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Top 50 Orioles of All Time: #43, Harold Baines

As a grade schooler in the summer of 1998, I was bewildered by a hot take from an older relative of mine during a family gathering. We had the Orioles game on the television in the background — as was common at those events — and while discussing the team he told me we needed to shake up the roster by cutting Cal Ripken and Harold Baines because they were both old and slow.

I couldn’t believe his statement, considering the inclusion of larger-than-life Cal and to a lesser degree, Harold Baines. And that right there could be the story of Baines’ career: being known as the guy who was constantly overshadowed by higher-profile teammates.