Harold Baines speaks a little louder than a monotone whisper, soft enough not to disturb a sleeping infant, reserved enough not to give away any secrets.
For 20 years this has served him well. Until now. At 40, the Orioles' designated hitter is constructing a career season. Already, he has eclipsed last year's 57 RBIs and more than doubled his nine home runs. Baines would be satisfied to play out the rest of his career a few hours away from his Eastern Shore roots, preferably with the Orioles going to a World Series and preferably with as little notice as possible. So much for wishes.
With the Orioles' playoff hopes trashed and the front office seeking a renovation by July 31, many believe it fitting that Baines be traded to a contender. Baines, however, is not among them.
"I'd rather stay here," he says. "It's a great bunch of guys. Sure, we've struggled. But anything in life involves a struggle. We still have 2 1/2 months. Hopefully, we can turn it around."
As strong as Baines' desire is to end his career in his home state, the Orioles could conceivably trade him this summer, then re-sign him as a free agent after the season. He'd still be one of the game's best bargains.
Within an $84 million clubhouse, he has accepted a lower rung on the Orioles' financial ladder with a $1.5 million, one-year contract. Manager Ray Miller, for one, has advocated that Baines be signed to a multi-year deal after this season because he is so confident Baines' dignity will not allow him to press on if he becomes unproductive.
Productivity is certainly not a question yet. Sitting on 21 home runs, Baines is a threat to spoil one of the game's best trivia questions: Name the active player with the most home runs who has never hit 30 in any season.
"I've just centered the ball in those 21 situations. I'm the type hitter who has to hit the ball perfectly to hit a home run. I've had 21 perfect swings," he says flatly. "I don't have the [Mark] McGwire swing that can overpower a baseball or [Mike] Piazza's strength to overpower a baseball. My unorthodox swing has to be perfect. I do a lot of things to make my swing work."
Influenced heavily by the late hitting guru Charley Lau, Baines adapted his "unorthodox" swing early in his career with the Chicago White Sox. He developed a high leg kick to initiate his stride. His head barely moves during his swing. Although it's supposed to be an impossible feat, Baines says he has seen bat hit ball.
"The longer you see the ball, the more chance you have to hit it," Baines says. "When I'm seeing the ball well, I can track it all the way into the catcher's mitt."
"What's most impressive about him is how often he hits the ball on the barrel of the bat," says teammate B. J. Surhoff. "Left field, center field, right field. It doesn't matter where he hits the ball; he's hitting it hard somewhere. Very rarely does he loop a single somewhere. He drives it.
"Plus, he's able to trust himself, which is very important as a hitter. He trusts his hands, so he never looks like he's rushing after the ball."
A swing to be studied
Teammates and opponents alike draw near the batting cage when Baines is inside. It is the unspoken compliment, afforded relatively few hitters.
"Harold has always had a great idea of what to do at the plate," says New York Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius, a former teammate of Baines' with the Oakland Athletics. "He handles the outside part of the plate really well. He goes into every at-bat with a sound idea of what he wants to do. I've seen him pass up a fastball down the middle of the plate and then hit a breaking ball and vice versa. He's not up there simply hacking."
There is little hack in what Baines does.
Ever since White Sox owner Bill Veeck spotted him swinging in St. Michaels and vowed that he would one day play for his team, Baines' gifts have been obvious. Knee injuries have long since robbed him of his speed but have not smudged either his desire for the game or his graceful, synchronized swing.
'A craftsman and an artist'
"I don't say this about many hitters, but Harold has a beautiful swing," says Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley, known as the King of Swing before he retired in 1983 with the team's all-time pinch-hit record (108). "He's a craftsman and an artist both. He is also one of the most observant players I've been around. During a game, he's on the bench taking everything in. Absolutely nothing gets past him."
Miller calls Baines "the ultimate professional hitter" and last week said, "He'll hit until he's 50." No one argues.
"I've been able to maintain my style of hitting for most of my career," Baines says. "Hitting is about getting breaks, too. You can hit the ball and not get hits. You've got to be a little lucky."
Baines stands on August's doorstep during the winter of his career. If he was thought to be hanging on last season, what about now?
"With Harold, I think 40 is only a number," says shortstop Mike Bordick, who was also Baines' teammate with Oakland from 1990 to 1992. "His knees are bad. Everybody knows that. But you look at the kind of shape he's kept himself in it's amazing. I think the game means a lot to him. To be that dedicated, and to play that long despite some limitations, to me that speaks for itself."
Most productive DH ever
Given the minimum 3.1 plate appearances a game needed to qualify, Baines stands an excellent chance of eclipsing Ken Singleton's 22-year-old franchise record for season batting average (.3283). He shares the team lead with 21 home runs and ranks second with 66 RBIs despite ranking sixth in at-bats, more than 150 behind Surhoff and more than 100 behind cleanup hitter Albert Belle.
Last week, Baines cemented his standing as the most productive designated hitter ever, passing Don Baylor's home run record and Hal McRae's hit mark. He is fewer than 300 hits short of 3,000 for his career and is only 31 home runs shy of 400. With little notice, he and teammate Cal Ripken are in a neck-and-neck chase for the RBI lead among active players -- Ripken with 1,554, Baines with 1,546. Baines waves off numbers talk, insisting there will be time enough for it when his career is done.
Baines, almost dismissive when first notified, let down his guard last week after being named to replace the injured Jose Canseco at the All-Star Game.
"It pretty much hit me in Boston," he says. "Other guys saying you deserved being here put it in perspective. Even though I was a replacement, they said I should be here anyway. My teammates were probably happier than I was. That meant a lot."
Baines' time of reflection may coincide with a larger debate: Will his productivity outweigh the bias held against designated hitters regarding the Hall of Fame?
