home--which
coincidentally was against the Rangers--before they embarked on a nine game
road trip. Due to not being able to find
any pictures of Baines wearing number 6 in the A’s gray road uniform, I am
assuming that Baines and Quirk exchanged jersey numbers either immediately
after the August 30 A’s/Royals game or sometime before setting out on
their nine game road trip.
The trade to Oakland reunited Baines with skipper Tony La Russa, his manager for the majority of his time with Chicago. Baines solidified the A’s roster and
strengthened their line up by giving them a regular designated hitter to bat
out of the clean up spot. Yet after
arriving in Oakland, Baines hit an uncharacteristically low. 266 with only 3
home runs. While Baines' batting average
and longball power were below his career norms, the dependable slugger put up a
solid 128 OPS+ as he reached base at a .381 clip and still managed to produce
21 RBI over just 118 plate appearances in 32 games. Prior to his brief foray with the 1989 A's,
Quirk had played for La Russa in Chicago--albeit for just 3 games during the
1984 season. Never particularly known
for his bat, Quirk had one of his finest seasons at the plate, hitting .281
with 3 home runs and 26 RBI in 144 plate appearances along with a .353 OBP and
119 OPS+. Quirk's impressive hitting
stats were similar to Baines', though they were accomplished over a full season
as a bench player while Baines' came in just over a month with the club. As the A's third string backstop behind Terry Steinbach and Ron Hassey on the catching depth chart and occasional corner
infielder, Quirk did not make his way into the starting line up very
often. In fact, Quirk appeared in just
56 games--drawing starts in exactly half of them with 26 behind the plate along
with one each at first and third base. Yet,
in his limited time behind the plate, Quirk did an excellent job managing the
run game, throwing out 11 of 21 would be base-stealers for an impressive 52%
caught stealing rate which was well above the 34% league average. Oakland cruised to a 103-59 record to pick up
their third consecutive AL West title, finishing nine games ahead of the second
place White Sox.
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| Quirk delivered a timely pinch-hit in Game 1 of the 1990 ALCS |
The A’s swept the AL East champion Boston Red Sox in the
ALCS to win their third straight AL Pennant.
Baines did his part, batting .357 with 3 RBI in the four
game-series. Quirk only appeared once in
the ALCS, but made the most it: With
Oakland down 1-0 in the top of the 7th inning of Game 1, Quirk delivered a
timely pinch-hit single which moved base runner Walt Weiss from 1st to 3rd and
set up Rickey Henderson’s go-ahead sacrifice fly on the next play. The A's were heavily favored to beat the NL
Pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. This marked Baines' first trip to the Fall
Classic while Quirk had won a World Championship as a member of the 1985 Royals
postseason roster, though the veteran backstop did not play in any of the World
Series games. The Reds stunned the
baseball world by taking the first two games in Cincinnati. In Game 1, the A’s were dominated by Reds
starter Jose Rijo, who had pitched for Oakland from 1985 to 1987. Because designated hitters are not used in
World Series games played in NL ballparks, Baines was not in the starting line
up for either Game 1or 2. However,
Baines was called upon to pinch hit in Game 2 with two out in the top of the
10th, a runner on 1st, and the score tied but was struck out by flame-throwing
reliever Rob Dibble. Back in the
starting line up for Game 3 in Oakland, Baines delivered in a big way--going
deep off Cincinnati starter Tom Browning in the bottom of the 2nd inning for a
two-run home run to put the his team up 2-1.
Unfortunately, the A's pitching imploded in the next inning, giving up
seven runs and the Reds easily won the game 8-3 to put themselves one win away
from an unlikely sweep. The following
day, Quirk made his first World Series appearance when La Russa started him at
catcher for Game 4 to get another left-handed bat in the line up. It is also likely La Russa was aware that
Quirk had hit well against Rijo, whom Cincinnati brought back to start Game
4. In fact, going into the game, Quirk
owned a .333 batting average with 2 home runs in 13 plate appearances against
the Reds starter--each of which came when Rijo was a young pitcher for
Oakland. However, Quirk was overmatched
by Rijo--going 0 for 3 with two strikeouts--as the hurler once again dominated
Oakland to complete the sweep for Cincinnati.
