White Sox retire Baines’ No. 3
But almost no one anticipated the surprise he got on Aug. 20, 1989, when the White Sox retired his No. 3 prior to the series finale. Baines, who sat out the game with a sore hamstring, wasn’t even informed that the ceremony would take place until that morning.
“We felt that if Harold had known about it, he wouldn’t show up,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf told the Chicago Tribune.
Even as the ceremony took place, fans were a little confused as to what was happening
With his number retired, Baines was already enshrined in White Sox history, but his playing career was far from over. The future Hall of Famer would play 12 more big league seasons, including four more with the White Sox from 1996-97 and 2000-01.
Baines wrapped up his major league career in 2001 after 22 seasons with a .289 career batting average, 384 homers and 2,866 hits. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
Janey Murray was the digital content specialist at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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