No player who spent the majority of his career as a DH has been inducted. But no player has proved as productive in the role as Baines.
Career stats imposing
Without a single 30-home run season, Baines has more lifetime homers than Joe DiMaggio, Johnny Mize and Dave Parker. With only two 100-RBI seasons, he has more career RBIs than Willie Stargell, Mickey Mantle and Eddie Mathews. Without a 200-hit season -- indeed, with only one campaign of more than 175 hits -- Baines has more career hits than Lou Gehrig, Billy Williams and Ted Williams.
Even though his knees now grind bone-on-bone, Baines has more career doubles than Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan and Roberto Clemente, men who meshed speed and power.
"He bores you with his consistency. And believe me, that's a compliment," says Yankees manager Joe Torre. "He's a class act and a wonderful hitter. When you get older, experience tells you things. You understand how someone is going to pitch to you. The hitting zone gets smaller."
Baines was a 21-year-old rookie in 1980, the season a goofball Cleveland Indians outfielder named Joe Charboneau was named American League Rookie of the Year. Baines hit 13 home runs with 49 RBIs in 141 games as the White Sox's regular right fielder. Two of his teammates -- pitchers Britt Burns and Rich Dotson -- received votes for Rookie of the Year. Baines didn't scratch.
Able to uncap beer bottles with his eye socket, Charboneau played 70 more major-league games before fading away. Baines, able to smoke line drives to every field, has played 2,502 since.
Few players prepare as diligently as Baines. Before each game, he finds Crowley and participates in drill work meant to simulate the night's pitcher. He studies videos. Miller often speaks of Baines' devotion to hitting each ball where it's pitched, even in batting practice.
"You're supposed to hit the ball where it's pitched," Baines says. "If I get a ball middle/away, I try to hit it middle/away. If I get a ball inside, I try to pull it.
"Not too many guys can say, 'I'm going to guide this ball over the shortstop's head. Some guys have an upward swing to lift the ball. I don't. I have a line-drive swing that works for me. Occasionally, one of those line drives leaves the park."
Quiet consistency
Baines doesn't rage and splinter bats after strikeouts nor go into an exaggerated trot following a home run. Mindful that consistency trumps the spectacular, Baines is as much a clubhouse wise man as its designated hitter.
"Harold has a lot of knowledge, but he doesn't volunteer it," Surhoff says. "He's not going to force anything on you. You have to ask. But the times I've talked to him about certain things, I've been very impressed."
Asked if he can remember Baines ever displaying a temper, Bordick thinks a long minute before answering, "Only on a golf course."
Only four times in 19 previous seasons has Baines been mentioned on a Most Valuable Player ballot. In 1985, with 22 home runs and 113 RBIs, he finished in ninth place, his highest ever. Of the 25 players mentioned on ballots that season, only Baines, Rickey Henderson, Bret Saberhagen and Ripken remain active.
Some say Baines' consistency is a physical gift. Some who know even better say his understated, low-decibel approach is just as important. Earlier this season, Orioles utility player Rich Amaral turned to Miller and said, "With Harold, it's impossible to tell whether he's hit three home runs or struck out three times in a row."
If Baines is traded before the July 31 deadline, he says it will affect his decision whether to extend his career. But he also concedes there are other considerations. Back in St. Michaels, another left-handed hitter develops. Harold Baines Jr., 11, is his father's son in many ways.
"I see it in my son. He has a love for baseball," Baines says. "That part keeps me playing because I want him to see me play as long as I'm able to be productive."
Sun staff writer Peter Schmuck contributed to this article.
Fabulous in their 40s
Single-year bests for players 40 and over (age as of July 1 for year listed):
Home runs
Player Year Age No.
Darrell Evans 1987 40 34
Ted Williams 1960 41 29
Hank Sauer 1957 40 26
Dave Winfield 1992 40 26
Darrell Evans 1988 41 22
Eddie Murray 1996 40 22
RBIs
Player Year Age No.
Dave Winfield 1992 40 108
Darrell Evans 1987 40 99
Cap Anson 1894 42 99
Jim O'Rourke 1891 40 95
Jim O'Rourke 1893 42 95
Ty Cobb 1927 40 93
Cap Anson 1893 41 91
Cap Anson 1895 43 91
Cap Anson 1896 44 90
Paul Molitor 1997 40 89
Slugging percentage
Player Year Age No.
Stan Musial 1962 41 .508
Darrell Evans 1987 40 .501
Dave Winfield 1992 40 .491
Willie Mays 1971 40 .482
Ty Cobb 1927 40 .482
Batting average
Player Year Age Avg.
Ty Cobb 1927 40 .357
Sam Rice 1930 40 .349
Cap Anson 1895 43 .335
Cap Anson 1896 44 .331
Stan Musial 1962 41 .330
Pete Rose 1981 40 .325
Cap Anson 1893 41 .314
Luke Appling 1948 41 .314
Luke Appling 1947 40 .306
Paul Molitor 1997 40 .305
Source: Stats Baseball All-Time Sourcebook
By the numbers
0: 30-home run seasons
1: Seasons Baines has hit below .270 since rookie year
1: Games played in the outfield since 1992
1: World Series ('90 A's)
3: Number retired by the White Sox
3.67: At-bats per RBI this season
4: Times traded in career.
6: All-Star Game appearances
7: Times Baines has batted .300 in a season.
13: Home runs hit at Memorial Stadium
25: Combined home runs for 1997-98
220: Career home runs as designated hitter, an all-time record
.307: Career average with the Orioles (551-1796)
369: Career home runs
903: Career RBIs as designated hitter, an all-time record
1,487: Games played as designated hitter, an all-time record
1,546: Career RBIs, 30th all-time
1,558: Hits as designated hitter, an all-time record
2,643: Career games played
2,732: Career hits
Pub Date: 7/22/99