Chicago baseball fans celebrated collectively Sunday night, when former Cubs closer Lee Smith and White Sox outfielder Harold Baines were named the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
They were selected by the 16-member Today’s Game Era committee, which requires 12 votes for induction and included Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and former Sox manager Tony La Russa.
“You can bet Jerry was working the room,” one Sox source said of his Reinsdorf’s efforts to get Baines the necessary votes.
Smith received all 16 votes, Baines earned the minimum 12, and former Cubs manager Lou Piniella was one vote short of induction at 11.