Getty Images has photos of both Baines and Quirk from the 1990 World
Series. The website’s photos of Baines
hitting and celebrating his Game 3 home run show him back in his customary 3
jersey while a shot of Quirk from Game 4 confirms the veteran catcher finished
the season wearing number 6.
Baines and Quirk remained with the A’s following the club’s
shocking World Series loss to Cincinnati.
With two years left on his existing contract, Baines continued in his
role as the team’s designated hitter, batting out of the clean up spot. Oakland released Quirk shortly after the
World Series but decided to re-sign the veteran receiver just a few weeks
later. The A’s chose not to re-sign Ron
Hassey and promoted Quirk to back up catcher behind Terry Steinbach. Quirk switched numbers once again, this time
back to 9--the number he had worn for the majority of his time with the
Royals--which had become available when Mike Gallego left the A's and signed as
a free agent with the New York Yankees.
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| Baines and Quirk remained with Oakland through the 1992 season |
After their 103-win 1990 season, Oakland slumped to 4th
place with an 84-78 record the following year but rebounded to go 96-66 and
recapture the AL West crown in 1992. Unfortunately,
the A’s lost the ALCS in six games to the Toronto Blue Jays despite Baines
banging out 11 hits and batting a sizzling .440. Quirk flew out in his only ALCS plate
appearance. The 1992 season turned out
to be the last one in Oakland for both Baines and Quirk. Baines accepted arbitration with the A’s when
his contract expired at season’s end but was then traded to the Baltimore
Orioles before the 1993 campaign began. Quirk
was released by Oakland after the ALCS. The
veteran catcher then signed as a free agent with the Reds but was let go during
Spring Training, bringing an end to his lengthy playing career. Thus began Quirk's coaching career, which has
paralleled his time on the field as he has served at both the minor and major
league levels for several different organizations, including multiple stints
with the Royals franchise.
The trade to Baltimore represented a homecoming of sorts for
Baines who was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Baines spent the remainder of his career
essentially going back and forth between the Orioles and White Sox--two
franchises whose respective owners, Peter Angelos and Jerry Reinsdorf, admired
the veteran slugger and valued his services.
Baines wrapped up his playing career in 2001 as a member of the White
Sox and stayed with the organization, working in a variety of roles including
coaching. While winning a World Series
ring as a player eluded Baines, the former slugger was Chicago’s bench coach
when the club defeated the Houston Astros to win the 2005 Fall Classic. Last December, Baines’ fine career was capped
with his election to the Hall of Fame by the Today’s Game Era Committee. Unfortunately, Baines’ election was shrouded
in controversy as two of his biggest supporters during his career, La Russa and
Reinsdorf, sat on the 16-member voting panel.
Baines' election resulted in charges of cronyism being leveled against
the voting body. While his detractors
are not out of line to point out that Baines may be one of the more debatable
Hall of Fame selections of recent memory, nevertheless it is a shame for there
to be so much acrimony in the wake of his election. Each time Baines rejoined the White Sox,
whether it was as a coach or player, the club un-retired his number 3 jersey
for him to use. Baines wore 3 for almost
his entire career, though he briefly took the field in other numbers as
well. Although it may have been for only
one game and seemingly slipped through the cracks, we can confidently add 6 to
the list of numbers worn by the Hall of Fame slugger.
----by John Tuberty
Follow my blog and other meanderings on Twitter
@BloggerTubbs
Sources: Baseball Reference, Baseball Reference Play Index, Baseball Almanac, Baseball Cube, Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, Getty Images, New York Times, Time, Pristine Auction
Photo credit: Screenshot of Harold Baines' Baseball Reference page; Harold Baines 1991 Donruss, 1984 Topps,
1990 Score, 1991 Score, 1991 Topps, 1991 Upper Deck, 1991 Mother's Cookies,
1992 Topps; Jamie Quirk 1989 Topps, 1991 Donruss, 1991 Fleer, 1991 Mother's
Cookies, 1991 Topps, 1992 Topps; George Brett 1989 Topps
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